Kelly Edwards
Dr Kelly Edwards, is a registered nurse and an early career researcher and lecturer at the University of Tasmania, Sydney campus. Her research approach emphasises collaboration, stakeholder involvement, and the co-design of solutions to improve patient care and healthcare systems. Kelly is dedicated to conducting rigorous translational research that improves the health and quality of life for adults in healthcare settings.
Appointed as a Beryl Institute Scholar, Kelly’s doctoral project on patient experience and feedback was co-designed with stakeholders (patients, their family members and healthcare professionals). This work has equipped her with the skills to conduct high-quality research that contributes to the development of healthcare services. Dr. Edwards' clinical experience in cardiac and neurological nursing, as well as immunisation nursing, provides her with valuable insights into the healthcare system and patient needs, fuelling her determination to build capacity within both the health and aged care workforce.
Currently, Dr. Edwards is a project manager of a research team investigating ways to reduce stress and burnout among aged care workers in residential facilities. This Aged Care Research & Industry Innovation Australia (ARIIA) funded research program is the first application of the Mindfulness in Motion (MIM) program to be trialled amongst this cohort, and the first application of the MIM program in Australia.
Her research interests include patient-centered care, ageing well, aged care, stress reduction, isolation, loneliness, inclusion, co-design, and citizen science. As a registered nurse with APHRA and an authorised nurse immuniser, she is well-positioned to contribute to research that directly impacts patient care and those providing care. She is a member of Member the Australian College of Nursing, Australian Association of Gerontology and the Australasian Neuroscience Nurses Association. Kelly has presented her work both nationally and internationally and supervises both honours and doctoral students.
Session
Background: The demand for person-centered care has led to innovations in capturing patient feedback to assess hospital care quality. Traditionally, most insights into hospital care experiences have come from quantitative surveys completed post-discharge. However, there is growing recognition that real-time qualitative feedback collected during hospital stays provides richer, more actionable information for improving care. Despite this, existing approaches rarely offer guidance on how to deliver this feedback effectively to nurses, nor do they engage key stakeholders—such as nurses, patients, and families—in designing the feedback collection and dissemination process.
Objective: This study aimed to explore how stakeholders could collaboratively create a protocol for collecting and sharing real-time patient and family feedback with nurses to ensure that these perspectives are effectively integrated into care practices.
Method: A pragmatic action research approach was used, involving an Advisory Group composed of patients, family members, and nurses (n=16). This group co-designed a protocol for capturing qualitative feedback at the unit level during hospital stays. The research unfolded in two phases: the first involved identifying the problem and gathering initial insights, while the second phase (Action Cycles 1 to 9) focused on developing and evaluating the new feedback protocol, known as RHEPORT (Real-time Hospital Experience Posters).
Results: The study generated two key data sets: feedback from patients and family members on their hospital experiences, and evaluation data on the effectiveness of the RHEPORT protocol. Over three years and nine Action Cycles, 241 participants provided feedback, highlighting important themes such as physical comfort, respect for patient values and needs, and the quality of information, communication, and education provided. Additionally, 407 evaluation responses were collected from patients, visitors, and nurses. The findings demonstrated that the pragmatic action research approach successfully co-created the RHEPORT protocol, which features five core components essential for meaningful feedback collection and distribution. The study underscores the importance of involving stakeholders in developing feedback protocols to ensure their voices are truly heard and acknowledged.