Dr Marion Mitchell
Name: Marion Mitchell
Research Group/Institute: Research Centre for Clinical and Community Practice Innovation (RCCCPI) at Griffith University and Princess Alexandra Hospital ICU.
Research Interest/Field: ICU patient and family care
What made you decide to work in this field? I have worked in ICU research for a decade and prior to that as an ICU clinician. ICU patients and their families are a particularly vulnerable and very ill population and I want to improve the care we deliver.
What is the goal and significance of your research that you would like people to know?
Over the years ICU research has concentrated on short term goals of patient survival and length of time in ICU. This project focuses on the long term outcomes of an admission to ICU which I think is vitally important to the way we deliver our care as people’s quality of life after an illness is very important. We are measuring the long term cognitive ability of ICU patients and whether they experienced delirium whilst in ICU. If, as we think, delirium is closely related to patients’ long-term cognition, ICU care can include additional measures to reduce delirium.
If you were at a dinner party and someone asked you what you are researching, what would you say? I am trying to improve the nursing care of ICU patients and their families by looking at the effects on their long term ability to think clearly. We are striving to improve our nursing care by adding to the available scientific evidence.
How does or how has or how will funding from a Foundation help your research project?
Without PA Foundation support this project could not achieve its outcomes. The funding from PA Foundation allows us to purchase testing sheets and employ a qualified psychologist to perform the tests to assess cognitive ability – something nurse researchers are not able to do. The funding supports additional time for the nurse researcher in ICU which means we can include patients admitted five days a week whereas without funding, we could only include patients admitted three days per week, thus excluding more than half of our patient body. With this funding this study will to be rigorous and provide valuable information to the critical care community on ways to improve our practice and care of the critically ill. I and my team are extremely appreciative of the PA Foundation funding for this project and see that it will lead to better outcomes for ICU patients and their families.
What is on your research wish list?
I would love to see an increased awareness of the vital role research plays in our clinical practice. To have more research champions at all levels would allow us to achieve much more than is currently the case as research would be more highly valued. On a practical level, on-going research funding would allow for high quality researchers to make PAH their home rather than somewhere they visit.
What do you like to do when you’re not at work? I am a keen walker and can be seen most weekends walking up Mt Coot-tha through the beautiful bushland.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a researcher? I would be teaching research if I couldn’t actively participate in research. Trying to enthuse and inspire our future researchers and help clinicians appreciate its worth I see as important roles.
What are you most proud of? I am proud of my ability to conduct research that has a direct clinical focus and application. As I work in the ICU environment, there is a strong advocacy role for this very vulnerable population and their family who are totally dependent on our care. I see it is incumbent of all of us to do the very best we can and to be able to do this we need high quality evidence. I am able to make a very small contribution to this.
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