Gavin D Leslie - Editor Australian Critical Care

Associate Professor - Critical Care Nursing (Joint appointment with Royal Perth Hospital). Course Coordinator, Master of Clinical Nursing.

RN IC Cert PhD BappSc Post Grad Dip (Clin Nurs) FRCNA

Gavin first qualified as a nurse with a hospital based diploma from Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. He subsequently worked in ICU and attained a post registration ICU certificate at RNSH in 1981. In 1983 he joined the staff of Royal Perth Hospital in ICU but moved in 1984 to the Western Australian School of Nursing as a Post Basic Clinical Instructor in Cardiothoracic and Coronary Care Nursing. He left this position in 1985 to complete his degree conversion at Curtin University whilst continuing to work part time in ICU at RPH. Gavin achieved a distinction in his undergraduate degree and on completion took up the post of Nurse Educator Critical Care in late 1986. With the introduction of the WA career structure he was appointed Clinical Nurse Specialist in ICU, a position held from 1987 till 1995. During this time he completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Nursing at Curtin University and was recommended as a PhD candidate in 1992.

Professionally from 1991 to 1993 Gavin was the President of the Confederation of Australian Critical Care Nurses. In 1994 Gavin took up the acting position of Coordinator of Clinical Nursing at RPH where he participated in the transition of the nursing services into a divisional model of organisational structure. In 1995 he was appointed Coordinator of Nursing Services in the Critical Care Division. Gavin was elected chair of the ECU Post graduate Advisory Committee in 1997 and played a central role in the collaborative PG nursing programmes run between ECU and RPH. He completed his PhD in 1999, which focused on Acute Real Failure in ICU and its management with Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy. Gavin was appointed to his current position in August 2000. In September 2000 he was appointed editor of the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses publications.

Since then he established the nursing Professional Development Unit at RPH, which is now the Education Centre and established the Master of Clinical Nursing Course at ECU. Gavin has a number of Research PhD and Masters students under supervision and at completion, and continues his research interests in critical care nursing. In 2005 he was awarded life membership of the ACCCN in recognition of his contribution to Australian critical care nursing.

Gavin has over 100 publications and national/international conference presentations. He reviews for Intensive Care Medicine, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care and Resuscitation and Critical Care, and is on the editorial board for the American Journal of Infection Control and Collegian.

In 2007 he was awarded an Innovation in Quality and Safety Award form the Dept of Health in WA.

Leanne M Aitken - Associate Editor, Australian Critical Care

Professor of Critical Care Nursing
Griffith University and Princess Alexandra Hospital

RN, IC Cert, BHSc(Nurs)Hons, GCertMgt, GDipScMed(ClinEpi), PhD FRCNA

Leanne Aitken has had an extensive career in critical care nursing, undertaking a variety of clinical practice, education and research roles. These roles have been undertaken in most states of Australia, usually in Cardiothoracic Intensive Care settings. Most recently, Leanne was appointed the inaugural Chair in Critical Care Nursing at Griffith University and Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane in March 2006. This role incorporates conduct and implementation of a range of clinical research with postgraduate teaching within the School of Nursing and Midwifery. Clinical research activities are conducted within the Princess Alexandra Hospital critical care areas, primarily the Intensive Care Unit and Trauma Service and include evaluating innovative nursing and multidisciplinary interventions to improve patient outcomes and exploring ways to improve practice through the use of evidence. Mentoring clinical staff through the conduct and implementation of research is an important component of the role.

From a professional perspective Leanne has been active in the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses for twenty years. Initial activity involved convening the Advanced Life Support Course in Western Australia, before moving to Tasmania and taking up the roles of Secretary and National Representative during the early 90's. This was followed with similar responsibilities in Victoria. Also at this time Leanne became an Editorial Board Member for Australian Critical Care and moved into the role of Associate Editor in 1995. In 2006 Leanne was one of the co-editors of ACCCN's Critical Care Nursing textbook and at that time was awarded life membership of ACCCN in recognition of her contribution to Australian Critical Care Nursing. Leanne has a strong publication track record and reviews for a number of international journals including Journal of Clinical Nursing, Journal of Advanced Nursing, European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, American Journal of Critical Care Nursing, Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. In addition, she undertakes research assessment for state and national bodies including Queensland Nursing Council, Queensland Health, Royal College of Nursing Australia and National Health and Medical Research Council.

Andrea P Marshall - Associate Editor Australian Critical Care

Sesqui Senior Lecturer Critical Care Nursing
The University of Sydney

RN IC Cert MN Research Grad Cert Ed Studies (Higher Ed) MRCNA

Andrea first qualified as a nurse with a hospital based diploma from Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) in Vancouver, Canada. She subsequently worked in ICU and attained a post registration ICU certificate at VGH. Andrea immigrated to Australia in 1992 and completed a Certificate in Intensive Care from the NSW College of Nursing in 1993 and a Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Sydney in 1995. Andrea was employed as a Nurse Educator for Intensive Care at the NSW College of Nursing from 1996-2001. During this time she completed a Master of Nursing (Research) and submitted a thesis titled Gastric tonometry and enteral nutrition: a potential conflict in critical care nursing practice. She held a position as Research Fellow at the University of Sydney from 2001 to 2003 and during this time was involved in the Master of Critical Care Nursing program in the Faculty of Nursing. In 2003 she had the opportunity to work on an international multicentre study examining patient's response to symptoms of acute coronary syndrome. Andrea worked as Project Director for the Australian/New Zealand arm of this study until data collection was completed in 2005. Andrea's appointment as Sesqui Senior Lecturer Critical Care Nursing commenced in 2005.

Professionally Andrea has contributed significantly to critical care nursing in Australia. She served as an Executive Member of ACCCN (NSW Branch) from 1997 to 2003. At a national level Andrea has been a member of ACCCN's Education Advisory Panel (1998-2005) and since 2001 has been a member of the Research Advisory Panel. Since 2003 she has served as an Associate Editor for Australian Critical Care. Andrea is also an Editorial Board Member of CONNECT, the Official Journal of the World Federation of Critical Care Nurses, and serves as a peer reviewer for many international nursing journals.

With a strong interest in nursing research she enrolled in a PhD at the University of Sydney in 2002 and is currently completing this work which looks at factors affecting nurses use of information in clinical decision-making. Andrea's work has been published widely in the nursing literature and acknowledged at a national level at the ACCCN/ANZICS Annual Scientific Meeting when she was awarded the Best Nursing Paper (2000 and 2005) and the Best Nursing Review Paper (2003). She has contributed to intensive care nursing textbooks in both Australia and the US including AACN Procedure Manual for Critical Care, 5th edition, ACCCN's Critical Care Nursing and AACN Critical Care Nursing, due for release in October 2007.