At the recent 35^th annual International Mental Health Nursing Conference in Sydney, CQUniversity was represented by Mr Marc Broadbent, Lecturer with the Noosa campus, Dean of Research and Research Training, Associate Professor Lorna Moxham and the Professor of Contemporary  Nursing,  Brenda Happell.  

Dr. Moxham said it was a most prestigious occasion, at which some four hundred attendees included many highly qualified and renowned national and international guest speakers.

Marc presented a research paper as part of his PhD studies, investigating  the ways persons presenting with a mental illness are triaged in the Emergency Department. He examined the specifics of the assessment  process, and the relationship between an Emergency Department nurse, and a Mental Health nurse in terms of triaging someone who has a mental illness. Mr Broadbent  said, most nurses working in ED's are not educated in mental health yet are expected to  triage consumers  using a set of criteria originally established to assess a physical illness, not a mental illness.

Amongst the awards presented at the Conference were a main award, and two runner-up awards for the most outstanding research paper. Each paper was judged by two peer reviewers from the audience, against a set of criteria related to methodology, research design, ethics, analysis  and so on. The researcher presenting had no knowledge of the judges identities, and the judges were also blind to the identity of the researcher presenting...
Marc Broadbent

At the Conference closing ceremony presentations were  made by the College President, and CQUniversity's Marc's paper received the runner-up award. DR. Moxham, Marc's principal PhD supervisor,  said it is "... an outstanding achievement, particularly as his work was competing with that of internationally renowned professors of mental health ,  editors of international mental health nursing journals, and chairpersons of national mental health taskforces. Marc has punched way above his weight. He was simply sensational!"

Marc has been a clinician for over 20 years, with specialist expertise  in critical care and emergency nursing. Just a little over 4 years ago Marc was offered the chance to join CQUniversity and, with a background in nurse education in emergency departments, he said, "It was a logical step to move into a broader ‘ward' of education, and part of that was developing a research career and profile, ultimately leading to the PhD."

He says, "The PhD has helped to identify an area of practice that needs redefinition." Marc said that once the thesis is completed and the award is attained, he'd like to work with some of the distinguished people he'd met at the Conference, perhaps to commence a broader, national study on the area, in the hope that real change can be effected for clients who present with a mental illness in the Emergency Department."

Marc  said the approbation of his peers was ,"...probably one of the more significant things to have happened for him, since he started at the University."

He went on to thank his supervisors, Dr. Moxham and Trudy Dwyer, "...because their motivation and inspiration were integral to this award."

 CQ University Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Scott Bowman congratulated Marc, stating, "It's very  good news for CQUniversity, a real achievement."