Lisa Conlon has recently completed her Doctorate of Nursing and will be graduating at the upcoming ceremony in April.

Lisa is a Registered Nurse with a distinguished career in the Royal Australian Navy. She is now a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval reserve. Her Doctoral Portfolio is entitled Trauma Teams in Action. The term action speaks to both the role trauma team members fulfill and the often perilous conditions where they undertake this role. Lisa’s interest in this area was sparked by her own experience working in Australian Defence Forces trauma teams. Lisa was deployed as a member of the Australian contingent to the United Nations Military Hospital in Dili, East Timor (now known as Timor Leste).

The Doctor of Nursing thesis is a portfolio of three studies on a given area of practice. Lisa completed a systematic review examining the evidence in relation to the preparation and management practices of trauma teams; a cross sectional survey of ADF health personnel who have worked in trauma teams; and finally a phenomenology of ADF nurses experience working in trauma teams. These three pieces of research provide a valuable insight into an area of health care that little is known of outside of the military.

Completing a Doctoral degree is always an amazing accomplishment but Lisa managed this as a remote student living in Sydney and then Lund in Sweden at the time she completed her research. During her studies she travelled on a number of occasions working with the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2008, she developed, coordinated and taught a Train the Trainers Course for senior Registered Nurses following the earthquake in China. Lisa was co supervised by Commander Amanda Garlick, also an experienced naval nurse and a Doctor of Nursing graduate of the University of Adelaide.

The School of Nursing would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Lisa and we look forward to the conferring of her degree in April.