Professor Birks’ professional goal is to enhance the quality and experience of tertiary education for students and educators through leadership, research and innovation. Her track record in publication, grant success and consultancies demonstrate her determination to advance scholarship in health professional education. Professor Birks’ professional goal grew out of her own experience of the power that education has in promoting and enhancing personal and professional opportunities for practitioners and educators in the health sciences.

Professor Birks’ publications include 7 textbooks, most notably Grounded Theory – a practical guide (2011, 2015), and Qualitative Methodology – a practical guide (2014), along with around 100 peer reviewed publications and book chapters

Professor Birks has extensive experience and expertise in educational administration, teaching and curriculum design and development in local, international, military and civilian environments, and has worked in Malaysia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong and Australia. She is active on numerous expert advisory panels and is also a recipient of the Australian Defence Medal.

Interests

Professional

• Curriculum quality
• The student experience
• Leadership and management
• Program accreditation

Research

• Accessibility and pathways
• Curriculum relevance
• Academic integrity
• Innovation in education
• Scope of practice
• Qualitative research

Teaching

• Research principles and methods
• Professional issues
• Legal and ethical issues
• Communication
• Fundamental nursing skills

Experience

• 2012 to present - Adjunct Professor, Monash University (Melbourne)
• 2011 to 2012 - Deputy Dean, Central Queensland University (Noosa)
• 1997 to 2011 - Senior lecturer, Monash University (Gippsland)

Research Disciplines

• Nursing (4205)
• Midwifery (4204)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Provision of health and support services (2003)

Awards

• 2010 - Student nominee – Monash University Student Union
• 2010 - Faculty nominee – Monash University Vice Chancellor’s award for teaching excellence
• 2007 - Golden Apple teaching awards
• 2007 - Australian Defence Medal
• 2005 - Australian Postgraduate Award

Memberships

• 2011 - Australian College of Nursing Australia (Fellow)
• 1997 to 2015 - Royal Australian Air Force Specialist Standby Reserve – Commissioned Officer (Flight Lieutenant)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU.

Journal Articles

• Biggs L, Jephcott B, Vanderwiel K, Melgaard I, Bott S, Paderes M, Borninkhof J and Birks M (2023) Pathways, Contexts, and Voices of Shame and Compassion: A Grounded Theory of the Evolution of Perinatal Suicidality. Qualitative Health Research, 33 (6). pp. 521-530
• Hassankhani H, Rezagholifam A, Rahmani A, Gilani N, Sanaat Z, Birks M and Hassankhani R (2022) Predictors of perceived unsupportive behaviours by spouses in women with breast cancer. Family Medicine & Primary Care Review, 24 (3). pp. 212-220
• McIntosh C, Elvin A, Smyth W, Birks M and Nagle C (2022) Health promotion, health literacy and vaccine hesitancy: the role of humanoid robots. Inquiry, 59.
• Sheehan S, Wicking K, Chapman M and Birks M (2022) Profiling risk factors of patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes awaiting outpatient diabetes specialist consultant appointment, a narrative review. Collegian, 29 (1). pp. 109-118
• Smith M, Neibling B, Williams G, Birks M and Barker R (2021) Consumer experience of a flexible exercise participation program (FEPP) for individuals with multiple sclerosis: a mixed‐methods study. Physiotherapy Research International, 26 (4).
• Birks M, Mills J, Allen S and Tee S (2020) Managing the mutations: academic misconduct Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. International Journal of Educational Integrity, 16.
• Bogiatzis M, Wicking K and Birks M (2020) Australian bariatric nurses: What do they do and what do they need? Collegian, 27 (4). pp. 422-429
• Harrison H, Birks M, Franklin R and Mills J (2020) An assessment continuum: how healthcare professionals define and determine practice readiness of newly graduated registered nurses. Collegian, 27. pp. 198-206
• Harrison H, Birks M, Franklin R and Mills J (2020) Fostering graduate nurse practice readiness in context. Collegian, 27 (1). pp. 115-124
• Hartin P, Birks M and Lindsay D (2020) Bullying in nursing: how has it changed over 4 decades? Journal of Nursing Management, 28 (7). pp. 1619-1626
• Langtree T, Birks M and Biedermann N (2020) Risky business? Addressing the challenges of historical methods in the ‘digital age’. Collegian, 27 (6). pp. 589-594
• Langtree T, Birks M and Biedermann N (2020) “What a nurse suffers”: care left undone in seventeenth -century Madrid. Nursing philosophy, 21 (1).

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 139+ research outputs authored by Prof Melanie Birks from 1993 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Category 2 Outpatient Waitlist, Profiling the Potential Deterioration Risk Factors of Patients Diagnosed with Diabetes (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Teaching Medical Leadership at Australian Universities: Are We Transformative? (PhD , Advisor Mentor)
• Advocacy in nursing: challenging the power structures that keep nurses silent (PhD , Advisor Mentor)
• Online Postgraduate Nursing Programs in Australia - Impact on Professional Practice (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Contemporary Australian Army Nursing Officers in Armed Conflict: A Grounded Theory of Caring under Fire (PhD , Primary Advisor)

Completed

• Does the Young Schema Model explain the developmental origins and mechanisms of depressive symptoms? (2019, PhD , Advisor Mentor)
• Genomics in nursing practice in Australia: a critical realist case study (2019, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Playing the game: a grounded theory study of the integration of internationally qualified nurses in the Australian healthcare system (2019, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Notes on pre-Nightingale nursing: what it was and what it was not (2020, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Bullying in nursing: trapped in history (2021, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• New graduate registered nurse practice readiness for Australian healthcare contexts: a collective instrumental case study (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Participation in exercise and sport for individuals with minimal disability from multiple sclerosis (2022, PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.