In a joint appointment with Curtin School of Nursing and Perth Children's Hospital, Child and Adolescent Health Service, Professor Fenella Gill is a clinically experienced nurse researcher in paediatric acute care and critical care. She leads a highly applied program of implementation and improvement research ‘Safer care for children in hospital’ strengthening the recognition and response to clinical deterioration in children in hospital and optimising family involvement. Fenella's research is guided by her vision to methodically and systematically address the evidence-to-practice gap in the care of clinically deteriorating children and their families. This focus includes supporting safer, more reliable hospital care for children where timely recognition, escalation and response can be critical to preventing avoidable harm and improving outcomes. A key research impact was the development, testing and statewide implementation of the ESCALATION System.  

Development of the ESCALATION system involved a co-designed implementation science approach, incorporating clinical simulation research, stakeholder consultations, and multi-methods testing across different hospital settings. This led to the evidence-based paediatric early warning system that integrates early warning signs, sepsis recognition pathways, and family concerns into care escalation decisions. ESCALATION System has been implemented in all WA hospitals where children are cared for as well as St John Ambulance WA prehospital emergency services and urgent care clinics.

The research program is now focused on optimising the ESCALATION System especially focused on; addressing healthcare equity for priority populations, ESCALATION System scale up in the wide variety of health contexts in Western Australia, examining the performance of the ESCALATION System and early warning score in hospital, in the prehospital emergency response service and Hospital in the Home. 

Fenella's program has been supported by multiple research translation and implementation science fellowships with impact recognised through major health service and discipline awards including life memberships Australian College of Critical Care Nurses and Australian College of Paediatric and Young Peoples' Nurses.  Fenella is lucky to be working with the amazing Safer care for children in hospital research team:

Dr Eileen Boyle                  Dr Jo Zhou

Dr Emogene Aldridge.       Dr Amineh Rashidi

Prof Gavin Leslie.               Margie Lane

Yunia Kolikiania                  Ayako Nakayama

Sarah Fulford                      Falak Zaman

Chelsea Kelly             

Fenella also collaborates nationally and internationally and continues to build knowledge in critical care nurse education, paediatric intensive care, partnership with consumers and implementation science