Author: Marian Chandler

Getting to know you – meet Katherine Cantos

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Our “Getting to Know You” segment ensures PREDICT members are aware of new members, their interests and areas of expertise and where they are located.

This month we introduce Katherine Cantos from Monash Children’s Hospital.

“I work at Monash Children’s Hospital in Emergency, the Canopy ward and now with the paediatric ED research team! I’m very interested in research as I’d love to be a part of learning about and making improvements to the care we provide in hospital so that we can improve oucomes for unwell children all over the world. Every little bit counts and I’ve very much enjoyed getting on board with the research team to work with other nurses and doctors in our Emergency Department in a variety of different and interesting projects.”

Welcome to PREDICT Katherine!

 

 

 

 

 

New PREDICT publications

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Congratulations to the following PREDICT authors:

Curran J, Wozney L, Tavender E, Wilson C, Ritchie KC, Wong H, Gallant A, Somerville M, Archambault PM, Cassidy C, Jabbour M, Mackay R, Plint AC “Implementing Electronic Discharge Communication Tools in Pediatric Emergency Departments: Multicountry, Cross-Sectional Readiness Survey of Nurses and Physicians”. JMIR Hum Factors 2023;10:e46379 doi: 10.2196/46379  PMID: 37819696.

Parr M, Wilson CL, Jones B, Crawford NW, Ferguson S, Ramesh S, Eapen N, Craig S, Hearps S, Babl FE. Emergency department presentations for chest complaints after mRNA COVID‐19 vaccinations in children and adolescents. Emergency Medicine Australasia. 2023-10-23. DOI: 10.1111/1742-6723.14327.

Getting to know you – meet Louise Mills

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Our “Getting to Know You” segment ensures PREDICT members are aware of new members, their interests and areas of expertise and where they are located.

This month we introduce Louise Mills from Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane.

“I work at The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane where we have separate General Adult and Children’s emergency departments. I work as both a Clinical Nurse in General ED and as a Nurse Researcher within both Emergency Departments. In my role as part of the research team I am responsible for recruitment and clinical data collection of studies currently underway and I also prepare information for the Site Specific Applications for future studies. I feel privileged to be actively involved in both locally and internationally recognised research, and to be able to contribute to the health and wellbeing of people of all ages and their families.”

Welcome to PREDICT Louise!

 

 

 

 

 

Project Snapshot – Head Injury Co-design

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Co-designing discharge communication strategies for paediatric minor head injuries.

Co-ordinating PI:

Emma Tavender/Franz Babl

Study Co-ordinator ANZ

Emma Tavender/Cate Wilson

Study aim/s:

To improve discharge communication currently provided to children presenting to the ED with mild to moderate head injuries (concussion). Specifically, adolescents who have an increased risk of post-concussion symptoms (PCS).

Study design:

Mixed Methods:  stepped co-design method to engage consumers (parents and youths) and clinicians in the development of head injury discharge communication strategies.

Primary outcome:

Co-designed discharge communication strategies for adolescents with mild to moderate head injuries (concussion) with parents, youths and clinicians.

Additional outcomes:
  • Training materials that can be used for future co-design efforts
  • Advancement in the science of implementation and contribution to future discharge communication strategy development for other common paediatric ED presentations.
Current status:
  • Ethics received from RCH and Western Health.
  • Recruited four parents, four clinicians and three youths to participate.
  • Orientation/training session plus three meetings held.
  • Priorities for improvement have been determined.
  • List of priorities reduced to two key areas for improvement: Head injury: what to expect in the ED and Concussion discharge information.
  • Prototype to address the two key priorities that have been developed and updated in response to new International Sports-related Concussion guidance (Amsterdam 2023)
  • Plan to start usability testing end 2023/early 2024.

 

 

 

BREAKING NEWS – NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence grant application successful!

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We are very excited to announce that we have received NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) CRE funding ($2.5m) for the next 5 years which will support us to continue our PREDICT research plans.

The new CRE will continue to target conditions including sepsis and acute respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Additionally there will be a focus on improving family input at all stages of the trial design and execution and improved translation plus tracking of changes in care.

Over the next five years, the grant will also fund the creation of a family-facing smartphone app for families for certain high-risk conditions and an emergency department-focused implementation toolkit that can be adapted for hospitals across Australia and New Zealand.

The NHMRC funding will also develop Australia’s future workforce, training emerging leaders in emergency care through the creation of higher degree scholarships and postdoctoral opportunities. Through research and the implementation of best evidence, students and researchers within the CRE in Paediatric Emergency Medicine will be mentored across specialties and disciplines to become independent researchers who can improve the lives of all children who visit emergency departments.

The application was a massive collaborative effort from many people across many sites and thanks goes to all involved in this successful application.

We will discuss the CRE at the next PREDICT members meeting in November and look forward to an exciting and productive future for PREDICT!

Getting to know you – meet Lara Caruso

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Our “Getting to Know You” segment ensures PREDICT members are aware of new members, their interests and areas of expertise and where they are located.

This month we introduce Lara Caruso.

“I work in the Paediatric Emergency Department at the Womens & Childrens Hospital, Adelaide both on the floor as a Clinical Nurse and under Dr Amit Kochar as a Research assistant. Although I have a general interest in all paediatric emergency research, mental health would be my favourite.”

Welcome to PREDICT Lara!

 

 

 

 

 

RA study day in Melbourne – very successful meeting!

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Our presenters did a great job of keeping the crowd entertained!

Interactive and entertaining CHOICE UTI presentation from Laila.

Drinks and dinner at Captain Melville.

Our Perth team enjoy the group dinner.

 

Fifty-three clinical research staff from 23 sites across Australia, attended training for the CHOICE UTI, Mental Health Observational, FEBCON, SPASMS and Asthma prospective studies.  This event was held at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne on 24th and 25th July 2023.

This meeting provided an opportunity to meet fellow colleagues in the research team and learn about how these new studies will run in view of different settings.
There is nothing quite like being able to ask questions and give answers in a face to face context!

Thanks to the organising team including: Marian Chandler, Cate Wilson, Simon Craig, Naomi Loftus and Marietta John-White for ensuring the smooth running of this successful event.

New PREDICT publications

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Congratulations to the following PREDICT authors:

Borland ML, O’Brien S, Tavender E, Haskell L, Babl FE, Schembri R, Smedley B, Mitenko H, Robertson T, Mukherjee A, Dalziel SR. Evaluation of targeted implementation interventions for reducing investigations and therapies in infants with bronchiolitis. Acta Paediatr. 2023 Apr 6. doi: 10.1111/apa.16786. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37026175.

O’Brien SL, Haskell L, Tavender EJ, Wilson S, Borland ML, Oakley E, Dalziel SR, Gill FJ. Factors influencing health professionals’ use of high-flow nasal cannula therapy for infants with bronchiolitis – A qualitative study. Frontiers in Pediatrics. 2023; 11: 1098577. 

Bourke EM, Douglas N, Wilson CL, Anderson D, Nehme Z, Babl FE; Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT). Acute Severe Behavioral Disturbance Requiring Parenteral Sedation in Pediatric Mental Health Presentations to Emergency Medical Services: A Retrospective Chart Review. Ann Emerg Med. 2023 Jun 30:S0196-0644(23)00355-4. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2023.04.028. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37389492.

Craig S, Delardes B, Nehme Z, Wilson C, Dalziel S, Nixon GM, Powell C, Graudins A, Babl FE; PREDICT Network. Acute paediatric asthma treatment in the prehospital setting: a retrospective observational study. BMJ Open. 2023 Jun 22;13(6):e073029. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073029. PMID: 37349099; PMCID: PMC10314617.

Getting to know you – meet Rebecca Gridley

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Our “Getting to Know You” segment ensures PREDICT members are aware of new members, their interests and areas of expertise and where they are located.

This month we introduce Rebecca Gridley from the Queensland Children’s Hospital.

“I am currently an Advanced Trainee in Emergency Medicine and have been working at Queensland Children’s Hospital for the past 12 months. I have been very lucky to be involved in the data collection for some current studies within paediatric care, fostering an interest in research. I will be moving hospitals as part of my training but would like to stay linked in with research projects and remain up to date with evidence to provide the best possible care to all patients that I see. I hope to be able to contribute to research and continue to support advances in health care as my career progresses.”

Welcome to PREDICT Rebecca!

 

 

 

 

 

Project Snapshot – CHOICE UTI

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Clinical efficacy of single dose (daily) IV antibiotics followed by 2 days oral antibiotics compared to 3 doses (daily) IV antibiotics for children with complicated urinary tract infections: a multicentre randomised trial

Co-ordinating PI:

Laila Ibrahim

Study Co-ordinator

Emily McKie

Project aim/s:

The CHOICE UTI study is an international, MRFF-funded RCT across 5 PREDICT sites. The study is asking, for children with complicated UTI presenting to the ED, is a single dose IV plus two days oral as clinically effective as 3 doses IV antibiotics in resolving symptoms at 72 hours?

Definition:

1 dose: one dose of a daily dose IV to cover Gram negative bacteria  +/- one dose IV to cover Enterococcus spp. This will be followed by two days oral antibiotics.
3 doses: three doses of a daily dose IV to cover Gram negative bacteria +/- 3 days IV antibiotics to cover Enterococcus spp.

Recruitment:

The Royal Children’s Hospital (Melbourne) commenced recruitment in 2022 and has now recruited 20 patients to the study. In May 2023, both the Women and Children’s Hospital (WCH) (Adelaide) and Monash Medical Centre (Melbourne) commenced recruitment. WCH has now recruited their second patient. Perth Children’s Hospital will be commencing in July 2023 and Starship (New Zealand) is to commence recruitment soon.

Study design:

An open label, multi-centre, pragmatic, non-inferiority randomised controlled trial (RCT).  It will incorporate a two-arm, non-inferiority design with parallel groups and 1:1 allocation of children presenting to the ED in whom clinicians deem parenteral antibiotics are required for a febrile complicated UTI.

Current status:
  • Royal Children’s Hospital (Melbourne) commenced recruitment in 2022 and has now recruited 25 patients to the study.
  • Women and Children’s Hospital (WCH) (Adelaide) commenced recruitment in May 2023 and has recruited 4 patients to the study.
  • Monash Medical Centre (Melbourne) commenced recruitment in May 2023 and is waiting to recruit their first patient.
  • Perth Children’s Hospital will be commencing recruitment shortly, currently finalising governance sign off.
  • Starship (New Zealand) is currently applying for ethics for the study and will commence recruitment soon.