Across the year we facilitate a number of programs to equip nurses with the requisite knowledge, skills, abilities and attributes to investigate and improve practice.

Programs facilitated by the Nursing Research Team include:

• Best Practice Program
• Special Nursing Events
• Tested or Tradition (ToT)
• Workshops
• Other

BEST Practice Program

Generously supported by The RCH Foundation, the BEST (Building Evidence with Support to Transform Practice) Program provides nurses with the opportunity to develop their own research project through the competence in

• Gathering and reviewing the evidence related to an issue arising from practice,
• Undertaking a small research project,
• Identifying and communicating with stakeholders,
• Facilitating the translation of evidence into practice, and
  
• Identifying and addressing contextual factors to enable practice change.

The BEST Practice Program involves nominated nurses coming together for ten program days over eight months to address the clinical issue identified from their area of practice. In addition to active participation in the program days, we provide ongoing support for participants. All projects undertaken as part of the BEST Practice Program aligned with the strategic focus of The RCH.

2025/2026 BEST Practice Program  

Applications for the BEST Program 25/26 are NOW OPEN. 

Please complete the EOI form below. Manager support is required. EOIs need to be submitted by the 12th of May 2025.

25/26 Best Practice Program Expression of Interest form 

2025/2026 Program dates:

• Tuesday August 26^th  2025
• Wednesday August 27^th  2025
• Tuesday September 16^th  2025
• Tuesday October 7^th  2025
• Tuesday November 18^th  2025
• Tuesday December 9^th  2025
• Tuesday February 10^th 2026
• Tuesday February 24^th, 2026
• Tuesday March 17^th 2026
• Tuesday March 31^st 2026
  
  

Have questions, a practice issue in mind, or would like to be nominated? Speak to your Nurse Unit Manager/Department Head or the Nursing Research Team!

Past BESTies

Previous Best Practice participants have gone on to present nationally and internationally, publish in peer reviewed journals and successfully implement a clinical practice change. 

Publications on past BEST practice projects include:

• Dentry, T., O'Neill, J., Raj, S., Gardiner, K., & Savarirayan, R. (2024). Exploring the family experience of children aged 2–4 years receiving daily vosoritide injections: A qualitative study. Journal of Pediatric Nursing.
• Cini, C. (2022). Characterizing chylothorax in the pediatric population with Congenital Heart Disease. Progress in Pediatric Cardiology, 67, 101548. 
• Devsam, B. U., & Kinney, S. (2021). The clinical utility of the pain assessment tool in ventilated, sedated, and muscle-relaxed neonates. Australian Critical Care, 34(4), 333-339. 
  
  

Special Nursing Events

Family Voice, Career Cafe and Nursing Bioethics Hypotheticals are coordinated by the Nursing Research team. Each are held on site for in-person attendance for RCH staff. Upcoming sessions include: 

• March 20^th - Family Voice
• May 12^th - Career Cafe
• May 27^th - Nursing Bioethics Hypothetical 
  

Tested or Tradition

Upcoming 2025 Tested or Tradition (ToT) sessions:

• March 4^th - Possum/DOS, Banksia & Day Oncology
  
• April 1^st- Medical Imaging, Specialist Clinics & Butterfly
  
• May 6^th- Platypus, PACU & Kelpie
  
• August 5^th-Platypus, PACU & Kelpie
  
• September 2^nd-Dolphin, Perioperative & Wallaby
  
• October 7^th- Rosella, Wombat & Koala
  
• November 11^th-Emergency, Cardiac Theatres, Kookaburra
  
• December 2^nd-Immunisation, PIPER & Day Medical Unit

RCH staff can access the resources on SharePoint: ToT Resources 

For questions on special nursing series and tested or tradition please contact Nursing Research. 

Workshops

The below workshops are for campus staff only. 

Nursing Clinical Guideline Writing Workshop 

•  Writing an Evidence Based Guideline a resource in Learning Hero (RCH staff access only). In learning hero you can also sign up for face-to-face workshops to learn about the processes of NCEC, literature searching and stakeholders, through the above learning hero link. 
  
• Next workshop: Sep 12, 0830-1630: Guideline Writing Workshop

Other

Ethics for Clinical Practice Program

Formerly Engaging Nurses in Clinical Ethics (ENCE) run through the Children's Bioethics Centre. For more information see: Children's Bioethics Centre : Nursing ethics (rch.org.au)

STEP to Research and STEP to Qualitative Research

Contact education.hub@rch.org.au for more information. 

Need more information? Contact the team at:  nursing.research@rch.org.au