Daniel Nicholls, R.N., PhD (Macquarie) is a nurse and philosopher. He is currently Clinical Chair in Mental Health Nursing with University of Canberra and ACT Health Directorate. From 2009 – 2011 he was Head of Program (Mental Health Nurse Practitioner) at UWS. For the previous seven years he held a senior mental health leadership role for a large Victorian Health Service, which included child and adolescent services as well as infant, adult and aged mental health services. His particular area of expertise is reflective practice and clinical supervision. He is committed to assisting others in developing their critical reflective skills in order to better reflect on their clinical impact on patients and others.

Areas of Teaching

Currently Dr Nicholls is teaching the Postgraduate unit: Clinical Supervision in Health Care Practice. He has taught for many years in other specific areas of mental health across the lifespan as well as critical thinking and specialty areas of philosophy.

Research

Research Interests

Dr Nicholls’s research interests are centred on clinical staff capabilities in ensuring high quality outcomes for consumers of mental health services, as well as their families and carers.  He is also committed to linking his research in philosophy to everyday life.

Research Grants and Awards

Esther Chang, Amanda Johnson, Daniel Nicholls: Avoiding "high tech" through "high touch" in end stage dementia: Protocol for care at the end of life. Funding Body: Commonwealth Department of Health & Ageing; $386,791 Project Start: 03 March 2010 – Project End: 16 September 2011

Daniel Nicholls: Balancing oral and written cultures: Exploring congruence and relevance of oral and written clinical reporting in nursing. Funding Body: University of Western Sydney SEED Grant: $7,228 Project Start: 22 September 2009 – Project End: 21 December 2010. [Project completed]

Grants as Academic Partner

Jefferies, D., Johnson, M. & Nicholls, D. (2010/11) Improving Nursing Documentation with a Ward-Based Writing Coach. Funding Body: NSW Health Nursing and Midwifery Innovation Scholarship $10,000

Fitzgerald, M., Green, A., Murray, L., Foster, K. & Nicholls, D. (2010/11) Towards patient centred mental health nursing care in the acute inpatient setting: An appreciative inquiry. Funding Body: NSW Health Nursing and Midwifery Innovation Scholarship $10,000

Tenders

Schmied, V., Nicholls, D, Luck, Lauetta, Luck Leanne, Dahlen, H, Anning, B.,  Carriage, C, Arundell, F. & Wilson, I. (2009/10) AIMHS/CSF Professional Development Package (Aboriginal Maternal and Infant health Strategy Curriculum resources). NSW Department of Health $32,840.50. [Project completed]

Awards

2010: Nominator for UWS Vice Chancellor’s Partnership Ward - recipient: Sydney South West Area Health Service

2007: Partner in Austin Health, Nursing Research Award: The Impact of a Changed Environment on Consumers/Staff/Carers of a Secure Psychiatric Rehabilitation Facility: with M.Love, J. Daniel and J.Olver

Recent Publications

Book Chapters

Nicholls, D, Anderson, B & Cross W. (2011) Nurses Health and Self Care in Nursing, [Chapter 23] in K. Edward, I. Munro, A. Robins & A. Welch (eds.), Mental Health Nursing: Dimensions of Praxis. London: Oxford University Press.

Nicholls D. (2007) “Essential skills for a successful supervisory partnership to flourish”, [Chapter 4] in John Driscoll, (ed.), Practising Clinical Supervision for Healthcare Professionals: A reflective approach (second edition), London: Baillière Tindall and Royal College of Nursing. [

Nicholls, D., Mitchell-Dawson, B. (2002) “Promoting mental health in nurses through clinical supervision”, [chapter 21] in Lou Morrow, Irene Verins, Eileen Willis, (eds.), Mental Health and Work: Issues and Perspectives, Joint publication of Auseinet and VicHealth, Adelaide: Auseinet, Flinders University.

Nicholls, D. (2000) "The Vision of Morality", [chapter 7] in Max Deutscher, (ed.), Michèle Le Dœuff: Operative Philosophy and Imaginary Practice, New York: Humanity Books/Prometheus.

Journals

Jefferies D, Johnson M., Nicholls D. (2011). Developing a minimum data set for electronic nursing handover. Journal of Clinical Nursing (accepted for publication 2nd July 2011).

Nicholls D., Gaynor N., Shaffiei T., Bosanac P., Farrell G. (2011). Mental health nursing in emergency departments: The case for a nurse practitioner role. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 20(3-4), 530-536.
Nicholls D. (2009). Judicious Judgment: A Case for Very Unusual Minds. Crossroads: An interdisciplinary journal for the study of history, philosophy, religion and classics, 4(1), 65-70.

Nicholls D. (2009). Introduction and Editorial by Guest Editor. Crossroads: An interdisciplinary journal for the study of history, philosophy, religion and classics, 4(1), 3-4.

Olver, J., Love, M., Daniel, J., Norman, T., Nicholls, D. (2009). The impact of a changed environment on arousal levels of patients in a secure extended rehabilitation facility. Australasian Psychiatry, 17(3), 207-211.

Nicholls, D., Butterworth, T., Owen, S., McGonagle I., Baguley, I., Potter, S., Alexander, A., Forrest, S., Arthur, D., O’Brien, A., and Stuart, G. (2008). The Singapore Summit: Integrating the 10 Essential Shared Capabilities into an international research and clinical framework for mental health – the International Standing Conference for Capability Development for Mental Health. Asian Journal of Nursing, 11, 54-60.

Nicholls D., Daniel J., Love M.  (2007). The alignment of workforce development with service user moves towards integral self-intervention in the management of emotional states that may lead to behavioural disturbance: One Australian perspective. The Journal of Mental Health Training Development and Practice, 2 (2), 13-21.

Conference Proceedings/Published Abstracts

Nicholls, D., Baker, N. (2008). The Introduction of a Nurse Practitioner role in Youth Early Psychosis. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 2(S1). [Abstract]

Nicholls, D., Love M. (2003). Group Work Skills for Nurses: Bringing back challenging practices towards a goal of an enhanced experience for Consumers. Proceedings, The Mental Health Services Conference, Canberra.