Watch Recording: Trauma-Informed Nursing for Safer Care Practices

Ria Esberey is currently the Head of Mental Health Liaison Nursing at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and she has dedicated over 13 years to advancing mental health nursing in various acute and sub-acute mental health settings. With a postgraduate diploma in Mental Health Nursing and a Masters of Advanced Nursing Practice in Mental Health from The University of Melbourne, Ria combines extensive clinical expertise with a commitment to education and advocacy in mental health care. In her current role, Ria leverages her first-hand experience of the impact that treatment and medical systems can have on patients to educate oncology nursing colleagues on the importance of trauma-informed care practices. Recognizing the profound influence these practices can have on patient outcomes, she aims to foster a deeper understanding of mental health care within the oncology setting, producing better outcomes for oncology patients receiving care at Peter Mac. In addition to her clinical responsibilities, Ria serves as a senior lecturer in a partnership with Swinburne University of Technology, where she is dedicated to delivering high-quality undergraduate nursing education. In the clinical space she plans to undertake a project focused on creating an embedded, multimodal education series for early-career oncology nurses, emphasizing trauma-informed practices and their application in supporting the mental health of oncology patients. Ria’s work exemplifies a commitment to bridging the gap between mental health and oncology care, ensuring that patients receive holistic, compassionate treatment that is recovery focused and trauma informed.

Kellie Gumm is Australia’s most experienced Trauma Program Manager with over 30 years of expertise in trauma, critical care, education, research, registries, and course coordination. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Intensive Therapy Nursing, a Graduate Diploma in Health Promotion, and a Master of Adult Education. In her current role, Kellie is deeply involved in all aspects of trauma care, with a strong commitment to clinical leadership, quality improvement, and education. She is passionate about ensuring trauma patients receive seamless, high-quality care from admission to discharge. Kellie has been instrumental in shaping trauma care practices, having led the development of trauma guidelines at RMH, authored learning modules for Trauma Victoria, and contributed to the Major Trauma Chapter in the Emergency and Trauma Care textbook for Nurses and Paramedics. She also plays a key role in teaching and coordinating multidisciplinary trauma education at RMH.

Clare Manning is the Director for the Social Model of Health and has worked at the Women’s since 2021. Since joining the Women’s, Clare has been influencing cultural change regarding the value and importance of incorporating trauma and violence informed care principles into all aspects of health care. She has led the development of an online resource that provides staff with a foundational level of understanding of trauma and violence informed principles available on The Women’s intranet. Clare’s clinical experience in understanding the impact of trauma remains integral to her leadership role in leading a division that remains committed and focused on the social determinants of health.

Clare is a social worker and family therapist and has clinical experience that crosses the domains of child and adolescent mental health, working with high risk young people with substance issues, and child protection. She has worked in three other hospitals in Melbourne, the community and government sector and thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in this forum.

Dr Haley Peckham’s background includes philosophy, mental health nursing, psychotherapy and neuroscience. Her perspective is grounded in lived experience of recovering from complex trauma. While studying philosophy, Haley worked with children and adolescents ‘in care’. She realised that as adults they were over-represented in the criminal justice system and mental health services. Haley set out to understand the relationship between early experiences, brains, minds, behaviours and life trajectories. She studied Molecular Neuroscience at Bristol and gained her PhD from The University of Melbourne where she learned the neuroscience of how experiences shape brains and the evolutionary biology that illuminates why experiences shape the trajectories of our lives. These insights offer non-pathologizing, non-judgmental ways of understanding traumatised and traumatising states and behaviours, making a difference by reducing shame. The ‘Neuroplastic Narrative’ appreciates Neuro-Ecological Diversity, foregrounding relational practice and social justice for populations affected by transgenerational trauma and inequities.