Rate My Professor Brenda Happell

Professor Brenda Happell is an Honorary Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Newcastle. A registered nurse with specialist qualifications in mental health nursing, she earned her PhD, Master of Education, Bachelor of Education, Diploma of Education, and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from La Trobe University. Possessing over 28 years of experience in academia, her distinguished career encompasses leadership positions such as Professor of Nursing at the University of Newcastle from August 2018 to June 2022, Professor of Nursing and Executive Director of the SYNERGY Nursing and Midwifery Research Centre at the University of Canberra and ACT Health from 2015 to 2018, Engaged Research Chair in Mental Health Nursing and Director of the Institute for Health and Social Science Research at Central Queensland University from 2007 to 2014, and Associate Professor of Nursing and inaugural Director of the Centre for Psychiatric Nursing Research and Practice at the University of Melbourne from 1999 to 2006. Earlier roles include Senior Lecturer positions at Deakin University and the University of Melbourne.

Professor Happell's research specializations are in mental health nursing, with a 100% focus on the field of research code 420504 Mental Health Nursing. Her key interests include consumer participation and expert-by-experience involvement in mental health services, education, and research; physical health care for people with mental illness, including cardiometabolic health and nurse-led interventions; attitudes of nursing students and health professionals toward mental illness; recovery-oriented practices; and workforce issues such as burnout and role expansion. She has produced over 400 peer-reviewed publications, three books—such as Sickness in Health: Bullying in Nursing and Other Health Professions (2024), Clinical Helper for Mental Health Nursing: The Vital Guide for Students and New Graduates (2020), and Introducing Mental Health Nursing: A Service User-Oriented Approach (2020)—and nine book chapters. Among her most cited works are "On exploratory factor analysis: A review of recent evidence, an assessment of current practice, and recommendations for future use" (2014, International Journal of Nursing Studies, 884 citations) and "The high prevalence of poor physical health and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours in individuals with severe mental illness" (2011, Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 570 citations). She has received the TheMHS Exceptional Contribution Award (2019), Life Membership of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (2019), Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council Inaugural Lifetime Ally Award (2018), and Vice-Chancellor’s Outstanding Researcher of the Year at CQUniversity (2012). Professor Happell previously served as Editor of the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing and has contributed to policy advisory councils and international collaborations in mental health nursing education.