Rate My Professor Christine Palmer

Dr. Christine Palmer serves as a Lecturer in Nursing and Clinical Program Coordinator for the Southern Region at the University of the Sunshine Coast's School of Health. A registered nurse (RN) with extensive clinical practice in mental health nursing across inpatient, community, and private settings—including 10 years in private practice—she emphasizes recovery-oriented practice. Her academic qualifications include a PhD from the University of South Australia, where her dissertation utilized critical ethnography to explore nursing practice in an acute psychiatric inpatient unit; a Master of Nursing and Bachelor of Applied Science in Nursing from Queensland University of Technology; and a Diploma in Applied Science - Nursing Education from Queensland Institute of Technology. As a qualitative researcher, she employs critical methodologies that examine power relations and challenge established norms in mental health care.

Palmer's research specializations include mental health and mental illness, clinical supervision, critiques of mental health services, trauma-informed care, working with individuals experiencing addiction, perinatal mental illness, and psychotropic medications. A Fellow of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (FACMHN), she has received awards such as Best Poster at the ACMHN International Conference (Cairns, 2018), Nursing and Allied Health Scholarship and Support Scheme ($1,500, Australian College of Nursing, 2014), APA Scholarship (2005-2007), and Queensland Nursing Council Scholarships ($5,000 annually, 2005-2007). Her grant-funded projects include the University of the Sunshine Coast Early Career Research Grant ($4,000, 2018-2019) on psychosocial support for adolescents with Type 1 diabetes, Flinders University Faculty Competitive Research Grant ($16,000, 2014-2016), and SALHN-Flinders Collaborative Partnership Grant ($40,000, 2016). Key publications comprise "Repairing the effects of childhood trauma: The long and winding road" (2020), "Factors affecting ward nurses' basic life support experiences: An integrative literature review" (2022), "Web-Based Questionnaire for Healthcare Professionals on Psychosocial Support for Adolescents and Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes" (2022), and book chapters on therapeutic interventions (2017) and pathways of care (2018). She teaches mental health, research, and primary health care, while offering clinical supervision in private practice.