Rate My Professor Catina Adams

Dr. Catina Adams is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at La Trobe University, affiliated with the Judith Lumley Centre. She holds the position of Discipline Lead for Specialist and Advanced Practice Programs and coordinates the Graduate Diploma in Child, Family, and Community Nursing. Adams possesses extensive academic qualifications, including a PhD awarded in October 2022 from La Trobe University—focusing on how the Enhanced Maternal and Child Health Service supports vulnerable families experiencing family violence—a Master of Clinical Nursing in Child and Family Health, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Midwifery from the Australian Catholic University (2003), BA (Hons), and Graduate Diploma in Education. As a registered nurse and midwife (RN, RM), she is also a Member of the Australasian College of Nursing (MACN), Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), and Churchill Fellow (CF). Her career at La Trobe commenced in February 2019, building on prior clinical roles as a nurse, midwife, and Child and Family Health nurse, including as Clinical Nurse Consultant in Pregnancy, Birth, and Parenting.

Adams' research interests encompass maternal and child health nursing, enhanced home visiting, family violence, domestic violence, neurodivergence, and family-centred care. She has authored or co-authored 22 publications, including 'The Enhanced Maternal and Child Health nursing program in Victoria: a cross-sectional study of clinical practice' (2019, Journal of Clinical Nursing), 'Maternal, child and family nursing in the time of COVID-19: the Victorian Maternal and Child Health Service experience' (2020), 'Threads of Practice: Enhanced Maternal and Child Health Nurses Working With Women Experiencing Family Violence' (2021, Journal of Primary Care & Community Health), and 'Maternal and child health nurse screening and care for mothers experiencing domestic violence (MOVE): A cluster randomised trial' (2015, BMC Medicine). Recent works include 'Women's insights into choice, empowerment, and control in a subsequent pregnancy following a negative birth experience: A multimethod study' (2025, Women and Birth) and systematic reviews on home-visiting nurses' roles in family violence (2023) and father experiences in child health services (2025). Adams received the Churchill Fellowship in 2014 to investigate enhanced maternal-child health nursing practices internationally and the Faculty of Health Sciences Postgraduate Coursework Award for Excellence. She contributes to public engagement through webinars on nursing programs and lectures on inclusive child and family health practices.