Rate My Professor Jennifer Dermer

Dr. Jennifer Dermer is a Lecturer in Nursing in the School of Health at the University of the Sunshine Coast. As a registered nurse with over 28 years of experience, she has practiced in intensive care units across the United States, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Australia, specializing in cardiothoracic intensive care. Her clinical career includes roles as a Cardiology and Respiratory Clinical Nurse Educator and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Clinical Nurse Educator and Officer. Dermer completed her PhD at the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2023, becoming the inaugural PhD graduate from the Caboolture campus. Her doctoral research, titled 'Promoting nurses’ performance of basic life support in non-critical care hospital wards,' utilized a mixed-methods approach to explore barriers faced by ward nurses during cardiac arrests and developed innovative, evidence-based education sessions. These sessions, incorporating adult learning principles, hands-on practice, and debriefing, have been adopted into mandatory basic life support training at a Queensland Health hospital, replacing shorter annual competency assessments. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Sciences (Nursing) from the University of Otago and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Indiana University.

Dermer's academic interests center on enhancing clinical competence, critical thinking, professionalism, and ethical practice within the nursing workforce, particularly regarding basic life support in non-intensive care environments. Her peer-reviewed publications include 'Factors affecting ward nurses' basic life support experiences: An integrative literature review' (2023, International Journal of Nursing Practice), 'Exploring nurses' experiences of performing basic life support in hospital wards: An inductive thematic analysis' (2024), 'Promoting nurses' performance of basic life support in non-intensive care hospital wards' (2024), 'Accessibility, Barriers, and Care: An Integrative Literature Review of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Patients in Emergency Departments' (2025, Journal of Emergency Nursing), and 'Journal Club Article: The STEROHCA Trial – Optimizing post resuscitation haemodynamics by prehospital high dose corticosteroids' (2025). She delivers courses in Professional Health Communication, Healthcare Law and Ethics, Research Methods, and Drug Therapies. Dermer is affiliated with the Australian College of Nursing, Queensland Cardiovascular Research Network, and Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union. In community service, she provides free health checks to the homeless and raises awareness for organ donation.