Rate My Professor Karen Missen

Dr. Karen Missen serves as an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in the School of Rural Health at Monash University, part of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. She earned her PhD from Monash University in 2016, focusing on the work-readiness of nursing graduates, along with a Master of Health Science in Nursing Education, Graduate Diploma in Intensive Care Nursing, Bachelor of Health Science, and registration as a nurse. Missen joined Monash University in April 2007 as a full-time Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, where she instructed third-year undergraduate students in high acuity clinical skills and community nursing. Her extensive clinical background encompasses roles as an Intensive Care Nurse in both metropolitan and rural hospitals, as well as district nursing in rural community settings, providing her with deep expertise in critical care nursing, clinical education, and high acuity skills.

Missen's research interests center on nursing education, graduate nurse readiness for practice, patient deterioration management in rural hospitals, health literacy, and therapeutic rehabilitation. She has co-investigated projects such as the Managing Patient Deterioration: Rural Hospital Skills initiative (2011-2012) and the First2Act simulation program to enhance nursing responses in rural Australian hospitals. Her scholarly contributions include 24 research outputs, with key publications such as 'Evaluating the effects of a Therapeutic Day Rehabilitation program and inclusion of gardening in an Australian Rural Community Health Service' (2021, Australian Journal of Primary Health), 'The Association between Health Literacy and Self-Rated Health Amongst Australian University Students' (2020, Journal of Health Communication), 'Adult Deterioration Detection System (ADDS): An evaluation of the impact on MET and Code blue activations in a regional healthcare service' (2018, Collegian), 'Work readiness of nursing graduates: current perspectives of graduate nurse program coordinators' (2015, Contemporary Nurse), 'Satisfaction of newly graduated nurses enrolled in transition to practice programs in their first year of employment: a systematic review' (2014, Journal of Advanced Nursing), and 'Situation awareness in undergraduate nursing students managing simulated patient deterioration' (2014, Nurse Education Today). These works have influenced perceptions of new graduate competence and strategies for acute care in rural contexts, supporting UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 on good health and well-being. Missen has been involved in all stages of research, from ethics applications and grant writing to data analysis, thematic coding, report preparation, and industry collaboration.