Rate My Professor Kirstie Howland

Kirstie Howland is a Lecturer in nursing within the College of Health at Adelaide University, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. She has extensive experience in nursing education, teaching across all year levels in pre-registration nursing programs since 2006 at both the University of South Australia and the University of Adelaide. Her teaching roles include coordinating professional experience placement courses, facilitating academic liaison for students, and instructing in theory courses such as NURS 2023 Health of Adults, NURS 3045 Nursing Context of Practice: Primary Health Care, NURS 3056 Transition to Professional Practice, and NURS 2022 Health of Infants, Children and Adolescents. Howland's academic background includes a Bachelor of Nursing from the University of South Australia (1994-1996), a Graduate Diploma in Nursing Science from the University of Adelaide (2001), postgraduate qualifications in Medical Nursing, and she is currently a PhD student at the University of South Australia researching clinical education. She also holds a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment from Smart Step Training (2015).

Before focusing on academia, Howland served as a Clinical Nurse in the South Australian public health sector since 1997, primarily in medical and geriatric specialties, with additional expertise in Emergency, hyperbaric medicine, and infection control. Her career history encompasses Clinical Tutor at SA Health (2006-2010), Lecturer Level A at the University of Adelaide (2011-ongoing), Casual Tutor at the University of South Australia (2022-2024), and Lecturer Level B at the University of South Australia (2024-ongoing). Her research specializations include the preparation of pre-registration nursing students for graduation with a focus on capability development, academic integrity, clinical nursing in tertiary settings, nursing workforce issues, and curriculum and pedagogy in medicine, nursing, and health. Notable publications are 'The concept of capability in pre-registration nursing education: a scoping review' (Nurse Education Today, 2024, with Matricciani, L.A., Cornelius-Bell, A., and Kelly, M.A.) and co-authorship on 'Sleep of Nurses: A Comprehensive Scoping Review' (Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2025, with Matricciani, L., et al.). She is a member of the Tertiary Education Union (2025-ongoing).