Rate My Professor Laura Hynes

Dr. Laura Hynes served as a Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle campus, from 2019 to 2024. She holds qualifications as a Registered Nurse (RN), Bachelor of Nursing (BN), Postgraduate Certificate in Critical Care Nursing, Master of Nursing (MN, University of Notre Dame Australia, 2019), Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing (University of Notre Dame Australia, 2019), and Doctor of Philosophy (University of Notre Dame Australia, 2024). In addition to her academic role, she maintains clinical practice as a Registered Nurse in a tertiary Adult Intensive Care Unit and previously in a rural ICU, with experience in staff development and education, including training ward-based staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her clinical expertise encompasses critical care, accident and emergency, paediatrics, urology, colorectal, ENT, and plastics. Dr. Hynes teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses such as Clinical Skills, Health Assessment in Nursing, Foundations of Nursing, Fundamentals of Nursing, Primary Healthcare, Advanced Nursing Practice, and Nursing Practice 1. She has served as course coordinator for the Master of Clinical Nursing (Advanced Nursing Specialisation) and Master of Nursing (Graduate Entry) programs and supervises higher degree by research students in nursing and midwifery.

Dr. Hynes' research interests center on nursing and midwifery workforce issues, including retention strategies, job satisfaction's impact on patient care, work-life balance, leadership influences on teams, and barriers to end-of-life care in intensive care settings. Her PhD thesis, "Pandemic Paradox: A Mixed Methods Study Unmasking the Impact of COVID-19 on Australia's Nursing and Midwifery Workforce Job Satisfaction and Retention" (2024), received top examiner commendations and the University of Notre Dame Australia PhD Research Prize for Academic Excellence. Key publications include "Nurses’ and midwives’ job satisfaction and retention during COVID-19: a scoping review" (BMC Nursing, 2025, with S. Geraghty, S. McChlery, A. Smyth, R. Brar, and K. Clark-Burg) and "Intensive care nurses’ perceptions on barriers impeding the provision of end of life care in the intensive care setting: a quantitative analysis" (Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2022, with T. Coventry and K. Russell). Awards also encompass the School of Nursing and Midwifery Alumnus of the Year Award (2019), The Office of the Chief Nurse Florence Nightingale Award Runner Up for Best Short Research Presentation (2020), and President’s Award Runner Up for Excellence in Critical Care Nursing (2016). She is affiliated with the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses, Western Australia Simulation in Healthcare Alliance, Australian College of Nurses, Australian Nursing Federation, and Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.