Rate My Professor Nicole Graham

Nicole Graham serves as a Lecturer in Nursing within the Faculty of Health at Southern Cross University, based at the Gold Coast campus. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing from Griffith University and a Master of Advanced Practice, and is a credentialed mental health nurse. Her career includes extensive experience in inpatient and community mental health nursing, interdisciplinary education, and nursing leadership in a tertiary hospital and health service, where she coordinated and reviewed transition to practice mental health programs. Currently, she is a PhD candidate supervised by Dr. Louise Whitaker as principal supervisor and Professor John Hurley as co-supervisor. Her doctoral research explores interdisciplinary and lived experience understandings of trauma-informed care and socio-ecological factors that influence training and implementation in mental health settings. Graham's academic interests focus on trauma-informed care, mental health lived experience workers, and cultivating a skilled workforce to optimize care for people experiencing mental illness, alongside enhancing transition to practice for health discipline students.

Graham's research and scholarly outputs include the peer-reviewed article 'Trauma-Informed Care in Acute Adult Public Mental Health Settings: A Scoping Study Examining Implementation,' published in Issues in Mental Health Nursing in 2024 as corresponding author with co-authors Louise Whitaker, Gregory Smith, and John Hurley. Other key publications are the book chapter 'Preparing for Mental Health Clinical Placement' in 2024 co-authored with Stephen Van Vorst, and contributions to 'Collaborative Approach to Supporting Staff in a Mental Health Inpatient Unit' in Issues in Mental Health Nursing in 2022. In recognition of her teaching contributions, she received the Inspiring Educators award in 2025 for leadership in mental health nursing education, including redesigning curricula, fostering industry partnerships, authoring influential works, and developing innovative interprofessional units that advance trauma-informed care and professional preparation across health disciplines. She has also contributed to public engagement through panel discussions during Mental Health Week and the Vital Signs Podcast on mental health nursing.