Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Emeritus Professor O'Connor is an Australian palliative care nurse, clinical researcher and an academic.
She has had a diverse career in clinical care and in establishing home-based palliative care services across Melbourne. For this, she was honoured by being made a member of the Order of Australia in 2005.In 2018 she was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship, to explore end-of-life care and assisted dying issues around the world.
Professor O'Connor has extensively researched service systems, clinical settings of care, bereavement, and policy issues, all related to palliative care and culture. She has always maintained a clinical focus in academic roles and this academic and clinical combination is more recently evidenced by her position as Research Consultant for Melbourne City Mission Palliative Care over 2014-2023. She has more than 170 peer-reviewed publications.
Professor O'Connor initiated the formation of, then led the development of, Palliative Care Nurses' Australia; the group then started an oration in her honour.
She commenced her academic career in 1992 as a sessional Lecturer at Catholic Theological College, Melbourne. In 2001, she joined La Trobe University as a Lecturer in Cancer & Palliative Care. From 2002-2014, she served as the inaugural Vivian Bullwinkel Chair in Palliative Care Nursing at Monash University, leading the Palliative Care Research Team. In recognition of her contribution, the University appointed her as Emeritus Professor in 2014. The following year, she became inaugural Professor of Nursing at Swinburne University of Technology, a position she held until 2018.
Professor O'Connor has held numerous administrative and professional positions throughout her career, including as Coordinator of Nursing at Melbourne Eastern Palliative Care and Executive Director of Caritas Christi & Order of Malta Hospice Homecare Service. She was the first nurse member of the Australian Health Ethics Committee of the National Health & Medical Research Council. serving two terms. She was President of Palliative Care Australia. She was appointed to the Ministerial Advisory Committee of Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) and subsequently served on the VAD Review Board. Internationally, Professor O'Connor was an inaugural Board Director of the World Palliative Care Alliance and the Australian nominee on the Asia-Pacific Hospice & Palliative Care Network. Currently, she serves as an independent non-executive Director of Catholic Healthcare Ltd and is Board Chair of Palliative Care South East in Melbourne
Professor O'Connor continues her academic involvements through student supervision, teaching and writing
Preferred Research Methodologies
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Qualitative and mixed-method methodologies, including phenomenology and discourse analysis
Accredited as Level 2 Supervisor
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Nursing, Doctor of Nursing, The Veils of Death: Understanding Dying in Residential Aged Care. A Discourse Analysis of Policy, La Trobe University
1998 → 2002
Award Date: 24 May 2002
Research area keywords
- Bereavement
- Cultural Issues Surrounding Death and Dying
- Death and Dying
- Palliative Care
- Nursing
- Education
- Bereavement Services
- Hospice
- ethical issues in end-of-life care
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 18 Finished
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Caring for dying patients and their families in Paediatric and Neonatal ICU
Bloomer, M. J. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Copnell, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Endacott, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & O'Connor, M. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/10/12 → 30/06/13
Project: Research
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Review of Competency Standards for the Enrolled Nurse
Cross, W. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Endacott, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Griffiths, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), McKenna, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Moss, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), O'Connor, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Taylor, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Williams, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Wood, P. (Chief Investigator (CI))
3/08/12 → 30/04/14
Project: Research
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Cancer supportive care development and evaluation
Beattie, J. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Griffiths, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & O'Connor, M. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/05/12 → 30/04/13
Project: Research
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Care after death: An exploration of nursing care of the bereaved family in ICU
Bloomer, M. J. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Griffiths, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lee, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & O'Connor, M. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/01/11 → 1/01/12
Project: Research
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The impact on mental health of frequent deaths that occur in high care in aged care settings, on individuals and the resident community.
O'Connor, M. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), O'Connor, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Workman, B. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Department of Health and Aged Care (Australia)
21/04/10 → 31/08/11
Project: Research
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“How to navigate this new area”: Intensive care clinicians’ perceptions of voluntary assisted dying in the intensive care unit: A multisite exploratory study
Bloomer, M. J., O'Neill, K., Hewitt, J., Wheaton, A., O'Connor, M. & Bonner, A., Jan 2025, In: Australian Critical Care. 38, 1, 7 p., 1101070.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access5 Citations (Scopus) -
Measuring and exploring the barriers to translating palliative care knowledge into clinical practice in rural and regional health-care settings
Aregay, A., O'Connor, M., Stow, J., Ayers, N. & Lee, S., Dec 2024, In: Palliative and Supportive Care. 22, 6, p. 1605 - 1614 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access2 Citations (Scopus) -
Self-compassion training in palliative care during COVID-19: A pilot study
O'Connor, M., Shimoinaba, K., Zhong, Y. & Peyton, S., Jun 2024, In: Palliative and Supportive Care. 22, 3, p. 582-587 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access3 Citations (Scopus) -
The Carer Needs Support Tool in multidisciplinary community palliative care: Does it work?
O'Connor, M. & Peyton, S., May 2024, In: BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. 14, e1, p. e306-e307 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Other › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus) -
Home-based palliative care services after COVID-19
O'Connor, M., Jun 2023, In: The Medical Journal of Australia. 218, 10, p. 492 1 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Other › peer-review