Professor Wendy Pollock

Professor

RN, RM, Grad Cert Adv Learning & Leadership, Grad Dip Crit Care Nsg, Grad Dip Ed, PhD, FHEA

Wendy joined Monash in 2021 following a varied career path as an adult critical care nurse, midwife, consultant and academic. She has taught, researched and published extensively on topics related to maternal critical illness and severe maternal morbidity. She completed her PhD on ‘Critically ill pregnant and postnatal women in Victoria: characteristics, severity of illness and provision of acute health services’ in 2008, at The University of Melbourne.

Wendy is passionate about critical illness in pregnancy. She has spent the last 20 years working to improve recognition and monitoring of severe maternal morbidity, and improving the system of care for women who experience illness in pregnancy. This has included contributing as an investigator, to collaborative, multidisciplinary research teams, such as, the Australasian Maternity Outcomes Surveillance System (AMOSS).

She has had more than 35 research papers published and has supervised several PhD and Masters students to completion.

Contact

+61 3 9905 0010
wendy.pollock@monash.edu
Wendy's researcher profile

 

Teaching

  • Specialist lectures on illness and pregnancy

Research

Research interests

  • Maternal critical care
  • Severe maternal morbidity and maternal mortality
  • Recognition of clinical deterioration in pregnancy
  • Massive blood transfusion associated with pregnancy
  • Vaccination in pregnancy
  • Knowledge and skills of nurses and midwives to care for critically ill pregnant and postpartum women
  • Organisation and delivery of health services for pregnant and postpartum women requiring high acuity care
  • Understanding the experience of women and families who endure severe maternal morbidity
  • Obstetric triage
  • Implementation science
Research methodologies
  • Quantitative methods
  • Mixed methods
  • Systematic review

Research projects

Professional engagement / service

  • Chair, Massive Transfusion Registry Obstetrics Special Interest Group, Department of Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine, Monash University, 2015 - present
  • Victorian Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Sub-Committee of the Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity (CCOPMM) –2001-2020
  • Member of the International Confederation of Midwives Research Advisory Network – peer reviewed abstracts for the 30th Triennial Congress held in Prague, 2014
  • Member of the organising committee for the ACCCN 13th Institute of Continuing Education Critical Care Nursing, Melbourne, 2012
  • Scientific Chair (nursing) and member of the organising committee for the 35th ANZICS/ACCCN Intensive Care Annual Scientific Meeting, Melbourne, 2010
  • Haemostasis Registry – obstetric sub-committee, Department of Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine, Monash University 2006-2009
  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare National Advisory Committee on Maternal Mortality 2003-2008
  • Reviewer for multiple Australian and international journals and grants

Professional affiliations

  • Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN) (member)
  • Australian College of Midwives (ACM) (member)
  • Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) (member)
  • Society of Obstetric Medicine of Australia and New Zealand (SOMANZ) (member)
  • Immunisation Coalition (member)
  • British Association of Critical Care Nurses (member)
  • UK Intensive Care Society (member)

Boards / committees

  • Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN)
    • Management Committee member (Victorian Branch 2008-2020)
    • National Board member and Director (2009-2014)
    • Victorian President (2011-2014)
    • Chair, ICU nurse staffing standards working party, 2012-2014
  • Australian College of Midwives (ACM)
    • ACM representative on National Blood Authority committee to develop national guidelines on blood product use in obstetrics (2012 - 2014)
    • ACM representative on Australian Commission for Safety and Quality Maternal Sentinel Events and Post Partum Haemorrhage Working Group (2013 - 2016)
  • Royal College of Nursing Australia (RCNA) (organisation now Australian College of Nursing)
    • Representative of RCNA as a clinical advisor on the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinical Technical Group for the National Casemix and Classification Centre (NCCC) (2010 - 2012)

Publications