University of Tasmania, Australia

School of Nursing and Midwifery new head arrives, Professor Steven Campbell 

The newly appointed head of the UTAS School of Nursing and Midwifery has completed his first weeks at the Launceston Newnham campus, grateful for the warm welcome and chance to get his bearings before the start of the first semester.

Prof Steven Campbell arrived in Tasmania last Friday after a 1500km drive from Armidale to Melbourne.

He has left behind an impressive track record after four years as Head of the School of Health at the University of New England, NSW, where he succeeded in raising not only the standard of teaching but also the school’s research capacity, funding allocations and student numbers.

He said that the excellent reputation of UTAS, the size and quality of the facility and the importance placed on research were all part of the attraction for him despite the shift from a multi-discipline school to a single discipline school.

“I think that it’s actually a bonus to come to UTAS from a strength of understanding of many health disciplines and it gives me the scope to look at ways to make the school about more than just nursing and midwifery,” he said.

“This school has done well to grow as it has in recent years but I’m really confident I can help capitalise on the clinical simulation aspect and give it a higher profile and also bring a more international perspective by attracting students from other countries such as the Middle East.”

Prof Campbell is now looking for a house to rent in Launceston for himself, wife Gillian, three teenage children and their two black Labradors.

Raised in the UK, Prof Campbell graduated from the School of Nursing at Manchester University in 1981, going on to specialise in children's nursing.

His academic appointments have ranged from Newcastle Polytechnic to the University of Southampton and Northumbria University.

In 2000 he became the founding chair of nursing practice at Northumbria University in collaboration with City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, a 1000-bed, 5000-staffed acute hospital in England's north-east where he was the head of the Nursing Practice Research Centre.

Prof Campbell's interest in Translational Research Scholarship is clear across his career.

One of his health improvement projects, Patient Journey, redesigned 18 clinical services based on research interviews with patients and carers.

His prime interest remains the facilitation of the use of academic skills to change practice. This is reflected in more than 80 refereed journal articles and book contributions.

He was, until recently, a visiting professor at Bournemouth University. He is also an adjunct professor at Griffith University (Business) and at Southern Cross University (Health).