Jodi Ruddell
Bohle Plains,QLD
Summary
To obtain entry into the Master of Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Queensland, to advance my ability to deliver expert clinical leadership in the provision and coordination of person-centred palliative care across inpatient and community settings. In the following, I demonstrate advanced specialist clinical knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as expertise in education, research and leadership to provide high-level support and consultation for patients, their families/carer’s, and health clinicians.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
Work History
Clinical Nurse - Palliative Care Unit
Townsville University Hospital - Queensland Health
01.2025 - Current
- Provide nursing care on unit two days a fortnight - using a team-nursing approach, balancing clinical responsibilities with collaborative planning to meet the needs of palliative care patients, as well as medical and surgical outliers.
- Apply advanced comprehensive nursing assessment skills to monitor, interpret, and respond to complex symptoms, providing evidence-based interventions to support safe and effective symptom management.
- Utilise expert clinical reasoning to detect subtle changes in patient condition and initiate timely nursing actions to prevent deterioration and optimise comfort.
- Provide patient and family education on symptom management, care needs, and end-of-life processes, promoting understanding and reducing anxiety.
- Support the development of junior staff and students by offering bedside teaching, clinical guidance, and reflective learning opportunities.
- Demonstrate professional leadership by advocating for patient needs, escalating clinical concerns, and contributing to safe, high-quality care delivery on the unit.
- Participate in quality improvement activities, audits, and evidence-based practice initiatives to enhance clinical outcomes and strengthen palliative care service delivery.
Clinical Nurse Consultant - SPaRTa
Townsville University Hospital – Queensland Health
01.2020 - Current
- Conduct comprehensive, holistic palliative clinical assessments including physical, psychosocial, and functional evaluation, both in person and via Telehealth for inpatients and outpatients eight days a fortnight.
- Provide a comprehensive clinical handover and collaborate with the treating team to develop and implement an appropriate, patient-centred plan of care.
- Utilise advanced clinical reasoning to identify subtle changes in patient condition and intervene early to prevent deterioration or unnecessary hospital transfer.
- Formulate and adjust complex symptom management plans for pain, dyspnoea, agitation, nausea, and terminal symptoms using evidence-based interventions.
- Provide specialist advice to spoke-site clinicians to support safe titration of opioids and appropriate patient focused interventions within my scope of practice.
- Assess, monitor, and evaluate complex symptoms such as pain, dyspnoea, agitation, nausea, and terminal symptoms, and provide evidence-based nursing recommendations to support safe and effective symptom management.
- Provide specialist advice to spoke-site clinicians to support safe titration of opioids and adjuvant therapies.
- Make time-critical decisions in complex or deteriorating cases, escalating appropriately to medical staff while maintaining autonomous practice.
- Provide senior clinical oversight for remote clinicians, guiding complex after-hours or urgent symptom management.
- Conduct clinical nurse led reviews for rural and remote patients, adapting assessments to technology limitations while ensuring safe, high-quality care.
- Support and educate clinicians in rural sites to deliver palliative interventions safely, acting as their senior clinical consultant.
- Act as a clinical expert within multidisciplinary meetings face to face and via telehealth, advocating for patient-centred care plans and ensuring continuity across services.
- Prevent avoidable ED presentations by providing timely clinical assessment and intervention, resulting in patients remaining safely in their preferred place of care.
- Awarded the Palliative Care Queensland Emerging Leader Award (2025), recognising my outstanding contribution to palliative care leadership.
- Deliver tailored education to patients, families, and healthcare staff, adjusting content based on their health literacy levels.
- Conduct site visits and education sessions, resulting in increased referrals.
- Provide ongoing education to health clinicians and NGOs through in-person, phone, and telehealth sessions.
- Developed and established the SPaRTa service, becoming a key resource for rural and remote communities.
- Provided operational clinical leadership, delivering evidence-based care, expert advice, and education to patients, carers, and healthcare professionals through Telehealth and phone consultations.
- Facilitated continual system improvements to ensure optimal patient outcomes in a patient’s location of choice.
- Worked within a Hub & Spoke model, fostering professional relationships, understanding the complex nature of cross-boundary healthcare systems, and promoting effective care delivery in spoke sites.
- Assisted with the planning, implementation and ongoing running of the rural and remote Palliative Care Blue Care service within the three health districts that SPaRTa consults on.
- Identified gaps in service data collection and developed an accurate data capture tool to support funding and reporting requirements.
Clinical Nurse Consultant
Mackay Base Hospital – Queensland Health
05.2024 - 08.2024
- Assisted with clinical ward-based specialist palliative care, demonstrating advanced clinical problem-solving during ward rounds.
- Utilised advanced nursing assessment skills to identify and monitor complex symptoms such as pain, dyspnoea, agitation, nausea, and terminal symptoms, providing evidence-based guidance to optimise symptom control.
- Provided expert clinical leadership in the coordination and delivery of person-centred care within the new palliative care service.
- Collaborated with treating and interdisciplinary teams to achieve the best possible outcomes for palliative care patients.
- Delivered clinical supervision, mentorship, and clear, concise education to staff and students across hospital, clinic, outpatient, and community settings.
- Led the development and implementation of inpatient and outpatient palliative care services.
- Completed and handed over a strategic plan for continued implementation of the new service.
- Developed and implemented referral processes for inpatients, outpatient follow-up, and community services using eBlueSlip and Smart referral systems.
- Led the recruitment of the emerging palliative care team.
- Created an ESM mapping tool to track referrals and ensure accurate billing for care provided and for research purposes.
- Conducted service research, identified areas for improvement, and performed risk assessments to ensure smooth integration and best patient outcomes.
Clinical Nurse - Palliative Care Unit
Townsville University Hospital - Queensland Health
01.2016 - 01.2020
- 2016-17 Nurse of the Year for the medical service group at the Townsville Hospital – awarded for advocating for patients and providing excellent care.
- Provide clinical supervision, mentorship and professional leadership and education to all staff members and students.
- Continuously and consistently maintain staff and patients’ privacy and dignity.
- Engaged in quality initiatives and research projects to inform practice change which includes being the Palliative Care Outcomes Collaborations (PCOC) champion and the implementation/monitoring of the service standards, safety and quality are maintained through the adherence to defined service quality standards and relevant occupational health and safety policies and procedures by being clinical lead of Nursing Standard 7 – Blood safety.
- Communicated culturally appropriately with patients, their relatives/visitors, all interdisciplinary health personnel.
- Maintained best nursing practice by following a palliative care approach aiming to improve the patients’ quality of life for the individual with a life limiting illness as well as their families.
- Worked as shift coordinator regularly, supervising and coordinating hospital nursing activities on an assigned shift as well as assuming accountability and responsibility for own actions and delegation of care to a registered/enrolled nurse or unregulated healthcare worker.
- Served as a clinical resource for multi-disciplinary team members, doctors from other departments, team members, students and patient care needs to facilitate appropriate care utilising a person-centred care coordination model for a patient transitioning to their end-of-life phase ensuring family/carer are also provided appropriate education and support.
- Facilitated positive, safe and harmonious working partnerships with all staff.
Clinical Nurse Consultant - Palliative Care Unit
Townsville University Hospital – Queensland Health
01.2017 - 01.2019
- Provided an advanced level of autonomous clinical and professional practice and decision making, using up to date, best nursing practice, evidence-based research clinical advice and education to patients, carers and health care professionals within the Palliative Care setting facilitating continual system improvements.
- Provided clinical supervision, mentorship and professional leadership to all staff members and students.
- Continuously and consistently maintain staff and patients’ privacy and dignity.
- Developed, facilitated, implemented, and evaluated care management plans for palliative care patients with complex health needs.
- Collaborated with multi-disciplinary team members and primary health care providers to optimize patient care and outcomes through early interventions.
- Communicated appropriately with patients, their relatives/visitors, all interdisciplinary health personnel reducing fragmentation as well as mitigating barriers, educating, and empowering the coordination of patient care.
Education
Graduate Certificate - Palliative Care
Flinders University
Bedford Park, South Australia07-2025
Bachelor of Nursing - Nursing
Central Queensland University
Mackay, QLD10-2013
Skills
- Advanced clinical skills through direct patient care face to face and via Telehealth
- Clinical decision making and patient assessments
- Patient care coordination, care planning and management
- Advanced communication skills
- Patient advocacy through an interdisciplinary collaboration model
- Staff, patient and family education and training through formal and informal methods
- Clinical leadership and management
- Research-informed care
- Best-practice integration
Accomplishments
o 2024 Awarded the Palliative Care Queensland Emerging Leader Award, recognising my outstanding contribution to palliative care leadership.
o 2016-17 Nurse of the Year for the medical service group at the Townsville Hospital – awarded for advocating for patients and providing excellent care.
Timeline
Clinical Nurse - Palliative Care Unit
Townsville University Hospital - Queensland Health
01.2025 - Current
Clinical Nurse Consultant
Mackay Base Hospital – Queensland Health
05.2024 - 08.2024
Clinical Nurse Consultant - SPaRTa
Townsville University Hospital – Queensland Health
01.2020 - Current
Clinical Nurse Consultant - Palliative Care Unit
Townsville University Hospital – Queensland Health
01.2017 - 01.2019
Clinical Nurse - Palliative Care Unit
Townsville University Hospital - Queensland Health
01.2016 - 01.2020
Graduate Certificate - Palliative Care
Flinders University
Bachelor of Nursing - Nursing
Central Queensland University