Dr Gillian Ray-Barruel

Senior Research Fellow

School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences

Overview

Gillian Ray-Barruel, RN PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow with UQ School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work and the Herston Infectious Diseases Institute (HeIDI), and she is Director of Education with the Alliance for Vascular Access Teaching and Research (AVATAR).

Following a successful and rewarding 15 year career as a critical care nurse in Brisbane and New York, Gillian engaged her passion for English literature and completed a doctorate in the field of literary disability studies. Her internationally respected research focuses on improving assessment and decision-making by bedside clinicians to prevent indwelling device-related patient complications and improve healthcare outcomes. Gillian has expertise in qualitative research, critical care nursing, patient assessment, professional editing, and project management. After identifying a gap between evidence-based guidelines and clinical practice, she created the I-DECIDED® device assessment and decision tool, which is now used in many hospitals worldwide. When she’s not writing and presenting, Gillian enjoys reading literary and classic literature, creative writing, and spending time at the beach with her family and Golden Retriever.

Research Interests

  • Infection prevention of invasive devices
    Management of invasive devices to prevent infection
  • Guidelines for healthcare workers
    Particularly interested in how to improve and streamline processes for patient care and infection prevention
  • Nurses' assessment and decision making
    Strategies and tools for assessment and decision making
  • Writing, editing and publishing
    Techniques and tools for academics and HDR students

Research Impacts

After identifying a gap between evidence-based guidelines and clinical practice, Gillian created the I-DECIDED® device assessment and decision tool, which has appeared in several foundational nursing textbooks and is now used in many hospitals worldwide. To learn more, visit I-DECIDED assessment and decision tool (avatargroup.org.au)

Publications

  • Ray-Barruel, Gillian, Pather, Priscilla, Schults, Jessica A. and Rickard, Claire M. (2024). Handheld Ultrasound Devices for Peripheral Intravenous Cannulation : A Scoping Review. Journal of Infusion Nursing, 47 (2), 75-95. doi: 10.1097/nan.0000000000000540

  • Marsh, Nicole, Larsen, Emily N., Ullman, Amanda J., Mihala, Gabor, Cooke, Marie, Chopra, Vineet, Ray-Barruel, Gillian and Rickard, Claire M. (2024). Peripheral intravenous catheter infection and failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 151 104673, 104673. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2023.104673

  • McCormick, Ellyse and Ray-Barruel, Gillian (2024). Nurses. Trauma, Resilience, and Posttraumatic Growth in Frontline Personnel. (pp. 89-105) New York: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003292807-10

View all Publications

Available Projects

  • I-DECIDED® is the first comprehensive, evidence-based, valid and reliable invasive device assessment and decision tool.

    Derived from evidence-based guidelines, this simple checklist promotes comprehensive device assessment and management, and prompts timely removal of temporary invasive devices.

    The tool has been tested for peripheral intravenous catheters in English in 3 Australian hospitals. The tool has since been modified to prompt assessment and decision making for other invasive devices.

    Future research is needed to test the utility of the tool for other temporary invasive medical devices (e.g. indwelling uterine catheters, central venous catheters, surgical drains, etc.).

    If you are interested in nurses' decision making, management of invasive devices or infection prevention, please get in touch to discuss potential research projects.

View all Available Projects

Publications

Book Chapter

  • McCormick, Ellyse and Ray-Barruel, Gillian (2024). Nurses. Trauma, Resilience, and Posttraumatic Growth in Frontline Personnel. (pp. 89-105) New York: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003292807-10

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • I-DECIDED® is the first comprehensive, evidence-based, valid and reliable invasive device assessment and decision tool.

    Derived from evidence-based guidelines, this simple checklist promotes comprehensive device assessment and management, and prompts timely removal of temporary invasive devices.

    The tool has been tested for peripheral intravenous catheters in English in 3 Australian hospitals. The tool has since been modified to prompt assessment and decision making for other invasive devices.

    Future research is needed to test the utility of the tool for other temporary invasive medical devices (e.g. indwelling uterine catheters, central venous catheters, surgical drains, etc.).

    If you are interested in nurses' decision making, management of invasive devices or infection prevention, please get in touch to discuss potential research projects.