About
Biography
Professor Jeanine Young AM is a Registered Nurse, Registered Midwife and Neonatal Nurse, and has worked in Australia and the United Kingdom in neonatal intensive care, paediatrics, midwifery and community child health. Jeanine has a special interest in infant care practices; in particular breastfeeding and parent-infant bed-sharing, which formed the basis of her doctoral studies at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Bristol, United Kingdom.
Jeanine has established a research program to investigate Queensland’s infant mortality rate, with a focus on evidence-based strategies and educational resources to assist health professionals and parents to create safer sleep environments for young babies which meet the cultural, social and personal needs of families within the resources they have available to them. In collaboration with Change for our Children New Zealand, Jeanine is the Australian lead for the Pēpi-Pod Program which was initiated in metropolitan, rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The Pēpi-Pod Program has been associated with infant mortality reductions, and in 2024 was included for state-wide implementation as part of the Queensland Government Putting Queensland Kids First strategy. The Pēpi-Pod Program comprises a portable in-bed sleep space combined with safe sleep education that incorporates airway protection to equip families with the information and knowledge they need to keep their baby's airway clear in diverse circumstances. Program findings suggest this Program is a culturally appropriate strategy to promote safe infant sleeping and support breastfeeding in the context of shared sleeping for infants with increased vulnerabilities.
Jeanine has also initiated the Enabling Safe and Close Care in Postnatal Environments (ESCCaPE), the first Australian trial of a sleep enabler suitable for postnatal units to support breastfeeding and promote safer infant sleep environments in hospital.
Jeanine works in partnership with government, industry, safety and regulatory bodies, and communities in translating evidence into practical advice for parents. Her efforts in reducing infant mortality through supporting the role of health professionals and health promotion within communities have received state, national and international recognition, including a Member of the Order of Australia.
Professional memberships
Jeanine is a member of the:
- Australian College of Nurses (Fellow)
- Australian College of Midwives
- International Society for the Study and Prevention of Perinatal and Infant Death (Co-Chair of the Child Death Review and Epidemiology Working Groups)
- Australian College of Children and Young People’s Nurses (Fellow)
Jeanine is an active participant in professional advisory committees including:
- Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership Leadership Table (2021-current)
- Queensland Paediatric Quality Council and Infant Mortality Subcommittee (current)
- Department of Product Safety Consumer Product Injury Research Advisory Group (current)
- Red Nose Scientific Advisory Group (Member 2004-June 2021; Chair 2008-2014)
- Australian College of Midwives Scientific Review & Advisory Committee (Chair 2012-2014)
- Ministerial Appointment to the Queensland Child Death Review Board (2020-2023)
Awards
Award highlights include:
- 2022, University of the Sunshine Coast Vice Chancellor and President's Award for Excellence - Research Impact
- 2020, Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to tertiary education, to medical research and to nursing
- 2019, Finalist, Australian College of Nursing Trailblazer Award (1 of 4 national finalists)
- 2014, Winner, Hesta Australian Nursing Awards - Team Innovation Category
- 2014, Winner, National Lead Clinician’s Group Award - Indigenous Health Category
- 2011, Australia Day Achievement Award, Queensland Health and Community
- 2010, ISPID Health Educator 2010, International Society for the Study and Prevention of Perinatal and Infant Death
- 2010, Finalist, 2010 Leadership in Nursing and Midwifery Awards, Melbourne.
- 2009, Red Nose Day Award, Contributions to Safe Sleeping Education by a Health Professional, SIDS and Kids, Australia
Teaching areas
- Neonatal, paediatric, maternal and child health care
- Infant care and infant mortality: breastfeeding, safe sleeping
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
- Postgraduate Research Methods
Expert media commentary
Jeanine has over 100 publications in the peer reviewed literature and is the principal program developer for two eLearning programs available nationally to support safe infant sleeping which were endorsed by Red Nose, the Australian College of Nursing and the Australian College of Midwives. Jeanine is a reviewer for national and international health research funding bodies and peer reviewed journals, and holds an honorary appointment with the University of Queensland's Centre for Health Services Research, with visiting fellow positions with Children’s Health Queensland HHS and the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service.
Professor Young AM is committed to the advancement of the nursing and midwifery professions through evidence-based practice, public health advocacy and primary prevention.
Engagements
Organisational Affiliations
Highlights - Outputs
Journal article
Priority setting: Consensus for Australia's infant safe sleeping public health promotion programme
Published 2021
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 57, 2, 219 - 226
Aim: To develop focused priorities to inform the revision of Australia's Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) risk reduction public health programme. Methods: A content expert consensus research activity was designed using two consensus techniques. The two‐phase study employed a Delphi process (phase 1) and a Nominal Group workshop technique (phase 2). The Delphi invited 56 national and international content experts. The Nominal Group comprised 17 Australasian experts and stakeholders to ensure priority setting was relevant to the Australian context. Results: Phase 1 established a ranked thematic list of 10 key SUDI risk reduction themes. Phase 2 addressed three nominal questions producing prioritised lists for: key‐message wording; contextual information and strategies to support caregiver implementation of key messages; and considerations in redesigning and dissemination of a safe sleep campaign. The top four priority themes were: sleep position, sleep space, smoking and surface‐sharing. Conclusion: This two‐phase priority setting was successful in establishing clearly defined infant safe sleep priorities. International content expert participation in phase 1 strengthened priority setting outcomes while phase 2 ensured final outcomes provided a strong national focus reflective of identified needs of Australian families. Findings provide a foundation from which important components can be considered when revising and developing future SUDI risk reduction programmes.
Journal article
Published 2021
The Lancet, 397, 10283, 1447 - 1458
Background:
The optimal duration of infusion set use to prevent life-threatening catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) is unclear. We aimed to compare the effectiveness and costs of 7-day (intervention) versus 4-day (control) infusion set replacement to prevent CRBSI in patients with central venous access devices (tunnelled cuffed, non-tunnelled, peripherally inserted, and totally implanted) and peripheral arterial catheters.
Methods:
We did a randomised, controlled, assessor-masked trial at ten Australian hospitals. Our hypothesis was CRBSI equivalence for central venous access devices and non-inferiority for peripheral arterial catheters (both 2% margin). Adults and children with expected greater than 24 h central venous access device–peripheral arterial catheter use were randomly assigned (1:1; stratified by hospital, catheter type, and intensive care unit or ward) by a centralised, web-based service (concealed before allocation) to infusion set replacement every 7 days, or 4 days. This included crystalloids, non-lipid parenteral nutrition, and medication infusions. Patients and clinicians were not masked, but the primary outcome (CRBSI) was adjudicated by masked infectious diseases physicians. The analysis was modified intention to treat (mITT). This study is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12610000505000 and is complete.
Findings:
Between May 30, 2011, and Dec, 9, 2016, from 6007 patients assessed, we assigned 2944 patients to 7-day (n=1463) or 4-day (n=1481) infusion set replacement, with 2941 in the mITT analysis. For central venous access devices, 20 (1·78%) of 1124 patients (7-day group) and 16 (1·46%) of 1097 patients (4-day group) had CRBSI (absolute risk difference [ARD] 0·32%, 95% CI −0·73 to 1·37). For peripheral arterial catheters, one (0·28%) of 357 patients in the 7-day group and none of 363 patients in the 4-day group had CRBSI (ARD 0·28%, −0·27% to 0·83%). There were no treatment-related adverse events.
Interpretation:
Infusion set use can be safely extended to 7 days with resultant cost and workload reductions.
Funding:
Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.
Identifiers
Metrics
- 115449 Total output views
- 8378 Total file downloads
- Derived from Web of Science
- 1394 Total Times Cited