Gillian Ray-Barruel

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.