
Overview
Background
Dr Jessica Schults is a Queensland Government Clinical Research Fellow and incoming NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow (2026) based at the Herston Infectious Diseases Institute and The University of Queensland. A previous paediatric critical care nurse, Jessica has extensive clinical experience in critical care, with a particular passion for ventilator associated infections. Jessica’s research program aims to reduce the burden of healthcare-associated infections through better hospital surveillance, safer invasive device care, and rapid translation of evidence. She is a Chief Investigator on the IVCare adaptive platform trial, which evaluates strategies to prevent catheter-related bloodstream infections, and leads the NHMRC-funded REBUILD project, which aims to strengthen national infection control systems using a learning health system approach. Jessica has a strong interest in the application of digital technologies, including AI-enabled risk prediction and clinical decision support tools. Jessica has strong, established partnerships with national and international healthcare consumers, organisations, and health services. She holds leadership roles with the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, is a board member for the ANZ Intensive Care Foundation and is a technical advisor to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Jessica is committed to growing the next generation of clinician-researchers, in-particular in the underrepresented field of nursing.
Availability
- Dr Jessica Schults is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing Science, James Cook University
- Masters (Research) of Applied Science, Queensland University of Technology
- Doctor of Philosophy, Griffith University
Research interests
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Development of core indicators for paediatric intensive care quality and safety measurement
Australia and New Zealand Delphi study to define and select a core set of PICU quality indicators to measure and benchmark care quality in PICU
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Measuring the burden of hospital acquired complications in the PICU
We are conducting a retrospective cohort study of 5 years worth of PICU admissions to determine the frequency and cost of HACs in the PICU. Our preliminary work (scoping review and stakeholder consultation) has shown that there is a lack of paediatric specific measures to support quality measurement and practice improvement.
Works
Search Professor Jessica Schults’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2021
Journal Article
Normal saline and lung recruitment with paediatric endotracheal suction (NARES): a pilot, factorial, randomised controlled trial
Schults, Jessica A., Cooke, Marie, Long, Debbie, Schibler, Andreas, Ware, Robert S., Charles, Karina, Irwin, Adam and Mitchell, Marion L. (2021). Normal saline and lung recruitment with paediatric endotracheal suction (NARES): a pilot, factorial, randomised controlled trial. Australian Critical Care, 34 (6), 530-538. doi: 10.1016/j.aucc.2021.01.006
Featured
2020
Journal Article
International recommendations for a vascular access minimum dataset: a Delphi consensus-building study
Schults, Jessica, Kleidon, Tricia, Chopra, Vineet, Cooke, Marie, Paterson, Rebecca, Ullman, Amanda J., Marsh, Nicole, Ray-Barruel, Gillian, Hill, Jocelyn, Devrim, Ilker, Hammarskjold, Fredrik, Pedreira, Mavilde L., Bertoglio, Sergio, Egan, Gail, Mimoz, Olivier, Van Boxtel, Ton, Devries, Michelle, Magalhaes, Maria, Hallum, Carole, Oakley, Suzanne and Rickard, Claire M. (2020). International recommendations for a vascular access minimum dataset: a Delphi consensus-building study. BMJ Quality and Safety, 30 (9), 1-9. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2020-011274
2025
Journal Article
Expert consensus and recommendations for Healthcare-Associated Infection surveillance in Queensland, Australia: A modified Delphi study
Schults, Jessica A., Havers, Sally, Henderson, Belinda, Healy, Sally, Runnegar, Naomi, Hurst, Trish, Charles, Karina, Smith, Alison, Clark, Julia E., Birch, Robyn, Campbell, Joanne, Carrucan, Janine, Gamlin, John, Geary, Janice, Heather, Christopher, MacBeth, Deborough A, Maxwell, Kylie, Simpson, Paul, Smith, Sarah, Lovegrove, Josphine, Ball, Daner, Hall, Lisa and Rickard, Claire M. (2025). Expert consensus and recommendations for Healthcare-Associated Infection surveillance in Queensland, Australia: A modified Delphi study. American Journal of Infection Control. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2025.02.012
2025
Journal Article
A Prospective Cohort Study of Technique and Technology Used to Improve First Time <scp>PIVC</scp> Insertion Success in Hospitalised Paediatric Patients
Kleidon, Tricia M., Takashima, Mari, Rickard, Claire M., Schults, Jessica A., Bulmer, Andrew C. and Ullman, Amanda J. (2025). A Prospective Cohort Study of Technique and Technology Used to Improve First Time PIVC Insertion Success in Hospitalised Paediatric Patients. Journal of Advanced Nursing. doi: 10.1111/jan.16795
2025
Journal Article
First-Attempt Success in Ultrasound-Guided vs Standard Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Insertion : The EPIC Superiority Randomized Clinical Trial
Kleidon, Tricia M., Schults, Jessica A., Royle, Ruth H., Gibson, Victoria, Ware, Robert S., Andresen, Elizabeth, Cattanach, Paula, Dean, Anna, Pitt, Colleen, Ramstedt, Malanda, Byrnes, Joshua, Nelmes, Patrick, Rickard, Claire M. and Ullman, Amanda J. (2025). First-Attempt Success in Ultrasound-Guided vs Standard Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Insertion : The EPIC Superiority Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatrics, 179 (3), 255-263. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.5581
2024
Journal Article
Hospital-acquired complications in critically ill children and PICU length of stay, duration of respiratory support, and economics: propensity score matching in a single-center cohort, 2015-2020
Schults, Jessica A., Hall, Lisa, Charles, Karina R., Rickard, Claire M., Le Marsney, Renate, Ergetu, Endrias, Gregg, Alex, Byrnes, Joshua, Rahiman, Sarfaraz, Long, Debbie, Lake, Anna and Gibbons, Kristen (2024). Hospital-acquired complications in critically ill children and PICU length of stay, duration of respiratory support, and economics: propensity score matching in a single-center cohort, 2015-2020. Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, 26 (3), e304-e314. doi: 10.1097/PCC.0000000000003668
2024
Conference Publication
An antimicrobial dressing for prevention of infection complication related peripheral intravenous catheter: an international randomised controlled trial
Drugeon, Bertrand, Rickard, Claire, Ullman, Amanda, Marsh, Nicole, Corley, Amanda, Ball, Daner, O'Brien, Cathetrine, Kleidon, Tricia M., Guenezan, Jérémy, Couvreur, Raphaël, McCarthy, Kate, Seguin, Sabrina, Batiot, Guillaume, Byrnes, Josh, Schults, Jessica, Zahir, Syeda Farah and Mimoz, Olivier (2024). An antimicrobial dressing for prevention of infection complication related peripheral intravenous catheter: an international randomised controlled trial. 2024 ACIPC International Conference, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 17-20 November 2024. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.idh.2024.09.013
2024
Conference Publication
87. Establishing a core healthcare associated infection surveillance measurement set for Queensland using a modified Delphi process
Schults, Jessica, Healy, Sally, Havers, Sally, Henderson, Belinda, Charles, Karina, Smith, Alison, Hall, Lisa, Carrucan, Janine, Smith, Sarah, Hurst, Trish, Birch, Robyn and Rickard, Claire (2024). 87. Establishing a core healthcare associated infection surveillance measurement set for Queensland using a modified Delphi process. 2024 ACIPC International Conference, Hobart, TAS Australia, 16-19 November 2025. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.idh.2024.09.018
2024
Journal Article
Recommendations for the College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM) trainee research project: A modified Delphi study
Ho, Ariel, Denny, Kerina J., Laupland, Kevin B., Ramanan, Mahesh, Tabah, Alexis, McCullough, James, Schults, Jessica A., Raman, Sainath, Apte, Yogesh, Attokaran, Antony, Baker, Stuart, Bartholdy, Roland, Bhadange, Neeraj, Brailsford, Jane, Cook, Katrina, David, Alexandre, Dhanani, Jayesh, Edwards, Felicity, Elkady, Hatem, Evans, Tess, Hutchinson, Jane, Lannon, Sean, Marshall, Andrea, McIlroy, Philippa, Milford, Elissa, Morrison, Lynette, Murray, Lauren, Serratore, Alyssa, Shah, Vikram ... Queensland Critical Care Research Network (2024). Recommendations for the College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM) trainee research project: A modified Delphi study. Critical Care and Resuscitation, 26 (3), 169-175. doi: 10.1016/j.ccrj.2024.05.002
2024
Journal Article
Securement to prevent noncuffed central venous catheter dislodgement in pediatrics : The SECURED superiority randomized clinical trial
Kleidon, Tricia M., Schults, Jessica, Gibson, Victoria, Roebuck, Derek J., Peirce, Deborah, Royle, Ruth, Ware, Robert S., Byrnes, Joshua, Andresen, Elizabeth, Cattanach, Paula, Dean, Anna, Pitt, Colleen, Ramstedt, Malanda, McBride, Craig A., Hall, Stephanie, Rickard, Claire M. and Ullman, Amanda J. (2024). Securement to prevent noncuffed central venous catheter dislodgement in pediatrics : The SECURED superiority randomized clinical trial. JAMA Pediatrics, 178 (9) e33402, 861-869. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.2202
2024
Journal Article
Protect peripheral intravenous catheters: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a novel antimicrobial dressing for peripheral intravenous catheters (ProP trial)
Rickard, Claire M., Drugeon, Bertrand, Ullman, Amanda, Marsh, Nicole M., Corley, Amanda, Ball, Daner, O'Brien, Catherine, Kleidon, Tricia M., Guenezan, Jérémy, Couvreur, Raphael, McCarthy, Kate L., Seguin, Sabrina, Batiot, Guillaume, Byrnes, Joshua, Schults, Jessica, Zahir, Syeda Farah and Mimoz, Olivier (2024). Protect peripheral intravenous catheters: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a novel antimicrobial dressing for peripheral intravenous catheters (ProP trial). BMJ Open, 14 (7) e084313, 1-9. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-084313
2024
Journal Article
Development of a machine learning-based model for predicting the incidence of peripheral intravenous catheter-associated phlebitis
Yasuda, Hideto, Rickard, Claire M., Mimoz, Olivier, Marsh, Nicole, Schults, Jessica A., Drugeon, Bertrand, Kashiura, Masahiro, Kishihara, Yuki, Shinzato, Yutaro, Koike, Midori, Moriya, Takashi, Kotani, Yuki, Kondo, Natsuki, Sekine, Kosuke, Shime, Nobuaki, Morikane, Keita and Abe, Takayuki (2024). Development of a machine learning-based model for predicting the incidence of peripheral intravenous catheter-associated phlebitis. The Journal of Critical Care Medicine, 10 (3), 232-244. doi: 10.2478/jccm-2024-0028
2024
Journal Article
Peripherally inserted central catheter design and material for reducing catheter failure and complications
Schults, Jessica A., Kleidon, Tricia, Charles, Karina, Young, Emily Rebecca and Ullman, Amanda J. (2024). Peripherally inserted central catheter design and material for reducing catheter failure and complications. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 6 (6) CD013366. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013366.pub2
2024
Journal Article
Designing for transparency and trust: next steps for healthcare associated infection surveillance in Queensland
Schults, Jessica, Henderson, Belinda, Hall, Lisa and Havers, Sally (2024). Designing for transparency and trust: next steps for healthcare associated infection surveillance in Queensland. Infection, Disease and Health, 29 (4), 243-245. doi: 10.1016/j.idh.2024.05.002
2024
Journal Article
Clinical guidance for unfractionated heparin dosing and monitoring in critically ill patients
Samimi, May N., Hale, Andrew, Schults, Jessica, Fischer, Andreas, Roberts, Jason A. and Dhanani, Jayesh (2024). Clinical guidance for unfractionated heparin dosing and monitoring in critically ill patients. Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, 25 (8), 985-997. doi: 10.1080/14656566.2024.2364057
2024
Journal Article
Neurodevelopmental outcome and quality of life in children admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit: A single-centre Australian cohort study
Long, Debbie, Minogue, Jessicah, Charles, Karina, Morgan, Suzanne, Schults, Jessica, Le Marsney, Renate, Stocker, Christian, Gibbons, Kristen S. and Dow, Belinda (2024). Neurodevelopmental outcome and quality of life in children admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit: A single-centre Australian cohort study. Australian Critical Care, 37 (6), 903-911. doi: 10.1016/j.aucc.2024.05.001
2024
Journal Article
Dressings and securement devices to prevent complications for peripheral arterial catheters
Schults, Jessica A., Reynolds, Heather, Rickard, Claire M., Culwick, Martin D., Mihala, Gabor, Alexandrou, Evan and Ullman, Amanda J. (2024). Dressings and securement devices to prevent complications for peripheral arterial catheters. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 5 (5) CD013023, 1-71. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013023.pub2
2024
Journal Article
Novel peripheral intravenous catheter securement for children and catheter failure reduction: a randomized clinical trial
Charters, Brooke, Foster, Kelly, Lawton, Benjamin, Lee, Leonard, Byrnes, Joshua, Mihala, Gabor, Cassidy, Corey, Schults, Jessica, Kleidon, Tricia M., McCaffery, Ruth, Van, Kristy, Funk, Vanessa and Ullman, Amanda (2024). Novel peripheral intravenous catheter securement for children and catheter failure reduction: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Pediatrics, 178 (5), 437-445. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.0167
2024
Journal Article
Risk factors for arterial catheter failure and complications during critical care hospitalisation: a secondary analysis of a multisite, randomised trial
Schults, Jessica A., Young, Emily R., Marsh, Nicole, Larsen, Emily, Corley, Amanda, Ware, Robert S., Murgo, Marghie, Alexandrou, Evan, McGrail, Matthew, Gowardman, John, Charles, Karina R., Regli, Adrian, Yasuda, Hideto, Rickard, Claire M. and the RSVP Study Investigators (2024). Risk factors for arterial catheter failure and complications during critical care hospitalisation: a secondary analysis of a multisite, randomised trial. Journal of Intensive Care, 12 (1) 12, 12. doi: 10.1186/s40560-024-00719-1
2024
Journal Article
Establishing a paediatric critical care core quality measure set using a multistakeholder, consensus-driven process
Schults, Jessica A., Charles, Karina R., Millar, Johnny, Rickard, Claire M., Chopra, Vineet, Lake, Anna, Gibbons, Kristen, Long, Debbie, Rahiman, Sarfaraz, Hutching, Katrina, Winderlich, Jacinta, Spotswood, Naomi E., Johansen, Amy, Secombe, Paul, Pizimolas, Georgina A., Tu, Quyen, Waak, Michaela, Allen, Meredith, McMullan, Brendan and Hall, Lisa (2024). Establishing a paediatric critical care core quality measure set using a multistakeholder, consensus-driven process. Critical Care and Resuscitation, 26 (2), 71-79. doi: 10.1016/j.ccrj.2024.01.002
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Jessica Schults is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
The effectiveness of peripheral intravenous catheter insertion techniques and technologies to improve insertion success and performance
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Claire Rickard, Professor Amanda Ullman
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Doctor Philosophy
Designing and Implementing a Clinician-Led Protocol for Heparinisation Using Optimal Targets- anti Xa vs APTT
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Jason Roberts, Associate Professor Jayesh Dhanani
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Master Philosophy
Designing and implementing a nurse-led electronic medical record (EMR) integrated heparinisation protocol using optimal targets (anti Xa vs APTT)
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Jason Roberts, Associate Professor Jayesh Dhanani
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Doctor Philosophy
Techniques and Technologies to Improve First-Time PIVC Insertion Success in Paediatrics
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Claire Rickard, Professor Amanda Ullman
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Doctor Philosophy
Co-designing a healthcare policy review process amongst nursing and midwifery
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Claire Rickard
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Doctor Philosophy
The IVCare adaptive platform trial: Towards zero bloodstream infections in IV catheters
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Eoin O'Sullivan, Professor Claire Rickard
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Jessica Schults directly for media enquiries about:
- harm measurement
- infectious disease
- paediatrics
- patient safety
- ventilation
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