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Dr. Michael Olasoji

Associate Head of Nursing Research and Professor, Mental Health/Nursing

Contact

Campus

Berwick Campus

Biography

Professor Michael Olasoji is the associate head of nursing research and professor of mental health nursing at Federation University Australia. Michael is a registered mental health nurse with extensive clinical experience in mental health settings, including acute mental health inpatients units, community mental health inpatient, emergency psychiatry as well as clinical nurse education. He has also held several academic roles over the years including program manager of the postgraduate mental health program at RMIT University and roles at Swinburne and Monash University. 

Michael is passionate about advancing mental health nursing through clinical practice, teaching, research, and community engagement. Michael holds a PhD in nursing from RMIT University as well as a postgraduate diploma in mental health nursing. Prior to his career in nursing, he was a biochemist.  Michael has led the development of mental health nursing curriculum and has received numerous awards for teaching excellence. His research interests include mental health workforce development, improving outcomes for mental health consumers and carers, reducing restrictive interventions, and building a sustainable nursing workforce. He has been involved in a number of projects nationally and internationally including program evaluation and practice frameworks. Michael has a number of peer-reviewed publications. 

Fields of research

  • Nursing not elsewhere classified
  • Mental health nursing
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More about Michael

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Nursing Honors 
  • Postgraduate Diploma Mental Health Nursing 
  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 

Areas of interest

  • Mental health nursing practice and workforce 
  • Consumer and carer involvement in care 
  • Co-design approach to mental health service improvement 
  • Program evaluation 
  • Mental health simulations 
  • Mental health care for culturally diverse populations 
  • Physical health care (mental health consumers) 

Grants

  • Mental Health Nursing Workforce, Student Placement Project (2023-2026), Victorian Department of Health. ($788,000) 
  • Building the evidence base for a National Nursing Workforce Strategy, Department of Health and Aged Care/Whereto Research. ($1,800,000) 
  • Examining the role of Bicultural Workers in Mental Health, Alfred Health Innovation Grants. ($27,000) 
  • Reducing the cost of medication errors and non-adherence, Swinburne University Digital Health CRC & Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. ($360,000) 
  • Reducing Restrictive Interventions in acute In-patient Unit, Creating Safewards- Alfred Hospital Department of Health and Human Services, Victoria. ($81,250)   
  • Nursing Handover Involving Client (NHIC) Study, Peninsula Health, Department of Health and Human Service, Victoria. ($50,000) 
  • Community Mental health nurse Transition to Speciality practice Competency Framework, Department of Health and Human Services, Victoria. ($50,000) 
  • Student nurses’ perceptions and actual experience of occupational violence whilst on clinical practice, Vi Elliott Occupational Health Nurses Trust Research Funding. 
  • Recovery, Nursing and Advanced Practice, Alfred Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Victoria. ($20,000) 
  • 360 Degree Bed Side Handover, Patient Involvement in Nurse-to-Nurse Handover, Alfred Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Victoria. ($40,000) 

Awards

  • Teaching Excellence Award, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design (FHAD), Swinburne University 

  • Undergraduate and postgraduate mental health nursing 

Professional association memberships

  • Member, Australian College of Mental Health Nursing (ACMHN) 
  • Member, American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) 
  • Member, Advisory Board, Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) 

Government reports and publications 

Collaborative Evaluation and Research Centre (CERC)

Michael is part of the Collaborative Evaluation and Research Centre (CERC), which provides training, workshops and mentoring to build capacity and enable organisations to conduct meaningful evaluations.
  • Publications

Caught between Two Cultures: Understanding Mental Health and Help-Seeking among Australian Indian Families

Exploring the Experience of Student Nurses Working as Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing at a Specialist Cancer Centre

Evaluating the Utility of a Statewide Pharmacist-Led Psychotropic Medicines Information Service: A Mixed-Methods Study

Rural Hospital General Ward Nurses Experiences of Workplace Violence by Patients and Visitors A Scoping Review

Mental Health Professionals' Perspectives of the Role of Spirituality, Religion and Culture on the Mental Health of African Australians