Professor Jenny Weller-Newton

Head of Discipline, Nursing
National School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine

Photo of Professor Jenny Weller-Newton

Areas of expertise: workplace learning, reflective practice, graduate transitions, interprofessional education & learning, women’s health

Email: [email protected]

Location: ACU Melbourne Campus

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0270-8497

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: HDR Supervisor (Full)

Jenny is a registered nurse, Professor of Nursing and Discipline Lead for Nursing. Her early work as a clinical educator in nursing fuelled her passion in understanding healthcare workplace cultures, enhancing the theory/practice nexus for graduates, recognizing the need for interprofessional education/practice along with an interest in women’s health that arises from her disciplinary background as midwife and personal experiences. Her project management and leadership include several Commonwealth and government-funded projects in the areas of workplace learning, interprofessional learning, clinical placements with older people (CPOP). She has over 140 refereed publications and conference abstracts, and funding for research grants and tenders (to Sept 2026) exceeds $AU11 million.

Select publications

Kim, A., Weller-Newton, J., Keogh, L. & Nisselle, A. (2026) Characterising the ‘Genomics Friend’: Experiences of learning genomics in the workplace to inform implementation efforts. Eur J Hum Genet. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41431-026-02245-0
Stephen, K., Pu, D. Weller-Newton, J. & Haines, T. (2026) Mobilisation Alarm Use in Hospitals and Alignment with Person-Centred Practice: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Advanced Nursing 82(4), 3849-3508 https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.70113
Kim, A., Nisselle, A., Keogh, L., A. Weller-Newton, J. (2025) Developing a Workplace Learning Framework: Considerations for Workforce Preparedness and Innovations. Personalised Medicine, 22(2). 129-139. https://doi.org/10.1080/17410541.2025.247531
Marriott, P.H.M., Weller-Newton, J.M. & Reid, K.J. (2024) Preparedness for a first clinical placement in nursing: a descriptive qualitative study. BMC Nurs 23, 345. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-01916-x
Quilliam, C., Glenister, K., Ervin, K., Weller-Newton, J. (2023) Revisiting rural healthcare access through Held’s ethics of care. Social Theory and Health, 21(2), pp. 178–193 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41285-022-00181-9
Weller-Newton, J., Murray, M., Phillips, C., Laging, B. & McGillion, A. (2022) Transition to Practice Programs in Nursing: A rapid review. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 53(10):442-450 https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20220907-05
McGill, N., Weller-Newton, J. & Lees, C. (2022) A new survey tool for evaluating pandemic preparedness in health services. BMC Health Services Research 22, 708 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08067-2
Moroney, T., Gertdz, M., Brockenshire, N., Maude, P., Weller-Newton, J., Hatcher, D., Molloy, L., Williamson, M., Woodward-Kron, R. & Molloy, E. (2022) Exploring the contribution of clinical placement to student learning: A sequential mixed methods study. Nurse Education Today. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105379
Sastrawan, S. Weller-Newton, J., Brand, G., Malik, G. (2021) The development of nurses’ foundational values. Nursing Ethics 28, Issue 7-8 https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330211003222
Weller-Newton, J. M. & Kent, F. (2021) Community health placements for junior medical and nursing students for interprofessional learning. Journal of Interprofessional Care 35 (2) 316-319 doi:10.1080/13561820.2020.1760803
Zhai, J., Weller-Newton, J.M., Shimoinaba, K. & Copnell, B. (2020) Emerging from the ‘ku’: Fluctuating in adjusting with breast cancer- A post-traumatic growth theory situated within Chinese culture. Qualitative Health Research Sep 30 (11):1674-1683 https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732320930195
Newton, J.M., Henderson, A., Jolly, B., & Greaves, J. (2015) A Contemporary Examination of Workplace Learning Culture: An Ethnomethodology study. Nurse Education Today, 35 (1) 91-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2014.07.001
Newton. J. M., Jolly, B.C., Ockerby, C. & Cross, W. M. (2010) Clinical Learning Environment Inventory – factor analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing 66 (6) pp. 1371-1381 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05303.x
Newton, J. M., Billett, S. & Ockerby, C. (2009) Journeying through clinical placements: An examination of six student cases. Nurse Education Today 29, p 630-634 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2009.01.009
Newton, J.M. & McKenna, L. (2007) The Transitional Journey through the Graduate Year: A focus group study. International Journal of Nursing Studies 44 (7) p.1231-1237 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2006.05.017

Reports

Weller-Newton, J.M., Bentley, R., Hills, D., Lees, C. & Mansour, A. (2022) Affordable Housing in Echuca Moama: an intergenerational vision. Executive Summary. The University of Melbourne. https://mspgh.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/4731956/DRH-EchucaAffordableHouseingReport_final.pdf
Weller-Newton, J., Phillips, C., Roche, M., McGillion, T., Mapes, J. & Dufty, T. (2019) Datasets to support workforce planning in nursing: a scoping review – prepared for the Australian College of Nursing (ACN). 2020, ‘A National Minimum Dataset for Nursing Workforce Planning and Decision Making – ISBN: 978-1-925913-25-5.
Conferences publications
Weller-Newton, J., Carey, M. & Dune, T. (2021) 'It's All in My Head' Women's Lived Experience of Mid-urethral Mesh Sling Removal. The International Journal of Qualitative Method 20, 20
O'Hagan, R., Weller-Newton, J., Verdon, J. & Cobham. L. (2021) ‘Beyond all imagination’ – the lived experiences of being a frontline rural healthcare worker in a pandemic. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20, 17-18

Projects

Department of Health Tender CPOP2 Clinical Placements with Older People. Bail, K., Gibson, D., Weller-Newton, J., Smyth, A., Hind, A., Northam, H. $6.3M [active] (2025-2027)
Department of Health TenderG4 – Gerontology Nurse 4-University Consortium for Clinical Placements in Aged Care. Bail, K., Gibson, D., Traynor, V., Moroney, T., Strickland, K., Weller-Newton, J., Hind, A., Northam, H. $2.1M (2023)
Affordable Housing Hallmark Research Initiative Seeding Fund. An intergenerational visioning of affordable housing in a regional context. Bentley, Weller-Newton, Raynor, Hills $14,783 (2021-2022)
Epworth Foundation, Women’s Experience of mid-mesh urethral sling removal. Carey, Weller-Newton $7,500 (2019-2020)
Office Learning and Teaching, Canberra. Augmenting students' learning for employability through post-practicum educational processes. Billet, Lizzio, Rogers, Shabon, Grealish, Mitchell, Bialocertowski, Sweet, Newton et al. $466,633 (2015-2018)
Nurses Board of Victoria Legacy Limited major grant, From carer to recipient: nurses’ experiences of being a health care consumer Newton $19,415 (2015-2016)
Department of Health (Vic), Local Innovations Fund. Extending interprofessional student led health care into primary and residential care. Dodic, Kent, Keating, Newton $155,580 (2014)
Australian Research Council Discovery Project, Factors influencing learning in healthcare: reframing a conceptual model on workplace learning. Newton, Jolly, Henderson $144,000 (2012-2014)
2012 - Department of Health and Ageing (Canberra)Telehealth training and support for healthcare practitioners – ‘bringing healthcare professionals together’ Newton, Piterman, Clearihan $302,385 (2012)
Australian Research Council Linkage 2006 Projects Grants, Developing nurses’ work as a learning practice Newton, Billet, Jolly, Ives, Cross $1,322,870 (2005)

Awards

Inducted into the International Honour Society of Nursing Sigma Theta Tau (2016)
Inducted as a Fellow, Australian College of Nursing (2013)
Australian College of Nursing Foundation, 2023 Vietnam Study Tour Scholarship (2023)
Monash University’s HDR Supervisor commendation for excellence (2022)
Qualitative Health Research Journal 2021, Kathy Charmaz Award for 2020 (2020)

Appointments and affiliations

Australian College of Nursing (Fellow)
Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (Member)
Honorary Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne

Editorial roles

Associate Editor -The Clinical Teacher journal (2020 – current) Wiley
Editorial Board Member – Reflective Practice International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives (current) Taylor & Francis
Editor – Collegian (2013-2023) Elsevier

International journal review panels

Regular reviewer for:

Nurse Education Today
International Journal of Nursing Studies
BMC Medical Education
Reflective Practice International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives
Scientific Review Committee - International Clinical Skills Conference (2008 – current)

Grant agency review panels

Australian Research Council – assessor (2012 – current)
Rosemary Byrant Foundation (2026 – current)
Nurses Board of Victoria Legacy Limited Grants (2010-2016)

Public engagement

First International Healthcare Conference (TRENDS), Pattaya Beach, Thailand, 2- 5 Nov 2025
Keynote Speaker (Invited) Innovating education delivery through authentic and transformational (sustainable) approaches
First Nursing Conference Vinmec HealthCare System, Hanoi, Vietnam 19Oct 2024 Keynote Speaker (Invited): Unpacking transformational leadership: a case study
Presenter (invited) - Overview of nursing workforce policy, Australian College of Nursing, Policy Summit 17 March 2023, Canberra
ABC TV 7.00pm National News (Victoria) Echuca Moama Affordable Housing project report 17June 2022
Radio Interviews in relation to Nursing issues
ABC Radio Canberra Graduate transitions work readiness – by Georgia Stynes 26/6/26
ABC Radio Canberra Commonwealth placement funding – by Georgia Stynes 23/4/24
ABC Radio Canberra Key Challenges in Nursing – by Adam Shirley 12/5/22

ACU Researcher