David Foley

Dr David Foley

Lecturer

Adelaide Nursing School

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.


Dr David Foley is an education specialist with experience working and teaching in the United States and New Zealand. A registered nurse who trained in the Royal Childrens Hospital, Melbourne he completed his PhD in 2011; describing the care of people with intellectual disabilities in emergency departments. With 38 years of experience, David’s clinical role has predominantly been in emergency departments before becoming a postgraduate emergency educator, then Bachelor of Nursing lecturer.
David is an experienced teacher, keen to develop competent and compassionate registered nurses. Competent nursing care delivered with empathy and compassion are the qualities that registered nurses need. The development of these attributes in his student nurses are central to David’s teaching practice. The problem for many nurses is compassion fatigue that contributes to burnout. So, in the Adelaide Nursing School, we are exploring the development of how best to teach empathy and practice compassion with satisfaction.
An editor of 2 textbooks: Health Assessment in Nursing and McKenna's Drug Handbook for Nursing & Midwifery, he has also written several chapters on the care of people with an intellectual disability, care of older people and the use of simulation.
He is responsible for coordinating the following courses:
Microbiology and Infection Control, Chronic Disease and Disability, Health Assessment and Clinical Nursing and Applied Nursing Practice
He has also taught the following courses
Nursing Older People, Contexts of Nursing Practice, Applied Pharmacology in Nursing.

  • Emergency care of people with intellectual disability
  • Emergency nurses' encounters with difficult patients: an analysis of five published anecdotal accounts
  • Development of a tool to improve end of life discussion in rural people with chronic disease”
  • Improving the use of telehealth in rural emergency departments”
  • Followership styles of nurses

June 2016, Office for the Ageing, SA Health, $10,000
Simulated learning environment teaching undergraduate health professional students the principles of recognition and early assessment of a person subject to elder abuse.

April 2008, University of Adelaide Implementation Grant for Learning and Teaching Enhancement $10,000
Implementation of an electronic audience response system (EARS) to enhance student learning through direct formative and summative feedback

July, 2001, University of Adelaide, Matching IT funding $40, 000
To develop instructional videos for skills associated with advanced life support that is suitable for Internet streaming and CD use. In conjunction with Donnelly, F., Clark, R. and ABC television.

July, 2000, University of Adelaide, Matching IT funding $46, 000
To develop an Internet assisted website facilitating the education of students enrolled in the Graduate Diploma in Nursing Science (High Dependency Nursing) In conjunction with Field, J. &  Clark, R.

Course Coordinator of:

  • NURSING 1006 Microbiology and Infection Control
  • NURSING 2006 Chronic Disease and Disability
  • NURSING 2011 Health Assessment & Clinical Nursing IV
  • NURSING 7209 Applied Nursing Practice II

Lectures in all year levels to undergraduate and postgraduate students in a range of topics including immunity, pharmacology, health assessment, disability, human development, pathophysiology and pain assessment

Teaches skills to 1st and 2nd-year BN students


Student Evaluation of Learning and Teaching

Unsolicited comments from 2021 BN students

“Thank you for helping me to be the best nurse possible”

“I hope that when I graduate I am a compassionate and competent nurse,…Thank you for educating us on not only the clinical skills that it takes to be a nurse but the equally important emotional side of nursing.”

In student evaluation of learning and teaching (SELT) for semester 2, 2021 David was evaluated by students as an effective teacher with a mean score of 6.9/7 and a median of 7/7

SELT Likert Graph

SELT Semester 2, 2021 comments

“I've never heard of anyone complaining about David, which is quite impressive in a group of 250 students.”
“one of the best lecturers UOA has to offer in nursing”

“David has been an incredible support to all students and also is very knowledgeable and passionate about nursing”

“David is a great university lecturer as he is very helpful with answering questions and he cares about his students. He explains the content in lectures and tutorials very clearly.”

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2023 Principal Supervisor An investigation into the impact of critical incidents on newcomer nurses and their coping strategies Master of Clinical Science Master Part Time Miss Sally-Anne Bessell
    2021 Principal Supervisor Optimising teleconsultation for critically ill rural South Australians requiring retrieval to tertiary centres. Action Research Master of Clinical Science Master Part Time Mrs Melanie Fudge
    2021 Principal Supervisor Testing a conversation tool to improve nurses' confidence to initiate end of life conversations for individuals with chronic conditions in a rural setting. Master of Philosophy (Clinical Science) Master Part Time Ms Nicole Ann Dawes
  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2022 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Factors Influencing Intensive Care Nurses’ Adherence To ‘Prevention of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia’ Clinical Practice Guidelines in Saudi Arabia: A Mixed-Methods Study Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Nader Eqaab D Alotaibi
    2019 - 2024 Co-Supervisor Followership of Nurses in Saudi Arabia: A Mixed Methods Study Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Sulaiman Mohammed Alanazi
    2012 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Designing a Simulation Intervention to Reduce Stress among New Graduate Registered Nurses in the Intensive Care Units in Saudi Arabia: A Mixed Methods Design Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Ayidah Sanad Mubarak Alqarni
  • Board Memberships

    Date Role Board name Institution name Country
    2013 - ongoing Board Member Citizen Advocacy General Board Citizen Advocacy South Australia Australia
  • Committee Memberships

    Date Role Committee Institution Country
    2015 - ongoing Member SA Clinical Training Council Embedding Simulation Working Group SA Health Australia
    2015 - 2015 Member Learning and Teaching in AMNS University of Adelaide Australia
    2013 - 2014 Member Faculty of Health Sciences University of Adelaide Australia
    2012 - 2014 Member BN Accreditation University of Adelaide Australia
    2012 - 2015 Member Faculty of Health Sciences Clinical Skills Facility Managment Group University of Adelaide -
    2011 - 2012 Member Faculty of Health Science eLearning University of Adelaide Australia
    2011 - 2014 Member Bn Learning and Teaching Uiversiyt of Adelaide Australia
  • Position: Lecturer
  • Phone: 83136285
  • Email: david.foley@adelaide.edu.au
  • Fax: 83131758
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences, floor 4
  • Org Unit: Nursing

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