News Archive

Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer

The PhD Gwen Wilkinson will receive in October disproves the low academic potential rating the Avondale College registrar gave herself when beginning her tertiary education.

Examiners at the University of Newcastle approved Gwen's thesis "Protecting client autonomy: a grounded theory of the processes nurses use to deal with challenges to personal values and beliefs," this past month.

The research on which Gwen based the thesis seems self-contradictory. "I found nurses value autonomy, but they are prepared to give up their own to give priority to their patients and their autonomous decisions," says Gwen.

Completing the PhD over eight years taught Gwen several lessons. "I've learned people who have a PhD are very good at persistent plodding," she says. "I've also learned I'm one of these people who will stick it through, juggling family and work. The great thing about it is my daughter, Kayla, is still talking to me--and so is [husband] Steve."

Gwen presented findings from the thesis at the International Council of Nurses Conference in Yokohama, Japan, in May last year. In doing so, she became the first Avondale lecturer to present a paper at the conference.--with Bruce Manners

Credit: Ann Stafford