Suzanne Volejnikova-Wenger | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Suzanne Volejnikova-Wenger is a nurse with varied experience including primary and community nursing care, vulnerable populations, innovative models of care, and collaboration with community organisations to improve the health and wellbeing of the community. She is interested in the development of innovative approaches and solutions to enable and support vulnerable populations such as older adults to remain living as independently as possible across the ageing continuum and housing typologies. After working in the public and private regional hospital sector in Switzerland, Suzanne collaborated with international partners to develop new approaches and solutions to support independent living of older adults in the not-for-profit sector in the Czech Republic. Suzanne was involved in the early development of the Dum Portus Project by Zivot 90 in Prague. Suzanne has developed online education for staff, and is a volunteer “Street Nurse” with Sunny Street, which is a Nurse and Doctor led outreach service providing primary healthcare and complex coordination services for homeless and vulnerable individuals and families.

Leadership to further the nursing profession is another key area of interest, with Suzanne having completed five years of the Emerging Nurse Leader Program by the Australian College of Nursing with consistent High Achiever Awards.

Suzanne’s past research interest and experience has focused on the application of innovative learning and teaching modalities in nursing including serious games, such as ‘Safe Environments’, and exploring the student experience with using such learning modalities. Currently, Suzanne is a PhD candidate with a focus on the education of nurses and professional wisdom.