Episode 7. Danny Hills and his successful nursing career through taking risks, opportunism and trying new things.

Beneath the Armour

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Episode 7 Show Notes

Danny Hills is an Associate Professor of Nursing and Deputy Dean of the School of Health Sciences at Federation University in Ballarat in rural Victoria, Australia.

Danny has a really varied background in nursing and in the past ten years or so has pursued more of an academic path by completing his PhD and doing research investigating violence and aggression in the workplace for nursing staff.

I ask him about his own personal experience of violence in the workplace, and he reflects on his approach to building relationships with patients has been one of the key factors in helping him avoid such situations.

We talk about his strategy for career development, with a focus on being opportunistic and not afraid to take risks and move onto new things. We both share the same feeling that our relationships with our wives is a huge helping factor in supporting us to grow, develop and remain positive about things despite life's challenges.

We also discuss the anxieties created by moving into more senior roles, and the challenges of giving feedback to junior members of staff. One of my favourite quotes from this conversation was something Danny said in relation to how it can feel giving others feedback: "Sometimes we feel a bit guilty because we know we're far from perfect ourselves". I think this admission of imperfection is something I try to do consciously, and it was great to hear Danny share this reflection.

We cover a number of other topics in this conversation such as Danny's old rock and roll days, how our identities and behaviour has changed over the years, and why it's not crucial to have your whole life mapped out at the age of 21.

During the episode we talk a bit about some of Danny's research, including his newly published articles, which you can find below:

Kidgell, D., Hills, D., Griffiths, D. & Endacott, R. (2020). Trade agreements and the risks for the nursing workforce, nursing practice and public health: A scoping review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 109(103676), 1-10. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103676

Hills, S., Crawford, K., Lam, L. & Hills, D. The way we do things around here: A qualitative study of the workplace aggression experiences of Victorian nurses, midwives and care personnel. Collegian, ePub ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2020.02.012

To find a list of Danny's other research publications, check out his academic page at Federation University.
Finally, Danny's band's album from decades ago has been rediscovered and released on vinyl and it's AWESOME! Check out the details here: https://vote1thecritics.wordpress.com/