Jessica has held an academic position within the School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare at Charles Sturt University since 2008. Her PhD was a phenomenological study that focused on cultural competence development across a cohort of students within a Bachelor of nursing degree: Australian Indigenous Cultural Competence and Nursing and was published in 2017.

During her time in academia, Jessica has held several leadership roles including Associate Head of School, Course Director, Academic Research Lead and most recently working at a faculty level as Academic Integrity Advisor. Jessica has managed large projects and teams that have yielded outcomes that support university strategy. 

Jessica's research focuses on regional health equity, health workforce and cultural safety. Jessica works with regional communities and local health districts supporting the development and growth of ground up community driven research initiatives and projects. 

Jessica has a strong national teaching profile being the co-editor of a text titled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Wellness. This text has associated online teaching guide with community developed online media that has supported learners across Australia. In 2016, Jessica was awarded the Betty Jeffreys Award for her nursing leadership through research. 

Jessica currently holds a director role at the Australian Nurses Memorial Centre and is the international representative for the European Transcultural Nursing Society.

Please view her publications and media releases via these links: https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/persons/jbilescsueduau and webpage: https://jessicabilesphd.wixsite.com/jessicabilesphd

Teaching Interests

• Cultural care
• Nursing research
• First Nations health

Research ($653,962.98 research funding)

• 2022- “DANMM that’s good!”: Evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of the Deadly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nursing and Midwifery Mentoring (DANMM) Program across rural, regional, and metropolitan NSW- NSW Translational Research grant (CI Mr Peter Fernando & Dr Jessica Biles) $360256.98
• 2022- Laying the foundations for a CSU Centre of Research Excellence in Rural Nursing- (AI- Dr Jessica Biles, Associate Professor Pauletta Irwin, Associate Professor Rachel Rossiter) $15,000
• 2020- COVID 19 and regional racisms: have isolation and social distancing measures become sanctioned discrimination for culturally and linguistically diverse peoples? ($30,000) Lead Professor Julian Grant (AI- Dr Jessica Biles)
• 2019- Strengthening Student Support and Reducing Online Attrition: A Pilot Project in the University’s Largest Undergraduate Course. ($199,000)- Project Lead

• 2019- Charles Sturt University, Faculty of Science Seed grant- $9885, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Nursing and Midwifery workforce mentoring program in a rural NSW Local Health District2018- Charles Sturt University, Learning and Teaching grant- $9865, multi-disciplinary case study Educating health students for evidence-based practice: Three action research case studies.
• 2018- Improving Undergraduate Evidence-Based Practice Education: Four Participatory Action-Research Case Studies. CI- Kylie Murphy Researchers: Catherine Thomas, Jessica Biles, Clarissa Hughes, Marguerite Bramble, Tracey Parnell, Michael Curtin, Rodney Pope, Simon O’Connor, Lisa Brown, Linda Wilson, Evan Plowman, Lisa Speedie
• 2017- Preparing Students for Evidence-Based Practice: What’s happening? Dr Kylie Murphy, Ass/Prof Michael Curtin, Jessica Biles, Ruth Crawford $8456
• 2017- International Survey of Nurse Managers' Views on Compassion in Nursing. Professor Irena Papadopoulos; Dr Magdeline Aagard, Shelia Ali, Jessica Biles in collaboration with academics from 15 countries
• 2016- First year undergraduate nurses experiences of wearing uniforms whilst undertaking simulated clinical skills within nursing laboratories: A cohort comparison study: Protocol approval number: HREC 400/2015/15 CSU. CI: Karen Stanley
• 2016- Exploring the cultural aspects of compassion in nursing: An international on-line survey- International collaboration with Middlesex University
• 2010- 2017 PhD Candidate, School of Community Health, Charles Sturt University- Australian Indigenous Culture competence and Nursing.
• 2013 School of Nursing, Midwifery, and Indigenous Health Seed Grant - Research matters: harvesting collective wisdom to find new ways of engaging in research.
• 2013 Scholarship in Teaching Grant - Cassie's Story, Dyan Ngal: who is hearing and who is listening? A problem-based learning resource approach to transformative cultural competence experiences.
• 2013 Nursing Partnerships with Aboriginal Health Centres: A pilot project for undergraduate Nursing clinical placements.
• 2009 - 2010 The Living Curriculum: Bridging the gap between the espoused and the enacted curricula.

Awards

• 2022- Tri-Faculty Subject Buyout Scheme- $12,644.71
• 2020- CSU Research Special Support Program (sabbatical) - $50,000
• 2016- Betty Jeffreys Award, Nurses Memorial Centre $5000

Professional Memberships

• Director- Australian Nurses Memorial Centre: 2022- current
• Australian Representative Committee Member – Board of the European Transcultural Nursing Association – National/International 2013 - current
• Hume Region Nurse Educators Group: 2005- current
• Australian Rural Health Education Network: current
• Australian Volunteers Association: current
• Australia Nurse Teachers Society (ANTS): previous
• University of Sydney Life membership

Career Highlights

• Recipient of the Nurses' Memorial Centre (Defence), Betty Jeffrey Award for 2016

Higher Degree Research Students

Maksi Morris- (current)- General practice nurse engagement in behaviour change for lifestyle risk: A grounded theory study, Principal Supervisor: Dr Jessica Maree Biles, Co-Supervisor: Prof Elizabeth Halcomb, Co-Supervisor: Aspro Maree Anne Bernoth, Co-Supervisor: ASPRO Yazdan Mansourian

Atemthi Dau- (current) 'Catching Up: The Life of a Refugee Child' An autoethnographic exploration of journeying through marginality and Refugeehood (current) Associate Professor Rachel Rossiter (PS), Associate Professor Denise Blanchard (CI), Dr Jessica Biles (CI)

Sean Mack (completed)- The role of leadership in building, facilitating, and sustaining a person-centred approach to working with residents, in the residential aged care environment. Associate Professor Maree Bernoth (PS), Jessica Biles (CS)

Master of Philosophy

Patience Moyo (2022- current)- Exploring the utilisation of structured clinical handover frameworks by nurses in acute care settings among selected hospitals in regional New South Wales: Barriers and enablers, Jessica Biles (PS), Associate Professor Judith Anderson (CI)

Medical Students

Cameron Martin (2022-2024)- The lived experiences early career doctors and their experiences of race-based discrimination. Dr Jessica Biles (PS), Dr Vannessa Wong (CI)

Chloe Campbell (2022-2024)- The lived experiences early career doctors and their experiences of race-based discrimination. Dr Jessica Biles (PS), Dr Vannessa Wong (CI)

Elizabeth Smith (2022- 2024)- Share the Dignity: Exploring period poverty in regional Australian tertiary institutions. Dr Tracey Parnell (PS), Dr Jessica Biles (CI)

Honours Students

Eliana Stafford- Gaffney (current)- What do women want? A qualitative study into the career goals of female paramedics in Australia. Dr Jessica Biles (PS), Ms Alisha McFarlane (CI). 

Pavani Subramaniam (completed 2022- H1)- Understanding Paramedics’ Experiences of Everyday Racism in Australia. Associate Professor John Rae (PI), DR Jessica Biles (CI), Dr Sophia Dywili (CI), Ms Hannah Stack (CI) Completed 2022

Grace Madden (completed 2022- H1)- The workplace sexual harassment experiences of early career female paramedics in regional New South Wales. Dr Jessica Biles (PS), Ms Alisha McFarlane (CI).