Dr Mainey is a Registered Nurse who has had an exciting international career. She now specialises in abortion care, primarily at a strategic level. Lydia is a current member of the Queensland Health Termination of Pregnancy Working Group, MSI Australia technical advisory committee, and advises grassroots organisations and movements on abortion advocacy. Her doctoral thesis (2022) explored the experiences of nurses and midwives who provide abortion care to people victimised by gender-based violence. This research addresses a significant real-world problem (the lack of abortion access and equity) and has been heralded as cutting-edge with the potential to “change the way we think about nursing care itself” (Dr Ryan Essex, thesis examiner).

Lydia excels in creating boutique courses for unique student cohorts. She has designed and coordinated multiple student-centred units across the undergraduate and postgraduate nursing courses to prepare the nurses of the future. All her units align with the sustainable development goals and incorporate social justice content. She is an educational innovator, consistently exploring pedagogically sound ways to make her teaching more engaging, accessible, and authentic. For example, she has implemented Group Accountability Study (GAS) teams to create a strong learner community and audiobooks to make learning materials easier to access for non-traditional learners and people with busy lives. She also has a knack for teaching highly complex concepts in simple terms and in a highly supported manner. When times are tough, it is not beyond Lydia to ask students to attend class in fancy dress because she understands that creativity and laughter reduce stress and increase people's ability to learn.

Lydia is committed to creating environments where people from diverse backgrounds can flourish. She uses intersectional strategies, is self-reflective and values non-traditional learners, people affected by socio-economic hardship, LGBTIQ+ people and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. 

CQUniversity Australia

Commendation - Student Voice Award for On-Campus Educator of the Year 2019

Commendation - Student Voice Award for Educator of the Year 2019

Commendation - Student Voice Award for Distance Educator of the Year 2019

Commendation - Student Voice Award for Distance Educator of the Year 2017

https://www.ruralhealth.org.au/partyline/article/call-rethink-abortion-service-accessibility

http://uninews.cqu.edu.au/UniNews/viewStory.do?story=4892

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https://www.whimn.com.au/talk/news/reproductive-coercion-is-the-latest-tactic-used-by-domestic-abusers/news-story/0f53c77e2da14fa4f0e2557a3e084205

Australia:
Registered Nurse - emergency, remote Indigenous primary care, academia.

United Kingdom:
Registered Nurse - emergency, family care (paediatrics)

Iraq:
Registered Nurse - emergency

Canada:
Registered Nurse - remote Indigenous public health

Member Australian College of Nursing

Australasian Sexual Health & HIV Nurses Association

Senior Fellow - Higher Education Academy