Mr Tom Laws

Tom Laws is a Lecturer in the School of Nursing at the University of South Australia. He is recognised nationally for his contribution to men’s health having edited and authored three books on men’s health (1998, 2006 2007). He has authored two post graduate men’s health courses for Edith Cowan University. His doctoral studies, focusing on the health practices of men in dual income families is currently under examination. He also has a breadth of experience in conducting focus groups interviews with men and questionnaire design.

A hand book of men’s health (2006)

Promoting Men's health 1998

• My degrees in economics and public health ideally supports my teaching of health economics, public health, epidemiology and the social determinants of health.

  I supervise and examine Honours and Masters thesis with an increasing number of students focusing on men’s health and family health topics

Department of Health, South Australia: as a member of the organising committee for the 4th and 7th National Men's Health conference

Tertiary

PhD (2009)
Thesis under examination
The University of Adelaide
Faculty of Health Sciences Supervised by Prof Tony Worsley

Master of Business (incomplete)
(Health Service Management) University of South Australia

Graduate Diploma in Public Health 2000
The University of Adelaide

Graduate Diploma in Education 1991
The University of Adelaide

Bachelor of Economics 1988
The University of Adelaide

Nursing

Registered Midwife 1984
Queen Victoria Hospital

Ophthalmic Nursing Diploma 1980
Moorfields Eye Hospital, London

Registered General Nurse 1977
Royal Adelaide Hospital

• My research focus is gender and health care / health promotion. My work specifically investigates the way in which we participate in health care within the family. I have several research projects running at present on this topic.

• Funded Research
  2000 Anti Cancer Foundation Research grant. Jelena Plojack, Tom Laws and Dr Murray Drummond. Knowledge of and attitudes towards prostate cancer among Italio-Australian men in the Adelaide metropolitan area.

• 2000 The thesis for my PhD in Public Health is concerned with Men's health practices within dual income families. The emphasis being on the dual income family and the need for fathers to go beyond the traditional role of bread winning in order to support their partner and children. (Funded by National Pharmacies).

• 1995 Research question: Do Critical Care Nurses suffer from Critical Incident Stress as a result of having performed emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation?

Poljak-Fligic J Laws TA Drummond MJN (2001) Knowledge and attitudes towards prostate cancer among Italo-Australian men. Anti-Cancer foundation, South Australia.

Research and Book Publications

Laws TA (2009) Asepsis , chapter 31 in Kozier and Erb’s Fundamentals of Nursing
Laws TA (2009) Peri operative nursing, chapter 31 in Kozier and Erb’s Fundamentals of Nursing
Laws TA (2007) Men's Health - every man's guide to good health Elsevier, in-health series, ISBN: 978-0-7295-3849-7
Laws TA (2006) A handbook of men’s health, Churchill Livingstone, United Kingdom

Laws TA (1998) Editor,Promoting Men's Health: an Essential Book for Nurses, Ausmed publications. Melbourne.

Laws TA (1998) Men's contribution to health care within the family. Chapter 7.in TA Laws (Ed.)Promoting Men's Health:An Essential Book for Nurses, Ausmed publications. Melbourne.

Laws TA (1998) An experience of testicular cancer; chapter 10 in TA Laws (Ed.)Promoting Men's Health:An Essential Book for Nurses, Ausmed publications. Melbourne.

Journal Publications

O’Shaughnessy PK, Laws TA (2009) Australian men’s long term experiences following prostatectomy: A qualitative descriptive study, Contemporary Nurse (in Print)
Laws TA Zeith K Fiedler BA (2004) Seeking an explanation for the poor uptake of in-hospital AED programmes, European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing
Laws TA, Bradley H (2003) Transmission of health knowledge and practices from men to boys among Aboriginal communities and non-Indigenous and Australians: searching for evidence. Contemporary Nurse, 15(3) 249-261

Laws TA, Fiedler B, (2002) “Calculating the true cost of private school education: Based on a survey of South Australian Schools” Australian Journal of Social Issues, 37(4): 447-459.

Laws TA, Drummond M, (2002a), The Complexities of interviewing Italo-Australian men, Contemporary Nurse. 12(2): 144-154.

Laws TA, Drummond M (2002b) a content analysis of contemporary men’s health books marketed to the health professional, Australian Journal of Primary Health, 8(2): 77-80.

Laws T. A., Drummond MJN, (2001), A proactive approach to assessing men for eating disorders, Contemporary Nurse. 11:28-39

Drummond MJN, Laws TA, Poljak-Fligic J (2001) Knowledge and attitudes towards prostate cancer among Italo-Australian men, Australian Journal of Primary Health Interchange, 7(3):9-16

Laws, T. A. (2001), Examining critical care nurses’ critical incident stress after in hospital emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) Australian Critical Care, 14(2):76-81

Laws T. A., Drummond, M, Poljak J. (2000), On what basis do Australian Men make informed decisions about diagnostic and treatment options for prostate cancer? Australian Journal of Primary Health Interchange, vol 6, no2.

Laws, T. A. (1997), Child care arrangements in Australia: an argument for involving grandparents in a paid care role,” Leisure for pleasure” Journal of Leisured Adults. Sept, l 2 (2),18-23.

Laws TA, Rouse K. (1995) Mental health assessment for all nurses. Australian Nursing Journal.Vol 2(7)32-35.

Laws TA, Hawkins C. (1995) Critical incident stress: a normal response to an abnormal situation. Australian Nursing Journal. Vol 2(7)32-34.

Laws TA, Hawkins C. (1995) Registered Nurses concerns about mouth to mouth resuscitation. Critical Thinking. Vol 2(3) 7-8.

Laws TA. (1993) There is more to CPR than ABC. Contemporary Nurse. Vol 2(2) 85-86.

Brougham L, Berry B and Laws TA. (2001) Editorial: Make space for it. British Journal of Anaesthetics & Recovery Nursing. Vol 2(3&4) @-3.

Conference Presentations

Laws TA (2008) Fathers' health practices in support of a child with life limiting illness: What we should know about this parent: presented at The 2nd Palliative Care Nurses Conference, - Leading and Learning, Hilton Hotel, Adelaide.

Laws TA Drummond MJN (2007) Knowledge and attitudes towards prostate cancer among Italo-Ausralian men, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia: Men’s Health Promotion Forum, Saturday 6th October 2007, The University of South Australia

Laws TA Drummond MJN, et al., (2007) Plenary session: Using narratives and stories in men’s health; 7th National Men’s Health Conference, Adelaide, 4 October

Laws TA (2007) Shared parenting: The division of labour around child health and illness in Australian dual income families. 7th National Men’s Health Conference, Adelaide, 4 October

Laws TA (2007) In what ways do men contribute the family health? The Field of Fatherhood: Crossings of the Terrain: Conference University of South Australia, June 19th (Chaired by Professor Rhonda Sharp: Hawke Research Institute)

Laws TA (2003)The Health Practices of Men within Dual Income Families;International conference. Father Figures: Gender and Paternity in the Modern Age, John Moores University, Liverpool, 30 June - 2 July 2003.

Laws TA Drummond MJN (2001) Knowledge and attitudes towards prostate cancer among Italo-Australian men, 4th National Men’s and Boy’s Health Conference, Men Fully Alive, University of Western Sydney.26th-29th September, 2001.

Laws TA (1996) Do critical care nurses suffer from critical incident stress as a result having performed emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation? 2nd International Spark of Life Conference 13-14 September, World Congress Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Reviewer: Text books and Journals

Lewis’s Medical-Surgical Nursing 2ed (2007)

American Journal of Men's Health

Contemporary Nurse

European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing

I am able to provide media comment in the following areas of expertise:

Discipline: Health sciences / Nursing and Midwifery

• Men's health
• Men's contribution to family health
• Work life balance in dual income families