Dr Kate Churruca is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Healthcare Resilience and Implementation Science (CHRIS) at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University. Her research interests include the application of complexity science to understanding change in healthcare, and organisational culture and its impact on care delivery. She has expertise in qualitative and mixed methods including interviews, surveys, Q methodology, thematic analysis, and discourse analysis. Dr Churruca currently works on a multisite research project looking at the application of broken-windows theory to the hospital, which uses surveys and observations. She also contributes to a National Health & Medical Research Council funded project looking at the effect of unprofessional behaviours on safety and quality in hospitals. Following her involvement in a review of safety culture assessment in healthcare, she has worked as member of an expert advisory group for the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care on safety culture measurement in Australia.

Dr Churruca has supervised Master of Research and PhD students on projects including prioritisation of care in residential aged care facilities, women’s experiences of gestational diabetes and their use of social media, the implementation of Lean management in operating theatres, and the intended and unintended organisational effects of hospital redevelopment. Her students have published multiple papers, and won conference prizes and competitive travel grants.

In the past, Dr Churruca has been involved in studies looking at how mental health professionals collaborate during uncertainty, and men’s perceptions of risk in prostate cancer and its impact on their treatment decisions. Her PhD explored women’s experiences of the eating disorder bulimia.