I graduated from the University of Hull in 2007 with a BSc in adult nursing. Afterwards, I worked in various settings within the NHS, including the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), palliative care and oncology, transfusion and as a specialist nurse in organ donation. I completed my MSc in Health Education and Leadership at the University of Hull in 2019. During the pandemic, I returned to the ICU and developed and managed a family support service. I manage the hospital bereavement support team and chair the Hull Child Bereavement Advisory Group. I have recently submitted my PhD at Hull York Medical School, which Yorkshire Cancer Research funded. My PhD uses constructivist grounded theory to explore support experiences for children and surviving parents following parental death.
I am a matron at Hull University Hospitals NHS Trust, focusing on education and staff development, and I manage the hospital bereavement support team. I manage a participatory action research project with a charity named PAUL for Brain Recovery to improve the mental wellbeing of families living with acquired brain injury. In addition, I work two days a week as a Health Services Research Fellow at York St John University. I aim to support and promote research activity and to collaborate with colleagues within the university, health services and the wider community. I am especially interested in using creative methods and participatory research to co-produce research that will improve patients' and their family's health and wellbeing.
- In 2019, I achieved a Fellowship at the Higher Education Academy.
- I teach and supervise postgraduate students undertaking an enhancing therapeutic communication module and provide communication training within the NHS.
- I am a freelance facilitator for Child Bereavement UK and deliver their training on child bereavement.
My research explores bereavement support experiences for children and surviving parents following parental death. I developed a patient and public involvement (PPI) group that has been involved at all stages of my research.
I am currently working on projects using participatory research. One project is working with families living with acquired brain injury and the other is working with bereaved children who are being supported in a forest setting.
I have presented work at national and international conferences and published in health-related journals.
My research interests include:
- Bereavement
- Supporting families and carers
- End-of-life care
- Research with children
- Research using creative and participatory methods
Recent publications
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Registered Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
