Executive Dean of Health

Title: Executive Dean of Health
Phone: +44 (0)1782 733901
Email: p.n.walsh@keele.ac.uk
Location: David Weatherall DJW0.58
Contacting me: Personal Assistant - Anne Cornwell - m.a.cornwell@keele.ac.uk

Biography

I started my nursing career in Gloucestershire qualifying in 1984 and worked clinically in trauma orthopaedics, surgery and intensive care nursing. My academic interests revolve around health care ethics and professional practice and as part of my master’s degree in medical ethics I explored life and death decision making within intensive care. I have always had a passion for education and took up post in 1991 as a registered nurse tutor at the United Midlands College of Nursing and then Wolverhampton University. I have a wealth of experience in curriculum design development and delivery across pre and post registration programmes with a specific expertise in placement learning, clinical skill development and clinical assessment.  Following the move of nurse education into HE I was instrumental in establishing the first fully funded practice placement facilitator roles and developing robust partnership working frameworks to facilitate placement learning. Since moving to Keele University in June 2007 I have provided dynamic leadership to the team and have led a number of innovation / research projects including

1. The implementation of a peer support model for staff
2. Raising the awareness of the realities of non-medical professional practice programmes for prospective applicants.
3. Access and progression into nursing
4. The use of simulation within pre-registration nursing 

My recent research focus has been around the student experience and in particular student attrition, belonging and retention which were complimented by me being the west midlands HEI representative on the DH national group looking at managing student attrition during 2009. My current research has evolved into exploring the development of resilience within student’s but with a particular focus on their resilience in managing challenging issues during clinical placement.

I have been a member of the Council of Deans for Health since 2010 providing expertise around student retention which culminated in a national workshop identifying good practice in promoting retention.  I am an active member of the Royal College of Nursing Education Forum since 2011 taking up chair of this in December 2015. Within this role I am able to influence nurse education on a national scale and am committed to developing a vibrant and engaged forum that reaches out to its wider membership.

I became the Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery in September 2010 and have led the growth and development of the school, through the expansion of our educational portfolio alongside the development of research capacity and capability. In addition to this growth a focus on staff and student experience has seen an increase in satisfaction with a steady climb up the rankings of major league tables. I am committed to understanding how we can improve the education we offer and have a university strategic leadership role for quality and enhancement.

I have been a member of the faculty executive group since 2010 and commenced as PVC and Faculty Dean for the Faculty of Medicine and Health sciences at Keele University on 2nd October  2017.