I am currently finishing a PhD by Portfolio to explore qualitatively why nurses stay in or leave their roles in health and care. The portfolio includes a systematized review, a reflexive thematic analysis with ‘successful and sustained’ nurses looking back over their careers, an IPA exploring the experiences of nurses who have decided to leave the profession; and a collaborative autoethnography with my wife reflecting on our intertwined yet juxtaposed nursing careers.

I led the research workforce capacity building portfolio for HEE across the KSS region for 5+ years, including the commissioning of the Integrated Clinical Academic Programme across KSS and supporting numerous Trust-based initiatives. I am a member of the ARC KSS ORCA group which focuses on building the research workforce and am also a mentor on the ARC KSS mentorship scheme and have been mentoring an early career researcher (physio) for the last 3 years.

2017 awarded £125k funding to commission #Let’sWorkTogether research project with  https://www.clevertogether.com/web/ crowd sourcing research into staff retention. Supported by a Darzi Fellow I mentored, awarded £250k to work #LWT outputs into a cultural change project trialed in 5 Trusts called #BestPlaceToWork. This body of work went on to influence the national NHS People Plan & my PhD Studies, sponsored by HEE SE, looking into staff retention in health and care in the UK.

My mixed methodology MSc Dissertation research project "An Exploration of Fear of Patient Violence by Mental Health Nurses in a Medium Secure Unit” –was completed October 2014 (selected for https://dissertations.le.ac.uk/ ). Poster presented at IOPPN (KCL) Research in MSUs Conference 16 April 2015.

GPS Tracking: 2011-15 Co-led (with Dr John Tully) the “Forensic Research Group” managing numerous strands of GPS-tracking related research and presentation at numerous conferences. 2014-2015 Involved on a pro bono basis in a Working Group on Electronic Monitoring with the Probation Institute. 2015-2017 Member of “Tracking People: Controversies & Challenges” network http://trackingpeople.leeds.ac.uk

I am currently supervising a number of Master's level students across the MRes and Advance Practitioner pathways.

As a mental health nurse, I worked in forensic and secure settings, specialising in risk assessment, risk management and security.

I have considerable experience as a Structured Professional Judgement (SPJ) risk assessment tool workshop lead for the Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science Unit (FANS), Institute of Psychiatry (IOPPN) 2007-2014. Trained in the HCR-20 (violence risk assessment) by Professor Chris Webster in 2004; then as a trainer by Dr Stephen Hart in the HCR-20 and the PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist Revised) in January 2005; in the Risk of Sexual Violence Protocol (RSVP) by Dr Randal Kropp in March 2010; in the Short Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) by Dr Quazie Haque in November 2011.

As a Tutor in the Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression (PMVA) (2005-2015 under the General Services Association (GSA), I taught Promoting Safer Therapeutic Services (PSTS), prevention, de-escalation skills and practical breakaway or teamwork skills in managing an aggressive individual.

In 2012, I was awarded £15k from London Deanery to review existing training packages & develop a Security Awareness e-learning training package for use across London Medium Secure Units.

As a digital innovation, I project managed the introduction of the use of electronic monitoring in forensic populations. This led to numerous publications, knowledge exchange and we were also shortlisted for a Health Services Journal (HSJ) Innovation in Mental Health Award 2012 for entry: “Commissioning the Use of the Buddi GPS Tracker to Assist the Recovery of Service Users in Medium Secure Units and to Promote Leave Safety”, joint entry between SLAM and Buddi.

Following a Darzi Fellowship, I moved into strategic workforce transformation at Health Education England. At HEE I was involved in varied education-related work including, commissioning, innovation, accreditation, curriculum review, programme revalidation, student feedback, quality monitoring, procurement, contract management and workforce transformation. Initially managing the regional education commissioning team with a budget circa £150m before moving into Transformation, I gained 6+ years experience at Deputy Director level delivering a range of programmes at a regional level with a diverse range of stakeholders across the NHS bodies, Social Care, Local Government, Higher Education and Private sector. Mid 2020 onwards, I began working in a consultancy capacity with Integrated Care Systems supporting them with their workforce transformation priorities.

Within my time at HEE I was able to secure circa £5m funding to commission Darzi Fellowships across Kent, Surrey and Sussex across the 2017/18, 18/19 and 19/20 academic years with 75 Fellowships delivered. I'm very proud to have been able to pay forward in this way!

In 2017 I was awarded £125k funding to commission #Let’sWorkTogether - a research project with  https://www.clevertogether.com/web/ , crowd sourcing research into staff retention. Supported by a Darzi Fellow I mentored, we were subsequently awarded a further £250k to work #LWT outputs into a cultural change project trialed in 5 Trusts called #BestPlaceToWork. This body of work went on to influence the national NHS People Plan & my PhD Studies, sponsored by HEE SE, looking into why health professionals stay in or leave their roles in health and care.

I took vountary redundancy from the NHS in 2023 to focus on my PhD and support my family and in 2024 I joined the University of Brighton as a lecturer to start the third leg of my career in mental health nursing.

My teaching philosophy is rooted in active learning and storytelling. I believe that using narrative helps students connect with the professional identity of nursing and navigate the "grey areas" of clinical practice. I strive to create a psychologically safe and playful learning environment where students feel comfortable engaging with complex threshold concepts.

Current Roles: I currently lecture in Mental Health Nursing, where I lead a Level 5 module on Long Term Conditions for both mental health and adult nursing students. My teaching practice integrates digital tools and inquiry-based learning to move students from a "fixing" mindset toward a "coaching and enabling" mindset. Additionally, I support students pastorally and academically as a Personal Academic Tutor and Academic Assessor, facilitating reflective groups for students returning from practice placements.

Teaching Interests:

• Active and playful learning methodologies.

• The use of narrative and storytelling in education.

• Workforce retention and clinical leadership.

• Simulation training and technology-enhanced learnin