Principal Lecturer with portfolio (Health and Social Care)

I have been employed with the University of Bedfordshire since 2014. In August 2022, I joined the School of Applied Social Sciences as a principal lecturer with portfolio responsibilities for Health and Social Care. My previous roles were based in the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health education as a senior lecturer, initially aligned to foundation degrees for associate practitioners and nursing associates, and latterly teaching on the MA Medical and Dental Education.

I am registered with the HCPC as a podiatrist, and trained at the University of Salford, graduating in 1988. I worked in clinical practice for the National Health Service from 1989 until 2008 specialising in foot care for high risk patients.

Over the course of my clinical career, I became increasingly interested in student’s experiences of clinical education. I decided to further this interest and in 2008 I took up a non-clinical role as a practice education facilitator (PEF) to support clinical staff and healthcare organisations in providing high quality clinical placements to non-medical healthcare students.

I was awarded my PhD from the University of Lincoln in 2018. My PhD research examines the demographic and psychological resource factors associated with course completion and emotional health in pre-registration nursing students, and is a mixed method, longitudinal cohort study.

My current research interests include developing ‘World Cafes’ as a qualitative research method, and I am participating in a project lead by Dr James Bishop with partners in practice exploring carbon reduction initiatives and energy conservation in young people using World Café methods. I am also participating in a longitudinal study with nursing colleagues at the University of Bedfordshire and Canterbury Christ Church exploring feelings of belongingness in practice and career choices in nursing and midwifery students.

Qualifications

• Diploma in Podiatric Medicine – University of Salford, 1988
• BSc Podiatry – Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh 2000
• Prince 2 Practitioner, University of Bedfordshire, 2009
• MSc Psychological Approaches to Health and Management – University of Bedfordshire 2010
• Level 7 Certificate In Executive Coaching, Institute Of Leadership And Management, 2014
• Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education 2015
• PhD Applied Psychology – University of Lincoln 2018
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (May 2020)

Teaching Expertise

• Positive organisational behaviours within healthcare organisations and education
• Occupational health in staff and students of the helping professions
• Experiences of nursing and AHP students in clinical/ workplace practice
• The use of coaching and mentoring within education and healthcare practice
• Research methods, particularly the use of the World Café and mixed-methods
• Project and service improvement methodologies
• Academic study skills

Research Interests

• Positive psychology
• Wellbeing of students and professionals within helping professions
• Frailty and social vulnerability in older people
• The role that psychological capital and wider psychosocial resources play in the retention, performance and mental health of healthcare professionals and students
• Feelings of belongingness in clinical practice for healthcare students
• The experiences of nursing students in clinical practice
• Teaching, assessing and mentoring healthcare students

Projects

• I am currently working on a longitudinal mixed-method research project with a team of academics from Canterbury Christ Church University examining the impact of clinical placements on destination of newly qualified nurses and midwives.
• As part of a team led by nursing and psychology academic at the University of Huddersfield I am examining mental toughness in first year nursing students and its association with attrition.

Postgraduate research supervision

Director of Studies

Ayodele Ayeni (PhD). The impact of social vulnerability on frailty in community-dwelling older people.

Supervision team: Professor David Hewson

Internal Roles

• PhD Chair 2019-present
• PhD Supervisor Ayodele Ayeni. The impact of social vulnerability on frailty in community-dwelling older people. 2018-present
• Dissertation supervision MA Medical and dental education 2019-2022
• Panel member for internal scrutiny events for course validation across the faculty 2019-present
• Staff Committee 2018-2021
• Mentor to individuals gaining associate, fellow and senior fellow HEA accreditation via the experiential portfolio route. January 2019 - Present
• Portfolio assessor panel member for experiential portfolio HEA accreditation June 2020- present

External Roles

• External Reviewer, FD Health & Wellbeing, Leeds City College March 2022
• External Reviewer FdSc Health and Social Care course revalidation, University of Ulster December 2021
• External Reviewer, FdSc Mental Health, and FdSc Health and Social Care course re-approval, University of Worcester May 2021
• External Examiner for the FdA Health and Social Care Assistant Practitioner course, University of Bolton January 2018 –Dec 2021
• Interim External Examiner MA Social work, University of Bolton September 2019 –December 2019
• External Examiner for the FdA Health and Social Care Assistant Practitioner course, Bury College January 2019- September 2021
• External Examiner for MSc Social Care, Health and Wellbeing / MA Early Childhood Studies / MA Community Development and Youth Studies, University of Bolton January 2020- Dec 2022
• External Examiner for FdSc in Health and Social Care for Nursing Associates and Assistant Practitioners University of Brighton October 2021-2025
• External Moderator, Cambridge Access Validating Agency
  November 2021 – Present
• External examiner for the FdA Health and Social Care Assistant Practitioner course, University of Bolton

Publications

• Hewson D, Ayeni A, Sharples A, (2022). The association between social vulnerability and frailty in community-dwelling older people: a systematic review. PROSPERO 2022 CRD42022306058 Available from: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022306058
  
  
• Organisational Resilience Diagnostic (SCHORD) tool and workbook
  
  
• Clements A, Sharples A, and Kinman G, (2020) Identifying well-being challenges and solutions in the police service: A World Cafe approach, The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles, 1–21 DOI: 10.1177/0032258X19898723
  
  
• Kinman G, Grant L, and Sharples A, (2020) Peer coaching for wellbeing and personal effectiveness, Leadership Issues in Social Care, 2(4), pp 28-35.
  
  
• Kinman G, Grant L, and Sharples A, (2020) Peer coaching for wellbeing and personal effectiveness, Care Knowledge Special Report.
  
  
• Ponnampalam A, and Sharples A, (2020), The education and practice of self-care in palliative medicine trainees, a qualitative study, BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 10:A20-A21
  
  
• Wareing M, Taylor R, Wilson A, Sharples A,(2018) Impact of clinical placements on nursing graduates' choice of first staff nurse post, British Journal of Nursing, 27:20, 1180–1185. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2018.27.20.1180
  
  
• Wareing M, Taylor R, Wilson A, and Sharples A, (2017). The influence of placements on adult nursing graduates' choice of first post. British Journal of Nursing, 26:4, 228-233
  
  
• Ayeni, A.; Sharples, A.; Hewson, D. (2022) The Association between Social Vulnerability and Frailty in Community Dwelling Older People :A Systematic Review. Geriatrics 7, 104. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics7050104 

Funded Research Projects

• 2022 - Luton Borough Council, University of Bedfordshire ‘Energetic Lifestyles’: Engaging young people in the development and implementation of carbon reduction initiatives with Dr James Bishop (Lead investigator), University of Bedfordshire; and Dr Andrew Clements, Aston University

Recent Conference Presentations

• Alexander K. & Sharples A. (2022) Health and social work students’ experiences of placement during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on their wellbeing and resilience: a mixed methods study, International Resilience Revolution Conference, Blackpool, UK and online

• Clements, A.J. & Sharples, A. (2019). Identifying wellbeing priorities in the police through a World Café methodology, Division of Occupational Psychology Annual Conference, Chester

• Fitting into the practice team: tactics employed by pre-registration nursing students. Poster presentation NET 2011 conference, Cambridge

Contact Details

T: +44 (0)1582 743821
E: adrienne.sharples@beds.ac.uk