Nicky Williams

Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing

Nicky Williams

I first began my nurse training in 1985 and after completing 2 years I left the course due to a family crisis. I went on to have a family and then took up jobs in a number of different industries including banking, custodial services and retail. My interest has always been in healthcare so once my family grew up I returned to my first passion – Nursing. By this time the nurse training programmes had changed and were now delivered by higher education establishments. I completed my training in 2006 and began my first role on a busy surgical ward. My main interest was in community nursing so after a year I moved to a community nursing role. It was during this time my family and I decided to emigrate to New Zealand and I secured a job working on an acute surgical ward in a large public hospital. Shortly after I was appointed to the role of District Nurse working for Nurse Maude based in Christchurch, NZ. Unfortunately being so far away from home took its toll on the family and we returned to the UK in 2009. This experience enabled me to have first hand experience of delivering healthcare in a different country and culture and gave me some valuable insight into the integration of two vastly different cultures.

On my return to the UK I was fortunate to be appointed back into my previous role of community nurse and within 3 months gained promotion to Community Nursing Sister. After a period of 3 years I took a short term post as Clinical Navigation Sister based at the local general hospital – this role was to reduce the admissions into the acute setting and to enable patients to be discharged back into the community with the requisite care and support. Once this role came to an end I was promoted the post of District Nurse Team Leader which involved managing a number of district nursing teams in a rural area. This involved supporting, teaching, managing and developing staff and students and ensuring the safety and welfare of patients was met. Through this role and the time I have previously spent mentoring students I realised that I enjoy teaching and passing on my experience so felt the time was right to make the move into higher education. Hence I joined the University of Bedfordshire in 2015.

Since I joined the University I have completed my Teaching in Higher Education (PgCTHE) qualification and have completed my MSc in Advanced Healthcare Practice. I am Lead Link Lecturer for community placements within Bedfordshire and am involved in a number of working groups within the School of Healthcare looking at processes and how these can be improved.