Helen Allan Secures Visiting Scholarship at De Montfort University

Helen Allan has secured a Visiting Scholarship to the Centre for Reproduction Research at De Montfort University from January to March 2019. Helen will be working on papers with Professor Nicky Hudson and her team which arise from the Early Parenthood after IVF study. Helen’s collaborators on this study have been Professor Olga van den Akker (MU), Professor Lorraine Culley (DMU), Dr Ginny Mounce (University of Oxford), Jo Killingley, Lindsay Ahmed and Therese Bourne (MU) and Ruth Hudson (Surrey & Borders NHS Trust).

New research highlights delegation as key skill for nursing students

Middlesex’s Prof Helen Allan collaborates on ground-breaking study revealing importance of delegation training for nurses

A new study carried out by researcher Helen Allan, Professor of Nursing at Middlesex, and colleagues at the University of Surrey, University of Salford and UCL Institute of Education sheds light on the practice of delegation in NHS nursing roles.

The research – which followed newly qualified nurses in four hospital trusts across England over a three year period – found increased educational and organisational support is needed to develop nurses’ delegation skills.

The team identified five styles of delegator among the nurses they followed. These ranged from the ‘do-it-all’ nurse who felt unable to delegate anything, to the ‘inspector’ who delegates but constantly checks the work of others for fear of being held accountable for mistakes.

Professor Allan’s work highlights an immediate concern as the most recent Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of Conduct states registered nurses should be accountable for their decisions to delegate tasks.

“Our research focuses on a little understood area of nursing – the delegation of key nursing tasks to untrained and unregistered care staff,” she says.

“Delegation falls into the category of essential nursing task which has for many years gone unacknowledged and unvalued.

“It is important because patients’ safety rests on effective delegation between nurses and care assistants. In fact, delegation is important across the whole health care team.”

The research findings will feed directly into Middlesex’s undergraduate nursing and midwifery courses to ensure students graduate with the necessary skills to delegate effectively.

“It’s important to act according to your Code of Conduct, which for the first time specifically stipulates that effective delegation is a key role for registered nurses,” explains Helen.

“Always feel confident that you know how to do what’s expected of you – and that anybody you ask to do something is competent too.”

Read the full study on delegation styles among newly qualified nurses here.

(content from Middlesex University web team http://www.mdx.ac.uk/news/2017/02/new-research-highlights-delegation-as-key-skill-for-nursing-students)

Professor Helen Allan to give seminar on infertility, at the Royal College of GPs

Professor Helen Allan has been invited to give a seminar at the Royal College of
General Practitioners on the topic of ‘Infertility’ at an RCGP Learning, One
Day Essential CPD for Primary Care Event on Men’s Health.

This is an important step forward for Professor Allan who hopes to recruit
GPs to work with her on a funded research project about early parenting in
infertile couples and the role of primary care professionals in identifying
the needs of parents following IVF.

For further information please contact Professor Allan: h.allan@mdx.ac.uk 

Professor Helen Allan of CCRNM and colleagues win grant to investigate fertility treatments

Congratulations to Professor Helen Allan of the Centre for Critical Research in Nursing and Midwifery Education and colleagues who will investigate early parenthood experiences of infertile couples after successful fertility treatment as part of winning a development grant award.

The research group, which includes Professor of Health Psychology Olga van den Akker and Professor of Nursing Helen Allan, won the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology (SRIP) grant award to run a workshop to develop a collaborative team for investigating the implications on IVF/ICSI conception and delivery of a baby for couples’ lives in early parenthood.

Full story here:

http://www.mdx.ac.uk/news/2016/05/researchers-win-grant-to-investigate-fertility-treatments

 

Doctors and Nurses do not need more stress – protect our NHS!

In a recent letter to the Guardian newspaper, signed by prominent nursing academics including Professor Helen Allan from CCRNM,  nurses at all levels are urged to participate in Action Nursing – a movement which encourages nurses and their health colleagues to engage in action to protect health care.

Read the letter in the Guardian

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Professor Helen Allan

Our Sociology book launched at RCN Research Conference

After a year of meeting at secret locations in London we finished our book Understanding Sociology in Nursing with Danny Kelly and Pam Smith, 2016 ISBN: 9781473913592 Available from Wordery or from the publisher Sage. The idea of the book is to do something different to the sociological-theory-for-nurses format. To me (MT) those kinds of books seem to be aimed at other academics rather than student nurses or practitioners. Our book starts with issues that this kind of reader will have to face e.g. becoming a nurse, or when things go wrong and looks at how basic sociological concepts can help make sense of these things. The book was launched by sociologist Julia Lawton.

book cover

Sage launched the book at this year’s RCN International Research Conference in Edinburgh. Here are the authors, attempting symmetry.
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