Kevin Murphy

Assistant Professor

School: Healthcare and Nursing Sciences

I am currently the Programme Lead for the Community Specialist Practice Qualification (SPQ) covering the four fields of District Nursing, General Practice Nursing, Adult Social Care Nursing and Community Childrens Nursing. I am also the Programme Lead for the current Higher Apprenticeship Specialist Practice in District Nursing (HA-SPDN) PG/Dip and MSc, and teach across a range of pre-registration modules. I also have a pre-registration Personal Tutor (PT) group, that commenced their training in September 2025.

I am an external examiner at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). In 2023, I was awarded the title of Queens Nurse from the QNI, reflecting my ongoing commitment and dedication to supporting and improving community nursing services.

I am currently undertaking my PhD at Northumbria, focusing on lone working in district nursing and understanding perceptions. My teaching and research interests include community nursing, the education and development of community specialist practitioners and improving staff safety and wellbeing, especially relevant to lone working.

I qualified in April 2009 as a registered nurse, working in Gateshead as a community staff nurse. I joined Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals (NUTH) in 2013 to undertake the District Nursing Specialist Practitioner Qualification (DNSPQ). I qualified as a Specialist Practice Teacher (CPT/SPT) in 2016, working in Newcastle District Nursing Services before joining Northumbria on secondment in 2018.

I returned to frontline clinical practice in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic as a District Nursing Specialist Practice Teacher. I then later returned to the University in a substantive post in February 2021. I still hold a clinical contract and continue to work as a District Nurse in Newcastle, often in out of hours services. I have also gained my Non-Medical Prescribing qualification (V300), where my prescribing interests predominantly lie in palliative care, anticipatory prescribing and managing long-term conditions, including acute exacerbations.

Outside of usual working hours, I greatly enjoy spending time with my children and occasionally enjoy riding the highs and lows of being a Newcastle United supporter.

Email Kevin

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Lone working in community nursing settings

Perception of risk in community nursing settings

Pre-registration nursing students and lone working

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Addressing substance use challenges and interventions for emergency department nurses, Skinner, J., Steer, M., Murphy, K., Hill, B. 19 Jun 2025, In: British Journal of Nursing
Settings of Care, Finlay, S., Hodgson, P., Murphy, K. 8 Jul 2025, Fundamentals of Caring for the Older Person, Oxford, Wiley
Factors influencing nurses’ use of maggot debridement therapy, Redford, K., Murphy, K., Hill, B. Aug 2024, In: British Journal of Nursing
Ensuring effective infection prevention and control in the community, Murphy, K. 3 May 2023, In: Nursing Standard
Importance of timely administration of dopaminergic medications to improve Parkinson's patients' clinical outcomes, Turnbull, K., Murphy, K. 17 Aug 2023, In: British Journal of Nursing
Community Practitioner Nurse Prescriber (V150/V100), Murphy, K. 1 Nov 2022, Independent and Supplementary Prescribing at a Glance, Blackwell Publishing
Food Insecurity and Health Outcomes: How to Spot it and How to Help, Defeyter, M., Walton, P., Aspray, C., McKean, M., Shotton, L., Murphy, K., Goodwin, S., Forsey, A. 19 Oct 2022
Personal protective equipment training team: a community nursing initiative, Murphy, K. 2 Jun 2021, In: British Journal of Community Nursing
Administration of the flu vaccination: required skills and knowledge, Murphy, K. 12 Nov 2020, In: British Journal of Nursing
The use of WhatsApp in district nursing practice, Murphy, K. 2 Sep 2019, In: British Journal of Community Nursing