Professor Alison Steven

Professor

Department: Nursing, Midwifery & Health

Alison Steven is Professor of Research in Nursing and Health Professions Education at Northumbria University and Visiting Professor at the University of Genoa Italy. She completed her PhD (Discourse analysis of clinical skills education) in 2002 at Newcastle University. Prior to joining Northumbria University in 2008 Alison worked in the Faculty of Medical Sciences and in the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and Dentistry at Newcastle university.

Her research focuses on workforce development and wellbeing for the enhancement of safety and quality in professional practice through a focus on:

Health professions education, &
The embedding of skills, knowledge, and innovations in practice.

She uses a range of theoretical frameworks, qualitative and mixed methods as appropriate to work spanning from development and implementation work, through to exploration and evaluation.

Prof Steven has undertaken research across a spectrum of settings and published a range of academic articles, book chapters and monographs, including developing work on ‘emotional safety for learning’. Her portfolio includes research on education for new roles and practices, inter-professional education, work based learning, mentoring, knowledge translation, practice and workforce development.

In 2014 she was awarded the British Medical Association Joan Dawkins research award for a study exploring the relationships between involvement in mentoring activities and doctors health and wellbeing. More recently Prof Steven led the Sharing LearnIng from Practice to improve Patient Safety (SLIPPS.eu) project, funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European union.

Campus Address

CLC West
Room B126

Email Alison

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Professor Steven's research focuses on workforce development and wellbeing for the enhancement of safety and quality in professional practice through a focus on:

• Health professions education, &

• The embedding of skills, knowledge, and innovations in practice.

She has particular expertise in qualitative methodologies but uses a range of theoretical frameworks, qualitative and mixed methods as appropriate to work spanning from development and implementation work, through to exploration and evaluation.

Prof Steven has undertaken research across a spectrum of settings and published a range of academic articles, book chapters and monographs, including developing work on ‘emotional safety for learning’.

Her portfolio includes research on: education for new roles and practices, inter-professional education, work based learning, mentoring, knowledge translation, practice and workforce development, continuing professional development, co-design and implementation of fatigue risk management strategies, implementation of enhanced care for older people, early warning scores, hydration apps in care homes.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Development of an international tool for students to record and reflect on patient safety learning experiences, Steven, A., Pearson, P., Turunen, H., Myhre, K., Sasso, L., Vizcaya-Moreno, M., Pérez-Cañaveras, R., Sara-aho, A., Bagnasco, A., Aleo, G., Patterson, L., Larkin, V., Zanini, M., Porras, J., Khakurel, J., Azimirad, M., Ringstad, Ø., Johnsen, L., Haatainen, K., Wilson, G., Rossi, S., Morey, S., Tella, S. May 2022, In: Nurse Educator
Discourse Tensions: Professional socialisation into nursing within the university education system, Jackson, S., Steven, A. 1 Aug 2020, In: Nurse Education Today
Learning to keep patients safe: Emotional safety for learning and complexity in the nursing workforce, Allen, H., Magnusson, C., Steven, A. 17 Dec 2019, Routledge International Handbook of Nurse Education, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY, Taylor & Francis
Using Normalization Process Theory as a Practical Tool Across the Life Course of a Qualitative Research Project, McNaughton, R., Steven, A., Shucksmith, J. 1 Jan 2020, In: Qualitative Health Research
Shared learning from national to international contexts: A Research and Innovation Collaboration to Enhance Education for Patient Safety, Steven, A., Tella, S., Turunen, H., Vizcaya-Moreno , M., Pérez-Cañaveras , R., Porras, J., Bagnasco, A., Sasso, L., Myhre, K., Sara-aho, A., Ringstad, Ø., Pearson, P. Jun 2019, In: Journal of Research in Nursing
Exploration of the student nurses’ experiences in practice of patient safety events, reporting and patient involvement, Morey, S., Magnusson, C., Steven, A. 1 May 2021, In: Nurse Education Today
The value of continuing professional development: A realistic evaluation of a multi-disciplinary workshop for health visitors dealing with children with complex needs, Steven, A., Larkin, V., Stewart, J., Bateman, B. 1 Aug 2018, In: Nurse Education Today
Critical Incident Techniques and Reflection in Nursing and Health Professions Education: Systematic Narrative Review, Steven, A., Wilson, G., Turunen, H., Vizcaya-Moreno , M., Azimirad, M., Khakurel, J., Porras, J., Tella, S., Pérez-Cañaveras, R., Sasso, L., Aleo, G., Myhre, K., Ringstad, Ø., Sara-Aho, A., Scott, M., Pearson, P. 1 Nov 2020, In: Nurse Educator
The implementation of an innovative hydration monitoring App in care home settings: a qualitative study, Steven, A., Wilson, G., Young-Murphy, L. 29 Jan 2019, In: JMIR Mhealth Uhealth

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Examination: EdD External examiner, Strathclyde University : 'The Perceptions and Experiences of Midcareer Professionals' 2020
Examination: PhD External Examiner, University of Aberdeen: 'Improving Patient Safety Culture in a Medical Care Setting in Kuwait: A Mixed Methods Study' 2020
Oral presentation: RCN International Conference: Sharing learning from practice to improve patient safety (SLIPPs): gathering student accounts of practice learning experiences about patient safety 2019
Invited talk: ASME, AGM: How can theory help us? Exploring Normalization Process Theory (NPT) as a tool for implementing new ideas in practice and education 2019
Examination: EdD External Examiner, University of Strathclyde:“Speak slowly, I don’t understand”. Communication and cultural competence in the ERASMUS+ experience 2019

PGR Supervision

Debra Morgan Learning in Liminality: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Investigation of Student Nurse Learning During a Study Abroad Journey Start Date: 07/11/2012 End Date: 07/08/2018
James Wade Change of Title: A social constructionist approach to understanding why registered adult nurses allocate student nurses and Nursing Associates to work with Health Care Assistants whilst undertaking learning and assessment in clinical practice? Start Date: 07/11/2017
Ceri Sutherland Fatigue: a phenomenological exploration in NHS healthcare workers Start Date: 01/10/2020
Eleanor Price The role of Interprofessional Working (IPW) as a form of Interprofessional Education (IPE) within acute healthcare: a realistic evaluation informed study. Start Date: 01/10/2015 End Date: 25/06/2022
Leigh Donnelly An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Exploring The Lived Experience Of Trainee Endoscopists Start Date: 01/10/2016 End Date: 23/06/2023
Oluwakemi Adeboye Exploring Care Homes as Learning Environment: Towards Sustainable Nursing Workforce Education. Start Date: 01/10/2022
Edward Geddes Developing an understanding of informal learning interactions between Nurses and final year Medical students in the work place: an ethnographic study Start Date: 01/09/2015 End Date: 30/05/2019
Dominic Simpson What is the experience of NHS staff undertaking culture change work within their organisations? A Hermeneutic phenomenological study to understand how changes are normalised in practice. Start Date: 01/11/2020 End Date: 26/01/2023
Sarah Morey Adaptation to Patienthood: A Grounded Theory Study on the Contributions of Healthcare Assistants Towards the Patient experience Start Date: 27/09/2013 End Date: 27/02/2017
Lucy Mpofu-Currie Variation in Conceptions of University Work Based Learning: An Early Years Practitioners’ Perspective Start Date: 06/05/2015 End Date: 25/02/2016
Ijeoma Azodo Participation in Bowel Cancer Screening: A Qualitative Exploration of the Factors Influencing Participation and Uptake Start Date: 02/11/2009 End Date: 27/03/2014
Susan Jackson Student Nurse Professionalism: Repertoires and Discourses Used by University Students and Their Lecturers Start Date: 28/05/2012 End Date: 01/06/2018
Mabel Okoeki Cervical Screening in Young Women: An Exploration of Issues Associated with Participation and Non-Participation Using a Grounded Theory Start Date: 13/02/2014 End Date: 27/10/2017

Qualifications

Education MSc June 01 2011
Health & Social Research PGCert November 01 2008
Medical Science PhD September 01 2002
Nursing Studies BSc (Hons) June 30 1997
Registered Adult Nurse Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) 1997
Fellow (FHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2012
Nursing and Midwifery Council registered Teacher 2011

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