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Julie Foster

  • Principal Lecturer Midwifery/ Lead Midwife for Education
  • Institute of Health
  • Midwifery
Julie Foster

Biography

I qualified as a Registered General Nurse in 1981 and went on to become a registered midwife in 1987 working both in this country and abroad in the USA and Saudi Arabia for a number of years. Up until 2001 I worked in various nursing and midwifery posts, finally embarking on a career in higher education.
 
I became the Programme Leader for the BSc (Hons) Midwifery programme in 2013 and have sinece become the Prinicipal Lecturer. Responsiblities include managing a small team of midwifery lecturers in addition to the quality assurance of the programme. I am also module leader for smoe of the midwifery modules and teach at all levels across the midwifery curriculum.
 
In February 2016 I took up an additional role of Lead Midwife for Education (LME), a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) statutory role which entails the post holder to be responsible for the overall quality of the course in addition to taking a strategic approach to programme development. LMEs play a key role in informing the NMC whether student midwives are of good character, and good health and are competent to take on the role of a midwife at the end of their training.
 
During the past 19 years I have continued my personal professional development by attending professional study days and conferences, undertaking a research study in pre-hospital childbirth for paramedics and student midwives and becoming a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Qualifications and memberships

  • MSc Health and Social Care (Practice Education and Development) 2003
  • PgDipEd for Health Care Professionals 2002
  • ENB A19 Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Course 1997
  • BSc (Hons) Health Care Studies 1994
  • ENB 998 Teaching and Assessing in Clinical Practice 1994
  • ENB 405 Special and Intensive Care of the Newborn Course 1994
  • RM 1987
  • RGN 1981
  • Member Royal College of Midwifery
  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

Academic and research interests

  • Midwifery
  • Neonates
  • Educational research
  • Learning Beyond Initial Registration

Publications

Feltham C.,  Foster J., Davidson T., Ralph S. (2016) Student midwives and paramedic students' experiences of shared learning in pre-hospital childbirth. Nurse Education Today 41 PP 73-78

Fortune J., (2007) The Virtual Learning Environment: An alternative, flexible and accessible method of neonatal nurse education.  Journal of Neonatal Nursing 13 pp.231-235.

Recent external roles

  • Completed Department of Health Quality Assurance in Higher Education Training
  • External Examiner for MSc Advanced Neonatal Practice Napier University Edinburgh 2007-2010
  • External Examiner BSc (Hons) Midwifery Chester University 2010- 2013
  • Developed and delivered a module for Paramedics and ambulance technicians in unattended childbirth
  • Co-developed and prepared for validation the BSc (Hons) Midwifery programme at UoC NMC approved March 2013
  • External Examiner BSc (Hons) Midwifery University of West of Scotland Sept 2013 - current