All Staff Members | Valerie McNeela | University of Cumbria

Biography

I am a Registered Children’s Nurse and have worked at specialist children’s hospitals across the UK, and I've also worked as a scientist for several years, in Scotland.

After returning to England and completing a return to practice programme, I gained additional experience in paediatric high dependency nursing and as a clinical research nurse at a NIHR Clinical Research Facility.

I moved to higher education in 2016 and have supported students on a number of nursing and dentistry professional programmes. I’m particularly interested in the student experience and making learning accessible, to help students be successful and enjoy their time at university.

I’ve joined the team at Cumbria as a Lecturer in Nursing Apprenticeships.

Qualifications and memberships

• Paediatric Nursing, Charles West School of Nursing Great Ormond Street
• Registered Sick Children’s Nurse
• BSc (Hons) Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Liverpool
• Return to Practice Nursing, Manchester Metropolitan University
• Registered Nurse – Children
• Foundation in Paediatric Critical Care, University of Salford
• Post Graduate Certificate in Health and Social Care Education, University of Central Lancashire
• Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (Advance HE)
• NMC Teacher

Academic and research interests

I’m currently studying for a Master’s degree in Public Health.

Publications

Valerie is the co-author of a pocket guide for children's nursing placements, published in 2019 by Lantern Publishing.

Recent external roles

Conference poster presentation:

Building on experience: A novel approach to practice placement debrief. Supporting student nurses' post-placement reflections using Lego(TM) Serious Play(TM). NET2018 Conference, 4-6 Sept 2018, Cambridge.

Contributor to work presented at conference:

Cultivating collaborations - developing an active learner community in nursing. Association for Learning Technology Annual Conference, 11-13 Sept 2018, Manchester