Sharon is a Lecturer in Adult Nursing and PhD researcher at Ulster University in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Prior to this, she spent over 10 years working as Tissue Viability Nurse Specialist in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust (NI) where her final 3 years were in the role as Tissue Viability Team Lead. It was during this time she became a member of the Society of Tissue Viability (SoTV) and subsequently elected to the position of trustee. Sharon is also an executive committee member of the NI Leg Ulcer Forum and a Queen’s Nurse.

Sharon is currently the Lead for the SoTV education subgroup. This group is responsible for overseeing the planning and delivery of the Society’s education priorities which includes their online study days, webinar series and annual conference programme.

It was early in her career when she developed a passion for improving the care and treatment for individuals with tissue viability related conditions. Sharon remains committed to creating positive change through the promotion of high-quality tissue viability education programmes and by influencing healthcare strategy and research in this area.

Sharon believes that together we can make skin health and wound healing everyone’s business and bring about the changes needed to improve the lives and experiences of those we care for.

Presentation at The SoTV/EWMA 2024 Conference, London

Making a difference: How your learning can lead to sustainable change

Learning objectives

After attending this session, persons will be able to:

• Have the opportunity to reflect on and discuss their learning from the days sessions
• Explore the challenges when trying to implement change within their area of practice
• Consider solutions to the challenges and explore their role in helping to achieve success
• Take away a personal pledge to making a sustainable change in wound prevention & management

Abstract

It is well known that following any educational event, applying that learning in to practice can be challenging and this can be for a number of reasons. Not being able to do this can result in poor job satisfaction, frustration and lack of motivation, but more importantly, not being able to implement new knowledge and skills will prevent the change needed for service improvement and better outcomes for patients.

This session, will allow participants to reflect on their learning from the day and to explore the sustainable change they think is needed within their areas of practice. The facilitators will help identify the barriers to implementing change, and suggest solutions or strategies for breaking these barriers down.

Every participant plays an important role in wound prevention and management and at the end of the session, everyone will be asked to commit to a small sustainable change to their practice in the form of a pledge.

Free Paper Presentation (Research category) at The Society of Tissue Viability 2023 Conference

Healthcare students’ experiences of a Collaborative Online International Learning initiative on wound care and interprofessional education: an exploratory study

Abstract

Background – Interprofessional practice has been identified as essential to designing and delivering health services that are safe, efficient, and sustainable. The importance of effective interprofessional practice is exemplified in the care of a person who has a complex wound, where the expertise of a range of healthcare professionals optimises health outcomes. Effective preparedness of health professional graduates to engage in successful team-working and shared decision-making are profiled as key proficiencies in healthcare programmes (WHO, 2010). In addition, internationalisation of learning offers opportunities to consider the global context of healthcare policy and practice (Mihut et al. 2013). While a range of initiatives are developed to support online or distance learning in wound care and interprofessional learning, there is little evidence of the impact of collaborative online international learning (COIL) in this area (Martinengo et al. 2020). Using a global classroom approach, this study explored healthcare students’ experiences of a COIL initiative on interprofessional practice in complex wound care.

Methods – The study used a descriptive exploratory design. A convenience sample of undergraduate healthcare students from Queensland University of Technology (QUT, Australia) and Ulster University (UU, N. Ireland) participated in a COIL initiative which comprised a 2-hour online global masterclass facilitated by two expert tissue viability nurses. Evaluative data were collected using a post-masterclass anonymous online survey, analysed using descriptive statistics. Four online focus groups were facilitated. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Relevant ethical approvals were obtained

Results – Sixty-eight students took part in the masterclass and twenty-two completed the post-masterclass survey (QUT n=3; UU n= 19; 32% response rate). Participants reported improvements in their understanding of wound assessment and management and how a range of professionals contribute to wound care, awareness of clinical guidelines in wound care, and increased confidence in wound assessment. Participants also reported positive feedback on the benefits of COIL.

Conclusion – Healthcare students who engaged in an online international, interprofessional education collaboration demonstrated improved understanding and awareness of complex wound care alongside developing insights into interprofessional working and international healthcare policy.

References

• Martinengo, L., Yeo, N.J.Y., Markandran, K, D.O., Olsson, M., Kyaw, M.B., and Tudor Carr (2020) Digital health professions education on chronic wound management: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 104, 103512 https://link.edgepilot.com/s/0cb39bcf/MvucrrOuaE_NiFD3tbAIqQ?u=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.103512
• Mihut, G., Altbach, P.G. and De Wit, H. (2013) Understanding Higher Education Internationalization. Global Perspectives on Higher Education. Rotterdam: SensePublishers.
• World Health Organisation (2010). Framework for action on interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Available from: https://link.edgepilot.com/s/a65a5b5e/xznz_TIKBECSQqntor2Cmw?u=http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/70185/WHO_HRH_HPN_10.3_eng.pdf%3Bjsessionid=3656EDA264650E3DCF7A5CB70C903D47?sequence=1 [Accessed 8th February 2023].

Presentation at The Society of Tissue Viability 2022 Conference

Make presenting your superpower

Objectives

After attending this session, persons will be able to:

• Feel more empowered and confident to present
• Better understand the needs of an audiences and pique their interests not send them to sleep
• Ensure their presentations provide the impact they deserve and learn tips and creative ideas to ensure effective communication and great looking slides

Abstract

It’s quite rare someone will stick their hand up and say they love presenting. It’s often a necessary evil to present your ideas, research or to provide education – but what if there was a way to present differently? For it to be memorable and provide impact, to either empower your audiences to make effective changes in their workplace, or just to simply inspire them.

We’ll help you understand that with some initial planning, thinking and some quick tips and tricks, how you can deliver exceptional presentations no matter what the subject matter or your experience and feel more confident.