Sheffield Hallam University makes crucial new Professorial appointment in the Department of Nursing and Midwifery

Professor Laura Serrant has been appointed to a Professorship in Nursing within the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing at Sheffield Hallam University.

With around 600 staff and 8,800 students, the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing is a thriving area at Sheffield Hallam, providing teaching and learning, and applied research and consultancy to improve the health and wellbeing of people and communities. The Faculty was established with the aim of providing a joined up approach to wellness, covering research, healthy lifestyles, illness prevention and treatment and rehabilitation. Within the Faculty, the Department of Nursing and Midwifery offers teaching and training in a wide range of nursing disciplines including adult and child, mental health and learning disability and midwifery, as well as specialist areas such as acute and critical care, and palliative care. The Department and team have strong links with health providers, and this appointment has a funded weekly research session with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The University holds an Athena Swan Bronze Award.

As Professor within the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Laura will make a significant contribution to research, both personally and by providing research leadership amongst colleagues to build capacity within the Department. As a senior member of faculty, Professor Serrant will act as a mentor to early career researchers and junior colleagues.

During the search Society explored academics working in universities primarily across the UK and Ireland, whose research and teaching interests presented a fit with the areas of focus within the Department. We were keen to find individuals who had experience of research leadership but were also an active research leader themselves with a strong publication record.

Laura has over thirty years experience in health care practice, scholarship and policy development at strategic leadership level. Beginning her career as a Registered Nurse, Laura moved into academia and completed her PhD in Nursing in 2004 from the University of Nottingham. She is a Member of the Royal College of Nursing.

Laura joins the Department from the University of Wolverhampton, where she was Professor of Community and Public Health Nursing and Director of Research and Enterprise. She has maintained strong links with healthcare and was seconded to NHS England Nursing Directorate as Head of Evidence and Strategy. She is also Non-executive Director at Heart of England Foundation Trust.

Laura’s work to further this area has been recognised with a number of awards, recently including the Health Service Journal’s BME Pioneers Award, Inspirational Women Award, and Clinical Leaders Award.