Dr Julie Derbyshire

I am an experienced academic having worked at Northumbria University since 2002 as a senior lecturer in adult nursing which has involved  personal tutor role and the co-ordination of many undergraduate nursing modules across all three years of our programme. I teach on a diverse range of subjects, including study skills, evidence-based practice, complex health conditions, critical care, service improvement and research. I also teach post registration students on programmes related to acute neurological care mainly to nurses at level 6 and level 7. I maintain strong links with the Regional Neurosciences Centre and am on the committee for British Association of Neuroscience Nurses  to keep up to date with advances in Neuroscience Nursing to inform teaching. I am also involved in research in this area with recent studies involving neurosimulation and MND carer research.

My most recent post is as Director of Apprenticeships for health care programmes, which commenced in February 2020. I have been involved in all curriculum development and approval events for our portfolio of degree apprenticeship (DA) programmes including Adult and Child Nursing, ODP, Public Health/Community Specialist Practice and more recently Occupational Therapy. I am also a programme leader for an 18-month nurse degree apprenticeship programme and have led 3 cohorts to date, with excellent retention and very good degree classifications. I work closely with all external partners to ensure equity of experiences in both theory and practice, ensuring the apprenticeship standards are met as well as NMC proficiencies. Quality assurance is an important part of my role, and I have been involved in  a recent Ofsted inspection monitoring visit which has enabled us to reflect on our current systems and processes in relation to intent, implementation and impact. I am also on a national benchmarking group for degree apprenticeship provision and working with another organisation on end point assessment where we share experiences and skills to enhance our current programmes. Research with the DA groups is an integral part of this role.