Professor John Unsworth

Deputy Faculty Pro Vice-Chancellor

Department: Nursing, Midwifery & Health

John Unsworth has worked in Higher Education since 2007 and has held posts at the Higher Education Academy, University of Sunderland and at previously at Northumbria University. John’s research relates to patient safety and workforce development around competence.

John has a background in primary and community care having been a Nurse Director in a geographically large Primary Care Trust in England. From 2001 to 2007 John was professional lead for nursing, allied health and adult social care / social work within Northumberland NHS Care Trust. Until 2018 he was Board Nurse on NHS Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group. During the pandemic he has worked for NHS Test and Trace and a Clinical Contact Caseworker and is now delivering Covid-19 vaccines in Primary Care.

He has also worked in consultancy and a number of specialist nursing roles over the past 30 years. In 2013 John was made a National Teaching Fellow in recognition of his work around simulation education and student assessment in 2013. He became a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2016. John has worked internationally to develop practice and higher education teachers in Thailand, China, Hungary, Ghana, Vietnam, Bahrain, Ukraine and in Grenada (West Indies).

John is a Fellow of the European Academy of Nursing Science and a Fellow of the Faculty of Nursing of the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland.

John was awarded made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to community nursing and community nurse education.

John is a Global Nursing Leadership Institute Scholar with the International Council of Nurses and has a lead role in influencing UK policy as Chair of the Queen’s Nursing Institute.

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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Nursing and Health Policy, Workforce Policy, Patient Safety, Workforce Development, Community Healthcare, Competence, Assessment and Feedback

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Advanced practice nurse roles in Europe: Implementation challenges, progress and lessons learnt, Unsworth, J., Greene, K., Ali, P., Lillebø, G., Mazilu, D. 1 Jun 2024, In: International Nursing Review
Factors influencing nurses and nursing students’ attitudes towards vaccinations: a cross-sectional study, Keisala, J., Jarva, E., Comparcini, D., Simonetti, V., Cicolini, G., Unsworth, J., Tomietto, M., Mikkonen, K. 26 Nov 2024, In: International Journal of Nursing Studies
Identifying patterns and profiles of vaccination hesitancy among nurses for tailoring healthcare policies in the UK: A cross-sectional study: A cross-sectional study, Erfani, G., McCready, J., Nichol, B., Gordon, C., Unsworth, J., Croston, M., Comparcini, D., Simonetti, V., Cicolini, G., Mikkonen, K., Keisala, J., Tomietto, M. 19 Aug 2024, In: International Nursing Review
Profiling vaccine hesitancy in nursing to tailor public healthcare policies: A cross-sectional international study, McCready, J., Erfani, G., Comparcini, D., Cicolini, G., Mikkonen, K., Keisala, J., Tomietto, M., Gordon, C., Unsworth, J., Nichol, B. 14 Aug 2024, In: Journal of Nursing Scholarship
Redeployment to critical care during the COVID 19 pandemic: A phenomenological study, Scott, M., Wade, R., Tucker, G., Unsworth, J. 1 Mar 2024, In: Nursing in critical care
The process of developing and implementing health and nursing policy: Implications of research and opportunities to influence, Unsworth, J., Puthenpurakal, A. 1 Dec 2024, In: International Nursing Review
Barriers and facilitators of vaccine hesitancy for COVID-19, Influenza, and Pertussis during pregnancy and in mothers of infants under two years: an Umbrella Review, Nichol, B., McCready, J., Steen, M., Unsworth, J., Simonetti, V., Tomietto, M. 2 Mar 2023, In: PLoS One
Healthcare Workforce Policy Brief: Vaccination and the Registered Nursing Workforce, Unsworth, J., McCready, J., Erfani, G., Nichol, B., Gordon, C., Tomietto, M. 18 Oct 2023
Identifying Sources of Moral Distress Amongst Critical Care Staff During the Covid-19 Pandemic Using a Naturalistic Inquiry, Scott, M., Wade, R., Tucker, G., Unsworth, J. 2023, In: SAGE Open Nursing
Nurses’ knowledge and self-assessment of their clinical experiences of intraosseous access: A multicentre cross-sectional study, Cicolini, G., Comparcini, D., Simonetti, V., Papappicco, C., Unsworth, J., Tomietto, M. 1 Jul 2023, In: International Emergency Nursing

PGR Supervision

Kevin Murphy Lone working in Community Nursing Healthcare Services Start Date: 01/10/2021
Caroline Bohlender The Role of Professional Regulation on the Development of Advanced Nursing Practice in Europe. Start Date: 01/10/2022
Ogechi Okorie Start Date: 01/11/2023
Christopher Parker Exploring health inequalities amongst homebound older adults: a mixed-methods study Start Date: 01/03/2024
Peter Dryden What are the Lived Experiences of Children and Young People of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Transition Process? Start Date: 26/06/2024

Qualifications

Law LLM June 02 2003
Philosophy PhD September 30 2002
Education PGCE June 30 1997
Nursing MSc September 01 1994
Nursing BSc (Hons) September 01 1992
Principal Fellow (PFHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2021
National Teaching Fellow NTF 2013

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