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Judy Brook

Senior Lecturer in Health Visiting

School of Health Sciences

Contact details

Address

Judy Brook M133, Myddelton Street Building
City, University of London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

About

Overview

Judy has a background in health visiting and NHS management. She joined City University in 2015 and is a Senior Lecturer in health visiting. She works with the public health nursing team, supporting the education of health visitors, school nurses and district nurses.

Judy currently holds the role of Associate Dean, Partnerships and Placements, a role that supports and develops the clinical practice element of programmes across the School of Health Sciences, working closely with our partner healthcare organisations.

Judy's research focuses on workforce development, in particular retention of nurses and health visitors in the workforce, and exploring how we can best support work based learning as new roles and training routes evolve.

Qualifications

  1. MSc in Teaching and Learning for Health Professionals, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
  2. BSc (Hons) in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing, University of the West of England, United Kingdom

Research

Evaluation of Sexual Health Education

Quality assurance work undertaken within the South West led to the identification of a number of sexual health nursing workforce improvements that needed to be made in order to meet the demands of an integrated service, particularly given the increasing demand for nurse led services. This included the proposal to adopt the Northumbria Integrated Sexual Health Education Programme (NISHE) within the South West.

This research is seeking to explore the transferability of this model from a relatively small geographical area in the North East to the South West of England. It includes the multiple perspectives of students, practice educators, mentors, clinical service managers, policy makers and commissioners and service users within the region.

This mixed methods, longitudinal study uses questionnaire, interview and focus group data to enable a detailed and intensive analysis of the NISHE approach. The study explores not only how those undertaking the programme experience it, how it affects their practice but also how wider stakeholders perceive the delivery and more broadly the outcomes for the service and its users. Using a variety of data collection methods will also allow an opportunity for triangulation potentially improving the overall validity of the findings.

The research is funded by Health Education South West from 2013 - 2015.

Impact of the Health Visitor Implementation Plan

The introduction of the Health Visitor Implementation (DH 2011) set out to strengthen the service by training an additional 4200 practitioners by 2015. This research is the first formal evaluation of this large policy initiative and as such has national significance. The purpose of the study was to understand the impact on education and practice from a range of stakeholder perspectives.

This research, conducted over 2012-2013 used mixed methods; data were collected using quantitative and qualitative methods, specifically longitudinal baseline and follow-up survey data from students (n=141), semi-structured interviews and focus groups with a range of professionals, strategic managers (n= 18) and families (n=14). Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and assessment of differences using χ2 test of association. Qualitative analysis was conducted through thematic analysis and constant comparative methods.

Findings indicate students felt a weight of responsibility at being the ‘new vanguard’ of health visiting. Managers described high expectations of newly qualified practitioners, however, students expressed concern about the theory practice gap – being educated for a role that some were not yet observing in practice. There were tensions between new and existing staff; new staff provided an impetus to service delivery, but this impacted on existing staff, already providing services using more traditional service delivery models. Data from families highlighted the negative impact of lack of practitioner time and resource on the service offered.

The results reiterate the complex relationship between policy and practice, promote discussion around the theory practice gap and suggest cautious optimism about the influence of newly qualified health visitors on the service delivery of the future.

The research was funded by Health Education South West from 2012 – 2013.

Publications

Publications by category

Journal articles (19)

  1. Brook, J., Aitken, L.M., MacLaren, J.A. and Salmon, D. (2021). An intervention to decrease burnout and increase retention of early career nurses: a mixed methods study of acceptability and feasibility. BMC Nursing, 20(1). doi:10.1186/s12912-020-00524-9.
  2. Lucas, G., Daniel, D., Thomas, T., Brook, J., Brown, J. and Salmon, D. (2021). Healthcare professionals' perspectives on enrolled nurses, practical nurses and other second-level nursing roles: A systematic review and thematic synthesis. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 115. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103844.
  3. Lucas, G., Brook, J., Thomas, T., Daniel, D., Ahmet, L. and Salmon, D. (2021). Healthcare professionals' views of a new second-level nursing associate role: A qualitative study exploring early implementation in an acute setting. Journal of Clinical Nursing. doi:10.1111/jocn.15675.
  4. Brook, J., Leanne Aitken, , MacLaren, D.J.-.A. and Salmon, D. (2020). Co-production of an intervention to increase retention of early career nurses: Acceptability and feasibility. Nurse Education in Practice, 47, pp. 102861–102861. doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102861.
  5. Attenborough, J., Abbott, S., Brook, J. and Knight, R.-.A. (2020). Pioneering new roles in healthcare: Nursing Associate students’ experiences of work-based learning in the United Kingdom. Work Based Learning e-Journal, 9(1), pp. 35–60.
  6. Brook, J., Thurtle, V. and Murray, J. (2019). Building the English health visitor workforce as a result of the Health Visitor Implementation Plan 2011-2015: a survey study of career progression and retention for newly qualified health visitors. Primary health care research & development, 20. doi:10.1017/S1463423619000604.
  7. Brook, J., Aitken, L., Webb, R., MacLaren, J. and Salmon, D. (2019). Characteristics of successful interventions to reduce turnover and increase retention of early career nurses: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 91, pp. 47–59. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.11.003.
  8. Attenborough, J., Abbott, S., Brook, J. and Knight, R.A. (2019). Everywhere and nowhere: Work-based learning in healthcare education. Nurse Education in Practice, 36, pp. 132–138. doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2019.03.004.
  9. Brook, J., Rayment, J., Bryar, R.M. and Olander, E. (2018). Midwifery students' experiences in a health visiting placement: An interview study. Journal of Health Visiting, 6(11), pp. 552–559. doi:10.12968/johv.2018.6.11.552.
  10. Attenborough, J., Knight, R.A. and Brook, J. (2018). Developing and sustaining a community of practice through twitter for work-based learning. Evidence-Based Nursing, 21(4), p. 115. doi:10.1136/eb-2018-102981.
  11. Olander, E., Coates, R., Brook, J., Ayers, S. and Salmon, D. (2018). A multi-method evaluation of interprofessional education for healthcare professionals caring for women during and after pregnancy. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 32(4), pp. 509–512. doi:10.1080/13561820.2018.1437124.
  12. McGraw, C., Abbott, S. and Brook, J. (2018). Innovation in values based public health nursing student selection: A qualitative evaluation of candidate and selection panel member perspectives. Public Health Nursing, 35(4), pp. 344–352. doi:10.1111/phn.12392.
  13. Olander, E.K., Rayment, J., Bryar, R. and Brook, J. (2018). Midwifery students in health visitor placements: the importance of student-mentor relationships. Midwifery, 62, pp. 49–51. doi:10.1016/j.midw.2018.03.014.
  14. Brook, J. and McGraw, C. (2018). Multidisciplinary perspectives: Application of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to evaluate a health coaching initiative. Health and Social Care in the Community, 26(3). doi:10.1111/hsc.12536.
  15. Deave, T., Novak, C., Brook, J. and Salmon, D. (2017). Evaluation of the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Peripatetic Assessment Model. Community Practitioner, 90(8), pp. 45–47.
  16. Brook, J., Salmon, D. and Knight, R.A. (2017). Preparing the sexual health workforce to deliver integrated services: Is education the answer? A qualitative study exploring the impact of sexual health education on developing integrated policy and practice. Primary Health Care Research and Development, 18(3), pp. 270–281. doi:10.1017/S1463423617000123.
  17. Brook, J. and Salmon, D. (2017). A qualitative study exploring parental perspectives and involvement in health visiting services during the Health Visitor Implementation Plan in the South West of England. Health and Social Care in the Community, 25(2), pp. 349–356. doi:10.1111/hsc.12308.
  18. Brook, and Salmon, D. (2015). Insider perspectives: Qualitative insight from health visitor practice teachers and managers in 2012/13. Journal of Health Visiting, 3(1), pp. 30–36.
  19. Condon, L. and Brook, J. (2014). Breastfeeding in the early days and beyond. Nursing in Practice, (79).

Practitioners (2)

  1. (2015). Insider perspectives: Qualitative insight from health visitor practice teachers and managers in 2012/13. Journal of Health Visiting, pp. 30–36
  2. (2014). Breastfeeding in the early days and beyond. Nursing in Practice

Reports (3)

  1. Brook, J., Salmon, , Knight, R.A. and Seal, J. (2015). Sexual Health Education: an evaluation of the Northumbria Integrated Sexual Health Education (NISHE) Workforce Development Package delivered by UWE, Bristol. UWE, Bristol. ISBN 978-1-86043-525-6.
  2. Brook, J., Salmon, D., Kimberlee, R., Orme, J. and Bird, E. (2014). Meeting the challenges of the Health Visitor Implementation Plan at the University of the West of England Bristol. Bristol: University of the West of England Bristol. ISBN 978-1-86043-518-8.
  3. Novak, C., Salmon, D., Brook, J. and Deave, T. (2014). Evaluation of the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Peripatetic Assessment Model in Somerset Partnership NHS Trust. Bristol: University of the West of England Bristol.

Professional activities

Editorial activity

  1. Judy is co-editor of the Research Roundup in the Journal of Health Visiting. This is a monthly publication reviewing recently published research papers on health visiting and public health both in the UK and internationally..

Events/conferences (4)

  1. Parental Perspectives of the Health Visiting Service and the Impact of the Health Visitor Implementation Plan. CPHVA Conference, Birmingham (2014).
  2. Developing Excellent Professionals: Researching the Impact of the Health Visitor Implementation Plan on Education and Practice. Nurse Education Today Conference, Cambridge (2014).
  3. Researching the Impact of the Health Visitor Implementation Plan on Education and Practice: a case study approach. RCN Research Conference, Glasgow (2014).
  4. The Impact of the Health Visitor Implementation Plan on Education and Practice, UKSC Conference. London (2014).