Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith

Dr Stephen Smith

Associate Professor

 0131 455 5675

  Ste.Smith@napier.ac.uk

   

Biography

Stephen trained as a general and mental health nurse and for 15 years worked in the area of palliative care. This involved clinical, research and managerial experience within the voluntary hospice sector as well as working in the National Health Service as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in a hospital palliative care team.

Stephen completed a Bsc in Nursing Studies at Queen Margaret University in 1997, a Masters Degree in Cancer Nursing at the University of Glasgow in 2000 and a PhD at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh in 2009.

Stephen led a four year action research programme focused on palliative care for people with a dementia. This work formed the basis of Stephen’s PhD study. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University and teaching, research and practice improvement activities focus on the development of practice and learning in compassionate care. Stephen led an action research programme; Leadership in Compassionate Care Programme, utilising relationship centred care and appreciative inquiry approaches. The outputs of this programme are being utilised nationally within the UK and internationally. Stephen is a consultant editor on the Journal of Nursing Ethics, and a member of the Editorial Board on the Journal of Compassionate Health Care.

Stephen is a Consultant Nurse in Compassionate Care (NHS Lothian) co-leading a leadership programme in compassionate care practice with multi-professional practitioners from health and social care. Within the School of Health and Social Care Stephen is a lead for Public Engagement and Staff Engagement.

Stephen is passionate about real world research, practice development and learning that directly impacts upon the compassionate care experience of people who use health and social care services, their relatives but also the experiences of multidisciplinary practitioners and care providers.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

News

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Invitation to join International Institute for Compassionate Care
  • Scottish Improvement Science Collaborating Centre, Knowledge into Action at Scale Committee
  • invited by the Herald Newspaper to join their judging panel for the 2010 Herald Society Awards
  • Chair - West Lothian Dementia Palliative Care Project Steering Group
  • Leadership in Compassionate Care Project Reference Group (2008 – 2012) S Smith chaired the project reference group
  • Invited to give evidence at the Commission on Dignity in Care for Older People in London –established by the NHS Confederation, Age UK and the Local Government Association (LGA).
  • Member of a Scottish Government working group focused on professionalism in nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions
  • Expert advisor for a national evaluation; ‘Evaluation of the impact of Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Nurse Consultant/Specialist and Dementia Champions in bringing about improvements in dementia care in acute general hospitals in NHS Scotland’

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Emotional touchpoints – ethics, information management, and participant safety in public engagement
  • Edinburgh Science Festival Debate - Treating patients as people in the NHS. Dr Stephen Smith Dr Jennifer Murray & Nicole Walsh PhD student
  • Engaging students as Co-researchers to conduct focus groups with older people,
  • Conference presentation: How can national evaluators enhance evidence from local transformational change to influence policy and decision making? Transforming Care After Treatment' Programme.
  • Poster presentation: Realistic and Appreciative: Developing a dual model of evaluation of “Transforming Care After Treatment” in Scotland. Authors Karen Campbell (Associate Professor), Lucy Johnston (Research Fellow), Dr. Stephen Smith (Senior Lecturer) and Brooke Marron (Research Assistant) April 2017. Poster presentation at RCN International Nursing Research conference and exhibition 2017. Oxford, England.
  • Chair National Conference at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh: Working together: an event to explore how to better support children and families with learning disabilities. Conference funded by NHS Education for Scotland, 90 participants from health and social care attended from across Scotland.
  • Scottish Older Peoples Assembly - supported older people to participate in a forum theatre presentation focussed on compassionate care. Through this interactive presentation the work of the leadership in Compassionate Care programme was presented to 250 older people activists.
  • Masterclass Inspiring compassionate connections for innovative practice.
  • Invited to chair the ‘Goldfish bowl’ discussion at the Compassionate Connections National Conference
  • Member of organisation committee Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care and Alzheimer Scotland; Summit: Living and dying well with dementia
  • Lead the planning and delivery of three International Conferences on Compassionate Care. These took place in 2010, 2011 & 2012 all at Edinburgh Napier University campuses. More than 500 participants attended from USA, Denmark, New Zealand, Ireland and Portugal.

 

Editorial Activity

  • Invitation from the Scottish Improvement Science Collaborating Centre (SISCC) to lead an International Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Compassionate care, (August 2016).
  • Consultant Editor for the journal Nursing Ethics
  • Editorial Board of the Journal of Compassionate Health Care

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Student Association Award nomination; Best Academic Support.
  • The Compassionate Connections Learning Resource shortlisted for Royal College of Midwives Annual Midwifery Awards (2015) Research into practice award
  • Fellow Higher Education Academy

 

Invited Speaker

  • Working with stories to support learning in compassionate care nursing practice
  • Title: Yellow hats are not just for builders… Improvement lab: Develop a better understanding of emotional labour and the impact it has on the delivery of compassionate care to patients, September 2016 and March 2017, Nicolson Building, University of Birmingham, Birmingham
  • Title: Leadership in Compassionate Care Nursing. 2012 Care and Compassion Fourth Annual Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Conference for community nurses.
  • Title: Keynote presentation - Sustaining Compassionate Care within Organisations. Compassion Awareness Programme Launch Conference: University of Surrey, University of Brighton and local NHS Trusts 26 September 2014. School of Health Sciences, University
  • Title: Masterclass Inspiring compassionate connections for innovative practice. November 2015, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin
  • Title: Findings from the Evaluation of the Compassionate Connections Learning Resource. Compassionate Connections National Conference. September 2015. Edinburgh Napier University, Sighthill Campus.
  • Title: Developing a Culture on Research and Innovation: Compassionate Nursing Programme from Scotland. Lions Home Inaugural Nursing Conference: Innovating Long-Term Care. 26 – 27 March 2015. Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore
  • Title: Creative approaches to delivering person centred health and care. NHS Scotland; Driving Quality Through Innovation National Conference. June 2012. Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow

 

Media Activity

  • Pool, E. (2017) What I’m thinking. Royal College Nursing Bulletin. April 2017
  • Puttick, H. (2016) Scottish researchers: Not all nurses are angels - maybe some should never have entered the profession. The Herald 1 March.
  • Nursing Standard (2015) ‘The best nurse I can be’ Two award-winning former students describe an undergraduate course that enhanced their empathy skills Nursing Standard January 7: vol 29 no 19
  • Endorsement from the president of the Royal College of Midwives Lesley Page Page L (2015) Compassionate Connections: Turning rhetoric into reality British Journal of Midwifery Vol 23, No 10
  • Ford, S. (2015) Edinburgh nursing graduate honoured for caring skills. NursingTimes.net 10 July 2015 http://www.nursingtimes.net/5087826.article?WT.tsrc=email&WT.mc_id=Newsletter1
  • Newspaper article: Linlithgow Gazette, Top caring award for ‘Kirky’ midwife, 5 November 2013
  • Nursing standard article: Project to restore compassion is transforming care, says founder. Black, Steven Vol 22, Issue 48 P.10
  • Film production; Forget me not – Living with Alzheimer Disease: funded by the Big Lottery Fund and produced by Artlink
  • Tweddel, L. (2007) Compassion on the curriculum. Nursing Times. 103, (38) 18-19

 

Research Degree External Examining

  • External examiner of two doctoral thesis at Glasgow Caledonian University

 

Visiting Positions

  • Honorary Nurse Consultant in Compassionate Care, NHS Lothian

 

Filter by

Date


32 results

Unlock & Revive: The ingredients needed to deliver accessible online cultural and heritage events that bring positive benefits to people living with dementia

Report
Stewart, H., Smith, S., Baxter, R., Ali-Knight, J., & Kerr, G. (2022)
Unlock & Revive: The ingredients needed to deliver accessible online cultural and heritage events that bring positive benefits to people living with dementia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Napier University
Unlock & Revive is a multi-disciplinary action-research project that involves multiple partners. It is a highly collaborative project aimed at supporting the wellbeing of peop...

The ‘Senses Framework’: A relationship-centred approach to co-producing dementia events in order to allow people to live well after a dementia diagnosis

Journal Article
Stewart, H., Ali-Knight, J., Stephen, S., & Kerr, G. (2022)
The ‘Senses Framework’: A relationship-centred approach to co-producing dementia events in order to allow people to live well after a dementia diagnosis. Event Management, 26(1), 157-175. https://doi.org/10.3727/152599521X16192004803683
Dementia is a progressive disorder that affects how the brain works, and in particular the ability to remember, think and reason. It affects speech, mood, mobility, behavior a...

Engaging students as co-researchers to conduct focus groups with older people

Journal Article
Kydd, A. B., Smith, S., King, L., Gentleman, M., Walsh, N., Head, K., & Smart, F. (2018)
Engaging students as co-researchers to conduct focus groups with older people. Innovation in Aging, 2(suppl_1), 232. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igy023.861
The study is a partnership of nursing students, academics and older people, designed to hear the stories of older people’s good and poor care in the community and within care ...

Working with stories to support learning in compassionate care nursing practice

Book Chapter
Smith, S., & Willis, D. (2018)
Working with stories to support learning in compassionate care nursing practice. In M. Prendergast, & M. Brophy (Eds.), Sharing compassion: A fortuitous journey of illumination. Dublin: Rainsford Press
This chapter will explore evidence related to the use of stories and narratives to support learning in compassionate nursing care practice. The aim is to present how stories a...

Realistic and appreciative: developing a dual model of evaluation of ‘Transforming Care after Treatment’ programme in Scotland

Presentation / Conference
Johnston, L., & Smith, S. (2017, April)
Realistic and appreciative: developing a dual model of evaluation of ‘Transforming Care after Treatment’ programme in Scotland. Poster presented at RCN International Nursing Research Conference 2017, Oxford
Background: The Transforming Care after Treatment programme in Scotland (TCAT) aims to improve the after care for people living with and beyond cancer by focussing on improvin...

Valuing feedback: an evaluation of a National Health Service programme to support compassionate care practice through hearing and responding to feedback

Journal Article
Smith, S., Gentleman, M., Conway, L., & Sloan, S. (2017)
Valuing feedback: an evaluation of a National Health Service programme to support compassionate care practice through hearing and responding to feedback. Journal of Research in Nursing, 22(1-2), 112-127. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987116685913
There is an emergent recognition in healthcare that people need to be at the heart of services, and experiences of care matter; these should therefore be recognised and enhanc...

Reflections about experiences of compassionate care from award winning undergraduate nurses – What, so what … now what?

Journal Article
Smith, S., James, A., Brogan, A., Adamson, E., & Gentleman, M. (2016)
Reflections about experiences of compassionate care from award winning undergraduate nurses – What, so what … now what?. Journal of Compassionate Health Care, 3(6), https://doi.org/10.1186/s40639-016-0023-x
Background From 2007 until 2012 Edinburgh Napier University’s School of Nursing Midwifery and Social Care in conjunction with NHS Lothian, collaborated on a programme of actio...

Exploring the compassion deficit debate.

Journal Article
Stenhouse, R., Ion, R., Roxburgh, M., Devitt, P. F., & Smith, S. D. (2016)
Exploring the compassion deficit debate. Nurse Education Today, 39, 12-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2016.01.019
Several recent high profile failures in the UK health care system have promoted strong debate on compassion and care in nursing. A number of papers articulating a range of pos...

Can compassionate care be taught? Experiences from the Leadership in Compassionate Care Programme

Book Chapter
Adamson, E., & Smith, S. (2014)
Can compassionate care be taught? Experiences from the Leadership in Compassionate Care Programme. In S. Shea, R. Wynyard, & C. Lionis (Eds.), Providing Compassionate Health Care: Challenges in Policy and Practice, (235-251). Routledge
No abstract available.

Transforming Care After Treatment Programme Evaluation

Report
Cruickshank, S., Campbell, K., Smith, S., Holland, A. & Johnston, L. (2014)
Transforming Care After Treatment Programme Evaluation. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh Napier University
Baseline Report January 2015

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects

Non-Napier PhD or MSc by Research supervisions

  • Phd Supervision: Realist evaluation of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in compassionate care