Knitting together the threads of national healthcare requirements, professional regulation, teaching skills and student outcomes will keep one University of Northampton (UON) academic busy with a new role.
The HEI (Higher Education Institution) Champion is a light‑touch, voluntary role created by Nurse Academics UK to strengthen collaboration between universities that deliver nursing education.
The role improves connections between nursing academics, supports communication and increases engagement across organisations by:
- Research collaboration
- Professional development
- Academic networking opportunities
- Strengthening cross‑HEI collaboration
- Contributing to communities of practice
- Supporting collective professional influence.
Each university (HEI) has a named Champion who acts as a local link to the national Nurse Academics UK community – and the University of Northampton’s first Champion is Lynne Hughes.
Lynne’s background is in adult nursing, and she has been a registered nurse since 1997, predominantly specialising in community nursing as a district nurse and in GP surgeries, providing out-of-hours care. She has worked as an academic at the University since 2018; for her current role, she leads the new Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship.
Lynne continues her story: “Nursing is the heartbeat of the NHS. We are the biggest profession in terms of numbers – just over 700,000 are registered to practise – and spend the most time with patients.
“I love being a nurse and an educator, developing the future of nursing, our students, the next generation of professionals who will be at the bedside of your loved ones or visiting them in their home.
“Having a foot in both camps made this role instantly appealing. I am excited to be named UON’s first-ever HEI Champion and look forward to promoting nursing academics talking to and connecting with each other, something I am passionate about enhancing.
“There’s a lot of change in the profession as directed by our regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), including delivering curriculum changes, meaning the University’s Nursing team is as busy as ever. It’s important that nurse academics have a voice in these changes and being part of that is a great opportunity.
“Although I’m still new to the Champion role, I’m busy taking in as much of the information Nurse Academics UK provide and sharing this with my colleagues. I look to develop this role at UON over the coming months to best support my colleagues as they educate the next generations of nurses providing professional care for patients in our health service.”