Melanie Hayward

Before joining Buckinghamshire New University in 2016, I had 22 years’ experience nursing within the NHS. Having trained at Great Ormond Street Hospital as a Children’s Nurse, I worked within general medical, surgical paediatrics and oncology once qualified. Gaining an interest in public health, I moved into community work and gained my Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) qualification at Buckinghamshire New University. I worked as a SCPHN within School Nursing teams before moving into safeguarding. Working as a Named and then Lead Nurse for Safeguarding Children, I had various responsibilities including safeguarding board sub-committees and contributing to serious case reviews. Before my current role, I was a Senior Lecturer in Children's Nursing involved in module leading, teaching, assessment, recruitment, and pastoral work across multiple academic programmes before moving into the role of Academic Lead for Retention and Attainment for the School of Nursing and Midwifery, leading all related activities in this portfolio. 

I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a Children's Nurse, SCPHN – School Nurse, Community Nurse Prescriber and Nurse Teacher and a Royal College of Nursing member, inclusive of the Children and Young People, Public Health and Education Forums. I am a Mental Health First Aider, Domestic Abuse Champion, Mentor, Restorative Supervisor, Safeguarding Trainer and Supervisor, and Nursing Now Ambassador. 

My research interests lie in healthcare education, particularly in relation to SCPHN School Nursing, Pre-registration Childrens Nursing as well the use of social media in higher education. One research project I am currently part of is the Fit for Children and Young People (Fit4CYP) project exploring whether educational genericism influences the fitness to practice of newly qualified children’s nurses. My research exploring the use of self-selected social media by pre-registration nursing students, links to benefitting student retention and recruitment. I am creator, owner, and curator of the BNU Institute for Health and Social Care and previously the School of Nursing and Midwifery social media accounts. In addition, I am an Educational Advisor for the global award winning Childrens and Young People Student Nurse national support network and co-founder and curator of the @NurseAcademicUK community. 

My specialist knowledge has also led me to work with Skills for Health on developing and regularly updating the Safeguarding Children (Levels 1-3) e-learning packages, contributing to various national guidance documents for Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England and most recently the Queens Nursing Institute Practice Teacher standards and currently national guidance on Transitional Safeguarding for Health Professionals. I am currently the Chair of the Learning and Development Sub-committee and Member of the Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Children Partnership and Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Adults Board. I am a Consultant Editor for the British Journal of Child Health and engage in other activities such as speaking at conferences, reviewing, and authoring journal articles and textbook chapters. I am currently the Editor for a new Student Nurse textbook on Successful Studying. I am the Deputy England Representative for the national Children and Young Peoples Nurse Academics forum and an Academic Advisor for School and Public Health Nurses Association (SAPHNA). In addition, I hold an External Examiner post for the PgDip Specialist Community Public Health Nurse – Health Visiting/School Nursing course at the University of Salford. 

My greatest accolades to date are being in receipt of the Most Inspiring Tutor Award, nominated by Nursing Graduates in 2019, 2020 and 2021, the Student Union Award for Academic Partner of the Year in 2020, Vice Chancellors Award in 2020 in recognition of retention and social media activities, and BNU Hero Award (formally colleague of the year) in 2021. I was delighted in 2022 to be honoured with a global health award for Outstanding Contributions to Nursing Education and privileged to have served as a Technical Advisor for the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Public Health Nursing and Midwifery, providing leadership, expertise and sharing evidence-based practises on both a national and international scale from 2021 to 2022. 

View my Research repository.

• Associate Professor – Education: Quality Assurance and Enhancement