Dr Adam Boughey

Lecturer

Health, Education, Policing and Sciences

I currently work as a full-time Lecturer in Adult Nursing and Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Nursing; School of Health, Science and Wellbeing.

I completed my nurse education at Keele University in 2004 and Registered as an Adult Nurse. I worked at the Royal Stoke, University Hospitals of North Midlands between 2004-2005 as a Recovery Room Staff Nurse. Whilst in that post, I developed a wealth of critical care clinical knowledge and skills in recovering patients after surgery. I worked in recovery rooms 1-5 (gynaecology, vascular, head and neck surgery); 6-10 (emergency; children's; ear, nose, and throat surgery); and 14-17 (urology and orthopaedics). In 2005, I moved into primary care and became a Community Staff Nurse. I remained full-time in that post until September 2008 when I made the decision to read Psychology at Staffordshire University as a full-time student. I continued to work for the Community Nurse Bank as a locum Staff Nurse until February 2014.

Whilst working as a Community Staff Nurse, I became experienced in providing a broad spectrum of nursing care to adults in their homes and clinics. In 2011, I graduated with a BSc (Hons) Psychology with first-class honours and became a Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society (MBPsS). As a psychology student, I was awarded with having achieved the best undergraduate performance and was selected to work as a Research Assistant on an adolescent stress research project. My psychology dissertation was quantitatively focused on the influence of meditation type on stress, rumination, and sleep quality in university students. I also developed a special interest in health psychology and behaviour medicine, and this laid the foundations for my postgraduate specialisation in health psychology at Staffordshire University.

I completed a MSc Health Psychology with distinction and best postgraduate performance in 2012. My dissertation was qualitatively focused on university students’ perceptions of meditation, and I used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). My health psychology training cumulated in 2019 when I completed my DHealthPsy (Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology). Throughout the Professional Doctorate, I worked as a part-time Lecturer in Psychology, Research Associate, and Project Manager (www.epicc-network.org). Amongst the range of professional competencies, my empirical studies focused on psychological perceptions about and predictors of influenza vaccination. I was supervised by Dr. Rachel Povey.

I became a Lecturer in Adult Nursing at Staffordshire University in October 2018 and have worked across levels 4-8 to provide higher education to undergraduate and postgraduate students. After completion of my DHealthPsy, I was contracted to work on Teaching, Research, and Innovation (TRI). Alongside my lecturing responsibilities,

I work as a Post-Doctoral Researcher on a range of projects alongside colleagues; most notably Professor Wilfred McSherry, of whom I share success in having a Research Excellence Framework (REF) impact case study of at least 3*. For the REF 2021 exercise, our impact case study on improving spiritual care in healthcare was independently assessed as being internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance, and rigour. Alongside my lecturing and research responsibilities,

I currently sit on the School of Health, Science and Wellbeing Research Ethics Committee as a reviewer. I am also a member of the University Research Leadership Group. To date, I have supervised three Master’s students through to completion and am supervisor to four Doctoral students (2 PhD, 2 Professional Doctorate). I am also an internal examiner on the Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology programme.

Professional memberships and activities

British Association for the Study of Spirituality (BASS).
British Psychological Society (BPS) Graduate Member (MBPsS).
British Psychological Society (BPS) Division of Health Psychology (DHP) Member.
British Wheel of Yoga (BWY).
Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

Academic qualifications
  • PgCHPE: Postgraduate Certificate in Higher and Professional Education and Academic Professional Apprenticeship (APA) (distinction) (2021, Staffordshire University). 
  • Professional Doctorate Health Psychology (DHealthPsy) (2019), Staffordshire University.
    MSc Health Psychology (Distinction) (2012), Staffordshire University.
    BSc (Hons) Psychology (First-Class Honours, 1:1) (2011), Staffordshire University.
    Diploma in Nursing (Adult Branch), Keele University (2004).

Expertise

Spirituality and spiritual care. - Health Psychology. - Adult Nursing. - Advanced research methods (qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods).

Research interests

Spirituality and spiritual care. - Stress and well-being interventions. - Yoga, meditation, mindfulness, consciousness studies. - Psychological perceptions about and predictors of vaccination. - Health Psychology (contemporary approaches in health and well-being). - Adult Nursing (applications of evidence-based practice, patient experience, staff well-being).

Grants

I have worked alongside colleagues as a co-applicant and lead applicant on a variety of grant applications. Work is on-going to secure funding in alignment with membership of the Centre for Health and Development (CHAD).

Enterprise and commercial interests

August 2013 – 2014: Working with Prof. Wilf McSherry and Dr. Steve Suckling to evaluate dementia education provided within Shropshire, assessing whether dementia education enables a competency framework for dementia leadership.

September 2013 – 2014: Working with Prof. Wilf McSherry and Dr. Peter Kevern to evaluate the efficacy of primary care chaplaincy on patient health and well-being.

July 2014: Updating a systematic review for Dr. Liz Boath, Prof. Tony Stewart, and Angela Carryer on Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) for a range of physical and psychological problems.

Teaching

 I have taught across the full range of undergraduate (levels 4-6) and postgraduate (levels 7-8) provision in both nursing and health psychology. Currently, I work with the level 6 BSc (Hons) Nursing team on the following modules: - The Evidence-Base for Practice (EBP) (module leader). - Adult Nursing Practice 7, 8, 9. - Peer Learning and Teaching. I also teach on the following modules upon request: - Research Appreciation in Health and Social Care (level 6 module for registered healthcare professionals). - The Evidence-Base for Practice (EBP) (level 6 Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship). - The Evidence-Base for Practice (EBP) (level 7).

Publications

Journal articles: Ross, L., Giske, T., Boughey, A. J., van Leeuwen, R., Attard, J., Kleiven, T., & McSherry, W. (2022). Development of a spiritual care education matrix: Factors facilitating/hindering improvement of spiritual care competency in student nurses and midwives. Nurse Education Today, 114, 105403. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105403 van Leeuwen, R., Attard, J., Ross, L., Boughey, A., Giske, T., Kleiven, T., & McSherry, W. (2020). The development of a consensus-based spiritual care education standard for undergraduate nursing and midwifery students: An educational mixed methods study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(2), 973-986. doi: 10.1111/jan.14613 McSherry, W., Ross, L., Attard, J., van Leeuwen, Giske, T., Kleiven, T., Boughey, A., & the EPICC Network (2020). Preparing undergraduate nurses and midwives for spiritual care: Developments in education over the last decade. Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 10(1). doi: 10.1080/20440243.2020.1726053. Boath, E., Good, R., Tsaroucha, A., Stewart, T., Pitch, S., & Boughey, A. J. (2017). Tapping your way to success: Using Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to reduce anxiety and improve communication skills in social work students. Social Work Education, 36(6), 715-730. doi: 10.1080/02615479.2017.1297394 McSherry, W., Bloomfield, S., Thompson, R., Nixon, V. A., Birch, C., Griffiths, N., ... Boughey, A. J. (2016). A cross-sectional analysis of the factors that shape adult nursing students’ values, attitudes and perceptions of compassionate care. Journal of Research in Nursing, 22(1-2), 25-39. doi: 10.1177/1744987116678904 McSherry, W., Boughey, A., & Kevern, P. (2016). “Chaplains for Wellbeing” in primary care: A qualitative investigation of their perceived impact for patients’ health and wellbeing. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy. doi: 10.1080/08854726.2016.1184504 McSherry, W., Suckling, S. J., & Boughey, A. (2016). Searching for life meaning: Spiritual discourses in dementia leadership using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 6(1), 89-105. doi: 10.1080/20440243.2016.1158458 Book chapters: McSherry, W., Boughey, A. J., & Carey, A. (2021). Research and spirituality in mental health: Generating, interpreting, and disseminating evidence. In S. Aris, H. Garraway, & H. Gilbert (Eds.), Mental health, spirituality and wellbeing: A handbook for health and social care professionals, service users and carers. Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd. Boughey, A. J., McSherry, W., Ross, L., Giske, T., Attard, J., van Leeuwen, R., & Kleiven, T. (2021). Conclusions of the EPICC journey and future directions. In W. McSherry, A. Boughey, & J. Attard (Eds.), Enhancing nurses’ and midwives’ competence in providing spiritual care: Through innovative education and compassionate care. Springer. Kleiven, T., Cusveller, B., Nygaard, M. R., Mikšić, S., Boughey, A. J., & McSherry, W. (2021). What do we mean by ‘spirituality’ and ‘spiritual care’? In W. McSherry, A. Boughey, & J. Attard (Eds.), Enhancing nurses’ and midwives’ competence in providing spiritual care: Through innovative education and compassionate care. Springer. McSherry, W., Boughey, A., & Attard, J. (2021). The EPICC Project: Inception, origins and outputs. In W. McSherry, A. Boughey, & J. Attard (Eds.), Enhancing nurses’ and midwives’ competence in providing spiritual care: Through innovative education and compassionate care. Springer. McSherry, W., & Boughey, A. (2020). Perceptions and understandings of dignity. In L. Rykkje, A. Austad, & B. Haugland (Eds.), Existential Concepts in Health and Social Practice. Cappelen Damm Academic, NOASP (Open Source). Books: McSherry, W., Boughey, A., & Attard, J. (2021). Enhancing nurses’ and midwives’ competence in providing spiritual care: Through innovative education and compassionate care. Springer Nature.

External profiles

in the UK for Quality Education

Sustainable Development Goal 4, Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2023

for Career Prospects

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

for Facilities

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

for Social Inclusion

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

Four Star Rating

QS Star Ratings 2021