Professor Wilfred Mcsherry

Professor

Health, Education, Policing and Sciences

Wilf is a Professor in Nursing working in the Department of Nursing, School of Health, Science and Wellbeing, Staffordshire University, and the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust United Kingdom. He is also a part-time Professor at VID University College, Bergen, Norway.

Wilf has had a career in nursing working as a Registered Nurse primarily within Acute Hospital Care with a focus upon care of the older person and end of life care. His interest in the spiritual dimension developed alongside a realisation that this aspect of care was neglected and forgotten by some healthcare professionals. He has published extensively in this field with several books and many peer-reviewed articles addressing different aspects of the spiritual dimension. In 2010 Wilf led on a piece of work for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) exploring members perceptions of spirituality.

Wilf is a founding and executive member of the International Network for the Study of Spirituality https://spiritualitystudiesnetwork.org/ (formerly British Association for The Study of Spirituality (BASS) and a Principal Fellow of The Higher Education Academy. In 2012 he was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing for his unique contribution to nursing in the areas of spirituality and dignity. Wilf was Lead Partner for the European project titled Enhancing Nurses Competence in Providing Spiritual Care through Innovation Education and Compassionate Care (EPICC) and is a steering group member of the recently established EPICC Network epicc-network.org

Professional memberships and activities

Member and Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing
Founding and Executive Member of the International Network for the Study of Spirituality (formerly British Association for the Study of Spirituality)
Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council

Founding and Steering Group Member of the EPICC Network Enhancing Nurses' and Midwives’ Competence in Providing Spiritual Care through Innovative Education and Compassionate Care

I am currently on the editorial Board of Two academic journals and peer review for several nursing and other health journals.

Academic qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Leeds Metropolitan University. July 2005
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methodology, Leeds Metropolitan University. October 2000
  • Master of Philosophy in Nursing Studies, The University of Hull. January 1998
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Further Education), Nottingham Trent University. July 1995
  • BSc. (Hons) Nursing Sciences, The University of Hull. September 1992

Expertise

Wilf has over 30 years’ experience working as a nurse within the National Health Service and teaching on programmes of nursing and allied health professions within the Higher Education Sector. I have developed my skills in service evaluation, and service improvement techniques within a range of sectors. I have a keen interest in the measurement of spirituality and dignity in care having designed tools to aid researchers and practitioners to evaluate these concepts. I have also been involved in the development of Dementia Services within the NHS. I am currently a member of the Dementia Steering Group at UHNM. I also have a keen interest in Palliative and End of Life Care with links to several organisations across Staffordshire and Shropshire.

Research interests

My research interests lie in the areas of dignity in care, spirituality, and spiritual care, ageing and dementia. I have an international profile with regards to research in several of these areas.

I have always tried to ensure that the research that I conduct has a practical relevance and application to nursing and health care practice. I have experience of using both quantitative (survey and questionnaire design) and qualitative research methods for example Grounded Theory, Phenomenology, Thematic Analysis.

Recent Funding:
Co-applicant on RfPB Stage 2 Principal Investigator (Leeds University) Dr Alison Rodriguez and other partners Host organisation University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust Research Title The qualitative DIGNITAL study: Amending and Developing Dignity Therapy for Young Adults with Life Limiting Conditions Total Requested £149,998.00

01-08-2019 Erasmus+ KA2 – Co-applicant Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices KA203 - Strategic Partnerships for higher education Lead Applicant Prof June Keeling (Keele University) and other international partners Project Title: Recognition and Education in Violence, Abuse and Neglect for Medical and Healthcare Practitioners Total Grant €397,725.00 (£371,494)

Erasmus+ KA2 Grant Agreement Number: 2016-1-UK01-KA203-024467 Awarded €242080.00 (£175,000) to Professor Wilfred McSherry, the University of South Wales (Dr Linda Ross), the University of Malta (Professor Donia Baldacchino, Dr Josephine Attard), VID Specialized University, Bergen, Norway (Professor Tove Giske), Christian University of Applied Sciences Viaa, Zwolle Netherlands Professor Rene van Leeuwen), Diakonova University College Norway (Dr Tormod Kleiven. “Enhancing Nurses Competence in Providing Spiritual Care through Innovation Education and Compassionate Care” December 2016 - July 2019

British Academy Newton Mobility Grant Scheme Awarded £10,000 British Academy and £10,000 Thailand Research Fund (£20,000) to Dr Quantar Balthip and Professor Wilfred McSherry to develop the project titled "Exploring the concept of spirituality and dignity with adolescents living with HIV compared with healthy adolescents in Thailand" July 2016 - 31 August 2017

 

Teaching

I teach about dignity, spirituality, and research methods across a range of different undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. I also teach on these concepts to health professionals within the Trust. In addition, I am supervising a number of people undertaking Masters Degrees, and PhD’s.

Publications

Kont, I., Hanna, F., Hasan, M., McSherry, W (2020) Exploring the effectiveness of digital technology to support patients with adrenal incidentaloma: a literature review Cancer Nursing Practice doi: 10.7748/cnp.2020.1720ISSN 1475-4266 (print) ISSN 2047-8933 (online)

Balthip K., McSherry, W., Pasri, P., Suwanphahu, B. et al (2020) Effect of a purpose in life programme on change in wellness of Thai adolescents Accepted for publication Journal of Health Research (Accepted 10th October 2020) ISSN: 2586-940X

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 DOI: 10.1111/jan.14613 Print ISSN: 0309-2402 Online ISSN: 1365-2648

McSherry, W (2020) Enhancing and advancing spiritual care in nursing and midwifery practice Nursing Standard 35, 10, 65-68. doi: 10.7748/ns.35.10.65.s35 Available from https://journals.rcni.com/nursing-standard/feature/enhancing-and-advancing-spiritual-care-in-nursing-and-midwifery-practice-ns.35.10.65.s35/pdf ISSN 0029-6570 (print) ISSN 2047-9018 (online)

Niu, Y., McSherry, W., Partridge, M. (2020) The perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care among people from Chinese backgrounds living in England: a grounded theory method" The Journal of Transcultural Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1043659620938135 ISSN: 1043-6596 Online ISSN: 1552-7832

Niu, Y., McSherry, W., Partridge, M. (2020) An understanding of spirituality and spiritual care among people from Chinese backgrounds: a grounded theory study Journal of Advanced Nursing https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14474 Print ISSN: 0309-2402 Online ISSN: 1365-2648

Weathers, E., Coffey, A., McSherry, W., McCarthy, G. (2020) Development and Validation of the Spirituality Instrument-27© (SpI-27©) in Individuals with Chronic Illness. Applied Nursing Research https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2020.151331 ISSN: 0897-1897

McSherry, W., Ross, L., Attard, J., van Leeuwen, R., Giske, T., Kleiven, T., Boughey, A and the EPICC Network (2020) Preparing undergraduate nurses and midwives for spiritual care: Some developments in European education over the last decade Journal for the Study of Spirituality 10 (1) 55-71 doi: 10.1080/20440243.2020.1726053Print ISSN: 2044-0243 Online ISSN: 2044-0251

Snowden, A., Enang, I., Kernohan, G, W., Fraser, D., Gibbon, A, Macritchie, I McSherry, W., Ross, L., Swinton, J. (2020) Why are some healthcare chaplains registered professionals and some are not? A survey of healthcare chaplains in Scotland. Health and Social Care Chaplaincy 8 (1) 1-25 DOI: 10.1558/hscc.39783ISSN 2051-5553 (print) ISSN 2051-5561 (online)

Watts, L., Smith, J., McSherry, W., Tatterton, M., Rodriguez, A (2020) Embedding PPI within the MAGICYL (Meaning making And Generativity In Children and Young people with Life limiting and life threatening conditions) Special edition Integrative Therapies in Palliative Care OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine 5 (1) 1-19 doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2001012 (ISSN 2573-4393)

Martyne Horton-Jones, M., Marsh E., Fumarola S., Wright, H., McSherry, W and Trish Rowson, T. (2019) Deep Dive Methodology to investigate an increased incidence of hospital acquired avoidable category 2 and 3 pressure ulcers Healthcare 2019, 7, 59; 1-13 doi:10.3390/healthcare7020059 (ISSN 2227-9032)

Watts L, Rodriguez A, Tatterton M, McSherry, W and Smith, J (2019) Meaning making And Generativity In Children and Young people with Life limiting conditions (MAGICYL) Evidence-Based Nursing 22: 33-35. Print ISSN 1367-6539 Online ISSN 1468-9618

Book Chapters

McSherry, W., Boughey, A (2020) Perceptions and Understandings of Dignity In Rykkje, L & Anne Austad, A (Ed.) Eksistensielle begreper i helse- og sosialfaglig praksis (Existential concepts in health and social work practice) Available from https://www.idunn.no/file/pdf/67237257/2_perceptions_and_understandings_of_dignity.pdf Chapter 2 page 39 – 58 (Open Access) ISBN: 9788215035680

Ross, L., McSherry, W. (2020) Spiritual Care Charting/Documenting/Recording/Assessment: A Perspective from the United Kingdom In Peng-Keller, S, Neuhold, D (Eds) (2020) Charting Spiritual Care The Emerging Role of Chaplaincy Records in Global Health Care Available from https://library.oapen.org/viewer/web/viewer.html?file=/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/41284/2020_Book_ChartingSpiritualCare.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Page 97 -113 (Open Access) ISBN 978-3-030-47069-2 ISBN 978-3-030-47070-8 (eBook)

McSherry, W., Alison Rodriguez, A., Smith, J (2020) Moral, spiritual and existential development In Parker, J., Crabtree, S, A. (Eds) Human Growth and Development in Children and Young People: Theoretical and practice perspectives (Volume I), Policy Press ISBN 978-1447337423

in the UK for Quality Education

Sustainable Development Goal 4, Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024

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