Kerry Bareham – MSc Frail Older Adults, 2018

Kerry’s career story below provides a great example of where post graduate studies at the University of Lincoln can take you in your career.

Prior to studying for the Msc in Older Adults in Frailty, Kerry had completed study in Advanced Clinical Practice, including Community Specialist Practice Qualification (District Nursing), Clinical Assessment and Independent Prescribing. Through her extensive clinical practice Kerry recognised caring for people with frailty is an extremely complex area of practice, but that articulating the complexity to the people who needed to plan for the future was increasingly difficult. Kerry hoped by engaging in further training that she would be able to begin to address this, by furthering her understanding of clinical practice, research, education, and leadership.

During the programme Kerry considers she felt ‘liberated’ to focus, reflect, and learn, which led to a number of ‘eureka’ moments in respect to her understanding of the complexity of her area of practice. This coupled with being able to focus on a specific issue for her dissertation a service transformation project that led to the development of the Community Nurse Specialist roles commissioned by Lincolnshire County Council. This opportunity to study at his advanced level not only increased her knowledge and her confidence, but opened areas of practice for her to look in to and to apply for.

Since completing the course Kerry has successfully secured a number of more senior and strategic roles nationally as a Community Nurse Fellow with NHSE, and her current role as a nurse consultant for St Barnabas Hospice, a role she considers has ‘allowed her to be the professional she wants to be’.

Her increased knowledge and skills have also enabled her to become involved in a number of national bodies, where Kerry feels she has been able to share her knowledge and influence practice. She is also now a ‘Queen’s Nurse’ something she is very proud of.

In terms of the main things she got from the programme, she would suggest that the networking opportunities, the consolidation of knowledge the acquisition of research skills and the support received were the key ingredients for her success.

Kerry believes the course was ‘really transformative’ for her, and that for ‘every hour she put in’ she got so much back.