Dr Hannah Cooke B.Sc,M.Sc(Econ),MSc(Nurs),Ph.D,RN,DN,RNT

My first research project  was on the role of Community Health Councils. This led to a longstanding involvement with patient groups . I have also published on the role of patients in quality assurance and standard setting. I have carried out a number of educational research projects including a national survey of sociology teaching within the nursing curriculum. In 1999-2003 I carried out a project using comparative case study design funded by the UKCC on the management of problems of conduct and competence. More recently I have carried out a study for the NMC on the history of professional regulation.

My main area of interest is the sociological study of nurses’ professional roles, working lives and working conditions. I also have an interest in patient safety and care standards particularly with reference to regulatory issues and the prevention of institutional abuse. I have a particular interest in the impact of recent organisational and policy changes in healthcare on professional care cultures. My theoretical interests are in the application of sociological theories to the understanding of healthcare cultures and practice. These have included studies employing Mary Douglas’ grid/group cultural theory and Bernstein’s code theory in order to understand recent cultural change in healthcare. I have recently been involved in a study examining patient safety in the nursing curriculum and in work on the theoretical basis of patient safety initiatives. I am continuing to carry out work on nursing regulation and fitness for practice and  have recently completed a funded study on the history of nursing regulation in the UK.

Recent completed  PhD supervisions include  the impact of computerisation on the role of the nurse in Taiwan and a study of nursing internships in Oman. Current PhD supervisions include an oral history of remote island nursing, the role of simulation in nurse education and the lived experience of patients with lupus.

I am a member of the School's History of Health and Social Care Research Group.

Projects

The social and organisational factors affecting the identification and management  of the problem nurse 1999-2003

Patient safety in an English pre-registration curriculum curriculum 2005-6

Historical Investigations into the professional regulation of nursing 2010-2011

Main Interests

Professional Regulation

Fitness for Practice

Nurses' working conditions

Professional and Organisational cultures

Nursing education and curricula

Patient Safety

• Case study
• Qualitative interviewing
• Survey methods
• Audit and quality assurance

My teaching interests include sociology of health and illness, health policy, clinical governance and qualitative research methods. I have produced research and publications on sociology teaching in nursing and healthcare. I co-authored my second book on sociology in nursing and healthcare  published by Elsevier in 2008.
I am currently programme director of the MSc in Advanced Nursing Studies. My former roles include programme director of the BSc in Nursing Studies and Academic Adviser for Nursing. I have had extensive experience of curriculum development and quality assurance. In addition to my programme director responsibilities I currently  run an undergraduate sociology of health and illness unit, postgraduate dissertation unit and act as a research/dissertation supervisor at undergraduate, MSc and PhD level.

I obtained a BSc (Hons)  in sociology from the London School of Economics and an MSc in the sociology of health and illness from Royal Holloway and Bedford College, University of London. Subsequently I trained as a nurse at the Royal London Hospital and worked in general medicine at Mile End Hospital, intensive care at Guy's hospital and palliative care with the Marie Curie Foundation before training as a district nurse and working as a district nursing sister in North London. I have been working in nurse education since the 1980s and for many years worked as a joint appointee combining lecturing with clinical development roles firstly at North Manchester General Hospital and secondly at Manchester Royal Infirmary. I have been a full time lecturer since the mid 1990s.

I was involved with Community Health Councils (acting as both a member and chair) from the mid 1980s until their demise and have had wide experience of working with patient groups. I have had considerable experience in service development, quality assurance and audit, for example leading projects on bereavement support, discharge planning and preceptorship as well as patient satisfaction surveys. My project on terminal care and bereavement led to the publication of a clinical handbook in 2000.

• Registered General Nurse
• District Nurse
• Registered Nurse Teacher
• BSc (Hons) in Sociology, London School of Economics, University of London, 1977
• MSc in Sociology with Special Reference to Medicine, Royal Holloway and Bedford College, University of London, 1978
• MSc in Nursing, University of Manchester, 1991
• PhD in Sociology, University of Manchester, 2003