Ruth Northway OBE FRCN FLSW (born February 1961) is a British nurse and nursing academic specialising in learning disabilities. She is a professor of learning disability nursing at the University of South Wales.
Ruth Northway | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 1961 (age 63) |
| Occupation(s) | Nurse and nursing academic |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Thesis | Oppression in the lives of people with learning difficulties: a participatory study (1998) |
| Academic work | |
| Sub-discipline | Learning disability nursing |
| Institutions | |
Biography
editNorthway, who is from Llantrisant in Mid Glamorgan, Wales,[1] was born in 1961[2] and educated at Teignmouth Grammar School.[3] She decided to become a nurse because she "enjoyed working with people with learning disabilities and this was the best way that [she] could do it",[4] and subsequently spent some time as a learning disability nurse.[2] In 1989, she started going into nurse education.[2] In 1994, she graduated from the University of Wales, Newport, with a Master of Science degree in economics, and started working at the University of Wales College of Medicine (UWCM) as a lecturer.[3] In 1998, she obtained a PhD from the University of Bristol, with her thesis "Oppression in the lives of people with learning difficulties: a participatory study."[5][6]
In 1999, Northway moved from the UWCM's School of Nursing to the University of Glamorgan, which would later merge into the University of South Wales (USW) in 2013.[2] As part of the USW academic staff, she became the United Kingdom's first Professor of Learning Disability Nursing,[4] and in 2002, became the leader of the university's Unit for Development in Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities.[7]
As an academic, Northway specialises in learning disabilities, participatory action research, and safeguarding.[2][8][1] Her academic accomplishments in learning disability nursing include developing Internet forums and teaching higher education classes in the field.[1] In 2013, she and Robert Jenkins published Safeguarding Adults in Nursing Practice.[2] Northway has also held a Visiting Professorship at Ulster University's School of Nursing.[8]
Northway is a member of the editorial committee of the Journal of Intellectual Disabilities,[9] and was previously the journal's editor-in-chief from 2013 to 2019.[5] From 2003 to 2007, she was the editor of Learning Disability Practice.[8] In 2011, she became the chair of the Royal College of Nursing Research Society.[2]
Northway has also led the Learning Disability Ministerial Advisory Group within the Welsh Government.[1] She was a trustee of Tenovus Cancer Care from 2011 to 2015.[3]
Northway was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in 2003 – becoming the second learning disability nurse to be elected – "for her outstanding contributions to research in the field of learning disability nursing".[4][2] She became a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2015.[10][3] Northway was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to learning disability nursing.[11] Northway won Nursing Times' 2018 Chief Nursing Officers' Award for Lifetime Achievement.[12] Northway was elected a fellow of the Learned Society of Wales in 2021.[13]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Flynn, Jessica (13 June 2016). "Professor's work highlighted as she receives an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours". WalesOnline. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Northway; Ruth (1961-fl 2022); nurse professor". Royal College of Nursing. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
- ^ a b c d Northway, Ruth. "Ruth Northway". LinkedIn. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^ a b c "Professor Ruth Northway – nurse, researcher, advocate, campaigner". University of South Wales. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^ a b "Ruth Northway". University of South Wales. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
- ^ Northway, Ruth (6 May 1998). Oppression in the lives of people with learning difficulties : a participatory study (Ph.D). University of Bristol. Retrieved 5 May 2023 – via ethos.bl.uk.
- ^ "Ruth Northway". The Conversation. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
- ^ a b c Fothergill, Anne; Mitchell, Brian; Lipp, Allyson; Northway, Ruth (2013). "Setting up a mental health service user research group: a process paper". Journal of Research in Nursing. 18 (8): 746–759. doi:10.1177/1744987112451579. ISSN 1744-9871. S2CID 73103403. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^ "Editorial Board". Journal of Intellectual Disabilities. SAGE Journals. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
- ^ "OBE honour for USW nursing professor". University of South Wales. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^ "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B14.
- ^ "Congratulations to our 2018 NT Awards winners". Nursing Times. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^ "Ruth Northway". Learned Society of Wales. Retrieved 4 May 2023.