Department

Department of Nursing

Biography

Ruth had a successful clinical career as a Registered Nurse, Children’s Nurse  and Health Visitor before moving into Higher Education and was awarded a PhD from the University of Wales, College of Medicine in 2002. Her research interests span health and social care with a special focus on chronic conditions and palliative care. Ruth is committed to breaking down barriers between academe and practice hence her active role in developing the Doctorate in Professional Practice which enables practitioners to research their own practice. For information on this doctoral programme please access:

http://www.redavies.talktalk.net/New_Folder/DPP%20Information%20for%20candidates%20_2_.pdf)

External activity

• Lead for Research Development Group (NISCHR funded) ‘Understanding fathers’ contributions to children’s health and wellbeing’  
• 2005  to present, Member of Children and Young Peoples Research Network, Wales.
• 2006 to present, Member of RCN History of Nursing Society 
• 2008 to 2013,  External Examiner, Doctorate in Clinical Practice, Surrey University, Guilford, England.
• 2008 to present, member Institute of Welsh Affairs
• 2010 to present, External Examiner, 4 year Integrated Adult/Child  BSc (Hons) Nursing Degree, Cork University
• Member of All Wales Community Children’s Nursing Forum
• Consultancy work  ABMU Health Board in relation to Wales Centre for Practice Innovation 

Research Grants

• 2005 Catriona Williams, Ruth Davies, et al. Children and Young Person's Research Network (Wales Office of Research and Development, £80K)
• Davies Judy, Davies Ruth and Hain Richard. Survey to measure usage of assessment tools for the management of pain & other distressing symptoms in children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in Wales.(Wales Office of Research and Development)
• 2005 Hain Richard and Davies Ruth. Child Palliative Care: Research & Development Network (Wales Office of Research and Development £15K)
• 2003 Hain  Richard and Davies Ruth.  Comparison of DEGR and Oucher Scales in the Assessment of Children's Pain. (Sir Halley Stewart Trust £20K).

Peer Reviewer

All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care, CYPRN (Wales), Tenovus, NISCHR , WORD PhD Studentships. Peer reviewer for academic and professional journals.

Successful PhD Supervision

• Marie Bodycombe-James (2012) Children’s Stories of Managing their Chronic Illness at Home .
• Susan Higham  (2011) Protecting, providing and participating: Fathers and their children’s unplanned hospital admission
• Elizabeth Mason (2011) Obligations and responsibilities: An ethnographic exploration of registered nurses’ understanding of professional accountability.
• Helen Griffiths: (2010) What are the experiences of patients with Barrett’s columnar lined oespophagus undergoing endoscopic disease surveillance? Swansea University
• Sheelagh Wickham: (2009) A Study of the Role of the Nurse Specialist in Northern Ireland.

Current Supervision :  Doctorate in Professional Practice

• Julie Hayes,  Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Princess of Wales Hospital. The role of the Advanced Nurse Practitioner in  DNACPR decision making with patients/carers.  
• Melanie Thomas, Clinical Lead for All Wales Lymphoedema  Service. Prevention of Lymphoedema  in patients with breast cancer.
• Wendy Mashlan, Lead Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Princess of Wales Hospital. Advanced Nurse Practitioners  as the means of developing clinical services for the frail older population of patients in  Wales.

Current Supervision:  PhD

• Jonathan Arthur, Advanced Practitioner, Audiology, Royal Glamorgan Hospital. Mixed methods study to investigate us of hearing aid use in an elderly population
• Rachael Salmon, Registered Nurse. Nurses’ experiences of symptom management in End of Life Care: A phenomenological approach. 
• Michael Brady, Paramedic. An investigation of paramedics’ attitudes and understanding in relation to the safeguarding of children in their daily practice .

Selected Publications

Higham S. and Davies R. (2013) Protecting, providing for and participating in care: Fathers experiences of caring their sick child in hospital. Journal of Advanced Nursing (in press)

Davies R and Davies  A.  (2011) Children and Young Peoples Nursing: Principles for Practice. London, Hodder and Arnold.  With  foreword by the Children’s Commissioner for Wales. Book available from: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Children-Young-Peoples-Nursing-Ruth-Davies/9781444107845

Davies R.  (April 2011) Children’s Community Nursing. In: Davies R, and Davies A. Children and Young Peoples Nursing: Principles for Practice. London,  Hodder and Arnold.

Davies R (2010) Community Children’s Nursing Provision Wales 2010: Position Paper and Scoping Exercise compiled by Dr Ruth Davies RN, RSCN, RHV, Department of Nursing, Swansea University. Nursing Praxis International ISBN 1-903625-20-3.Report available from: http://www.redavies.talktalk.net/New_Folder/CCN_Scoping_Exercise.pdf

Davies Ruth (2010)   Marking the  fiftieth anniversary of the Platt Report: From exclusion, to toleration and parental participation in the care of the hospitalised child. Journal of Child Health Care, 14(1); 6-23.

Davies R (2008) The Bologna Process: The Quiet Revolution in Nursing Higher Education Nurse Education Today. 28: 935-942

Davies Ruth (2008) Children’s Nursing and Future Directions: Learning from ‘Memorable Events’ Nurse Education Today 28: 814-821

Davies, R. (2005) Mothers' stories of loss: their need to be with their dying child and their child's body after death. Journal of Child Health Care 9 (4); 288-300

Davies Ruth (2004) New understandings of parental grief: literature review. Journal of Advanced Nursing 46(5); 1-8