Mrs Louise Howard

About

I qualified as an RMN in 1999 after graduating from King's College with a BSc (Hons) Nursing and began my career working within acute admissions. During this time I developed an interest and skills in Psychosocial Interventions and became a Lecturer-Practitioner for PSI at Kingston University with a particular interest in supporting nurses to deliver PSI within acute environments.

In 2006 my clinical role changed and I became a Physical health lead within my employing MH Trust and had responsibilities for promoting physical health care and developing local smoking cessation services for clients with SMI working in collaboration with a local PCT. I then moved into the community and worked as a primary care liaison nurse within a CMHT again with a focus for improving joined up working and access for service users to primary care and physical health checks.

I became a Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing in 2009 at Kingston University and support the delivery of education across Pre and Post registration courses with a focus on physical health care, PSI and Family intervention. I have supported the development of educational initiatives for mental health nursing students including a collaborative partnership with a Local Carer's Centre. I have been involved in the National initiatives and steering committees to develop the role of the mental health nurse in improving physical health outcomes of people with serious mental illness and have published and  presented Nationally to  other practitioners on this subject.

I am currently the Course Leader for the MSc Nursing/Registered nurse course with responsibilities for student experience and quality of educational provision. Within this role I provide academic leadership and management of the Masters course promoting curriculum development, oversight of and enhancement of the teaching, learning and assessment methods.  This role provides insight across the fields of nursing and promotes opportunities for intra and inter-professional learning.