About

Barbara Beard has been a senior lecturer in end of life care at Sheffield Hallam University since 2008. Prior to moving to the university she was the Head of Education at St Luke's Hospice in Sheffield as part of the collaborative provision of Sheffield Hallam University, where she was course leader for the PG Diploma, Supportive and Palliative care and the BA(Honours) Supportive and Palliative Care.

On commencing at the university, she became the first course leader for the MSc Supportive and Palliative Care. She continued with this role until 2014 when she reduced her hours.

As a registers nurse, she has previously worked in a wide variety of clinical settings, in the UK, Canada and Switzerland.

She is passionate about enhancing the quality of end of life care in all clinical settings. To enhance her own clinical practice, she is also a volunteer at St Luke's Hospice Sheffield where she supports the bereaved in their own homes.

She is now the Module Leader for three MSc modules and also a supervisor for palliative care students who access the Dissertation, Work Based Learning and Personalised Study modules.

Both at St Luke's Hospice and at Sheffield Hallam University, she has been responsible for the preparation of documentation and presentations for the validation and re-validation of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. She is a member of the academic misconduct panel and is an external examiner at Liverpool, John Moores University.

She was awarded the International Journal of Palliative Nursing, Educator of the Year - third prize in 2012.

Specialist areas of interest

Ethical theory and decision making with application to clinical practice
The theory and practice of supporting people who have experienced a loss or bereavement
Development of communication skills with a particular interest in facilitating role play
Support of students while studying end of life care
Enhancing the quality of care to in end of life care

Teaching

Barbara is currently involved with the preparation and facilitation of the Sheffield Hallam Open Online Course, Conversations About End of Life Care in conjunction with St Luke's Hospice, Sheffield. This free course is open to the professionals, patients, carers and the general public. It aims to raise awareness and increase conversations about dying, death and bereavement. There are currently over 1,000 registrants from 26 countries.

Module leader for the following modules

Loss, Grief and Bereavement
End of Life Decision Making
Informed Consent in Health Care Practice

Supervisor for students on the MSc

Dissertation
Personalised Study Module
Work Based Learning

End of life care teaching on the following courses

PGD Radiotherapy and Oncology in Practice
BSc (Honours) Diagnostic Radiography

Publications

Other activities

Barbara is the External Examiner for the Level 7 module, Professional Practice in Palliative care and the level 6 module, Introduction to Palliative Care at the Liverpool, John Moores University