About

I began my career in healthcare aged 18 when I commenced training to become a Registered Adult Nurse over 30 years ago. I loved being a nurse but always had a desire to become a midwife, so commenced midwifery training in 1996. I love being a midwife - it is both an honour and a privilege to be part of the life-changing journey of childbearing. My career in midwifery education began in 2001 and since that time I have had the pleasure of educating countless midwives and am always proud to see their careers progress.

I enjoy teaching; my key interests are biology, midwifery practice and providing student support. I presented my ideas for a new model of teaching biology applied to midwifery at The International Confederation of Midwives Triennial Congress in Prague in 2014, and also received a Lord Dearing Award for outstanding contribution to the development of teaching and student learning in 2017. I am also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of the Royal College of Midwives.

I have a keen interest in assessment practices and I am currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Education, where the focus of my research is assessment methods. I previously created a group debate as a summative method of assessment and published an article in the British Journal of Midwifery about this.

I am also Lead Midwife for Education and am part of the UK-wide LME network, engaging with the NMC, the Chief Midwifery Officer for England, NHS England and the Council of Deans for Health to advocate for issues affecting midwifery students and education.

I feel very lucky to work for Sheffield Hallam University with such an innovative and supportive team, and to combine my love of midwifery with my passion for educating future midwives.

Teaching

School of Health and Social Care

College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences

Subject area

Midwifery

Courses taught

BSc (Hons) Midwifery
MSc Midwifery

Research

I am currently undertaking research as part of the Professional Doctorate in Education, exploring factors influencing midwifery educators when choosing methods of assessment.

Publications

Publications:
Spendlove Z, Best R (2018) Innovation in assessment: Building student confidence in preparation for unfamiliar assessment methods. British Journal of Midwifery, Vol 26, No 3, pp 180-184

Presentations:
Best R, Coolin K (2021) Lockdown Learners: Student driven improvements to the digital experience. Presentation to Faculty E-Learning Special Interest group (FELSIG) Extra. 13th May 2021

Best R (2021) School of Education PGR Conference: Connecting, adapting and moving forward in education research. Conference host, 27th April, 2021. Member of School of Education PGR Conference Committee

Best R (2017) The use of group debates to assess learning in healthcare education.
Abstract 194 in conference proceedings of the Royal College of Nursing Education Conference, Cardiff, 2017.

Best R, Nakielski KN (2015) Interprofessional case-note analysis – developing and enriching learning partnerships in practice.
Presentation at the Royal College of Nursing Education Forum National Conference and Exhibition, 10th March 2015, Nottingham, RCN

Best R (2014) Applied Biology in Midwifery Education – a meaningful bridge in the development of knowledgeable, skilled midwives
Abstract C341 in conference proceedings of the International Confederation of Midwives 30th Triennial Congress, Prague, ICM

Best R (2014) Applied Biology in Midwifery Education – a meaningful bridge in the development of knowledgeable, skilled midwives.
Concurrent presentation at the International Confederation of Midwives 30th Triennial Congress, 4th June, 2014, Prague, ICM

Best R, Ward S (2013) Interprofessional case-note analysis: working and learning together.
Presentation at the University of Nottingham, Interprofessional Practice Learning Team Conference, 6th June 2013, Nottingham