Rebecca as Director has provided strategic and operational leadership to The Royal Marsden School, since 2019. She first worked at the Royal Marsden in 2000, as a Senior Staff nurse on the Bud Flanagan Unit and as a Professional Development Facilitator within the School. It was in these roles, and by undertaking an MSc in Advanced Cancer Nursing, that she became passionate about supporting and enabling health professionals through the delivery of excellent education and career development opportunities.
Throughout her nursing career she has held several education and clinical practice roles. These included working as a Senior Lecturer in Cancer and Palliative Care at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London (KCL). In this role she developed her academic expertise and knowledge, teaching across the cancer disease pathways, including, cancer biology, diagnosis, treatments, psycho-social and end of life care at BSc/MSc levels. At KCL she was awarded a post-graduate certificate for academic practice in 2006. Rebecca also became a trained facilitator for the UK (Connected) National Advanced Communication Skills in Cancer and Palliative Care programme in 2008, and for the SAGE & THYME training programme in 2014.
She is now recognised nationally and internationally for her expertise in the development and delivery of cancer education aligned to clinical practice. She held an Executive Member position on the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS) Board between 2015-2022. Within this role she was also the Chair of the EONS Education Working Group and lead author for the EONS Cancer Nursing Education Framework (2018).
In 2011, she was awarded an NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship. Her PhD participatory research study aimed to develop interventions to enable health professionals, working in cancer care, to support family carers and manage the complexity and uncertainty of their work.
Since completing her doctorate studies, Rebecca’s research interests have focussed predominately on the educational and support needs of health professionals. She has, during her career, developed methodological expertise in participatory research, working with patients, the public (PPI), and health professionals, to develop complex interventions and supporting staff to implement and transfer the research findings into practice. Within her current role she continues to work alongside and support clinical staff, by for example, developing and delivering excellent education, supervising academic research and service/quality improvement projects.
Module Involvement:
- Sage and Thyme Facilitator
- Lead for the Advanced Communication Skills Programme
- All leadership/professional development modules/programmes delivered by the RMS.
- MSc Dissertation
- Service Improvement Project
- SACT
- PhD/MSc Supervision
Committee Involvement:
- Chair of the Royal Marsden NAHPC Education Steering Committee
- Committee Member of the David Adams Leukaemia Fund
- Chair of the RMS PPI Group.
- European Oncology Nursing (EONS): Trustee
Awards:
- National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Doctoral Research Fellowship (2010-14).
- The RCN Research Society Marjorie Simpson New Researcher Award (2011).
- The Lawrence Bloomberg Emerging Nurse Scholars Forum, University of Toronto, Canada, in October 2015.
- Nominated for KCL Teaching Excellence Award (2016; 2015; 2010).
- The Lawrence Bloomberg Emerging Nurse Scholars Forum, University of Toronto, Canada, in October 2015.
- Nominated for KCL Teaching Excellence Award (2016; 2015; 2010).
RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS AND ABSTRACTS:
PAPERS
EONS (2018) Framework for Cancer Nursing Education, European Oncology Nursing Society – Lead Author
Naughton C. Beard C. Tzouvara V. Pegram A. Verity R. Eley R and Hingley D (2018) A dementia communication training intervention based on the VERA framework for pre-registration nurses: Part I developing and testing an implementation strategy. Nurse Education Today, 31; 63: pp. 94-100.
Naughton C. Beard C. Tzouvara V. Pegram A. Verity R. Eley R and Hingley D (2018) A feasibility study of dementia communication training based on the VERA framework for pre-registration nurses: Part II impact on student experience. Nurse Education Today 63, pp. 87-93.
Tsianakas V. Robert G. Richardson A. Verity R. Oakley C. Murrells T. Flynn M. Ream E. (2015) Enhancing the experience of carers in the chemotherapy outpatient setting: an exploratory randomised controlled trial to test impact, acceptability, and feasibility. Supportive Care in Cancer. 23, pp. 3069-3080.
Ream E. Pedersen V. Oakley C. Richardson A. Taylor C. Verity R (2012) Informal carers’ experiences and needs when supporting patients through chemotherapy, a mixed method study. European Journal of Cancer Care 22, (6), p. 797-806.
Gibson F. Shipway L. Aldiss S. Hawkins H. King W. Parr M. Ridout D. Verity R. Taylor R.M. (2012) Exploring the work of nurses who administer chemotherapy to children. European Journal of Oncology Nursing; 17(1) pp.59-69.
Verity R. Wiseman T. Ream E. Teasdale E. and Richardson A. (2008) Exploring the work of nurses who administer chemotherapy. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 12 (3), pp. 244-252.
Contact details:
PA: Carol Turner
020 7808 2923