Children and young people nursing preparation
Welcome to the School of Health Sciences. This is the page for Children & Young People’s Nursing, and we look forward to meeting you in September!
We are looking forward to welcoming you to the Children and Young People’s Nursing programme! This page gives you some useful information and top tips but if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email Sarah (CYP Field Lead)
Course information
This programme runs over 3 years and, following completion leads to a BSc (Hons) and registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a Registered Nurse (Child).
The first year of your programme centre around ‘normality’. This means you will be learning about how children develop and start to explore health and illness in relation to all age groups. We focus on developing communication skills with both children and their families as well as considering some of the issues that makes CYP Nursing unique – an example of this is consent and capacity.
As well as shared learning with other professions, you will learn as part of the CYP Nursing cohort in both the classroom and simulation suite. You’ll learn vital clinical assessment skills which you will build on as your knowledge and experience grows. The learning you complete in the classroom and with independent study will be brought to life by sessions working with the SimActors and with your teaching team.
You will be allocated your Personal Tutor early on and start to develop a relationship that gives you the support you need for both your studies and life outside them. You’ll meet your Cohort Lead and the Field Lead for the programme and learn about the many layers of pastoral and programme support available.
Your health sciences facilities
Enjoy settling into the programme, make connections with people on your course – you will make life-long friends!
Find a club or society that interests you – the Student’s Union website and Fresher’s Week are great places to start!
Get to grips with your timetable and attend your lectures – there is a significant correlation between students who attend lectures and their academic results – we see this every single year!
Remember that there’s no such thing as a silly question – we were all where you are once, and we know it’s a steep learning curve
Read your university emails every day during the week – this is how we keep in touch with you and how you keep in touch with us
Recommended reading
On Twitter? There are many brilliant follows! We recommend the following to get you started:
- @UniS_ChildNurse
- @healthscisurrey
- @CYPStNN
- @DFTBubbles
- @RCNStudents
- @WeNurses
When you get access to your university log in, use SurreySearch to find resources to support your studies. There are a huge number of textbooks and journals you can access online.
The team
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Sarah Clements (she/her) – Field Lead & Senior Lecturer
Sarah is a Registered Children’s Nurse, having qualified in 2002. Her clinical background is as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, working autonomously in both the hospital and community to provide a service for children and young people with respiratory conditions such as Cystic Fibrosis and complex, chronic asthma. Sarah has worked at the University of Surrey since 2017 and teaches across the 3 years of the programme. Sarah has a special interest in Disability and Neurodiversity and is the Lead for Disability in the School of Health Sciences. Sarah is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is in the final stages of completing an MA in Healthcare Education, looking at how students who are neurodivergent are supported in their clinical placements. -
Ali Whitehouse (she/her) – Lecturer
Ali started her Children’s Nursing career on a general children’s ward in 2008 before moving into the community. She initially worked as a community staff nurse before returning to university to complete her Public Health Degree in order to qualify as a Health Visitor. Ali began teaching at the University in 2013 and leads on Year 1 of the CYP curriculum and Public Health thread. Her areas of interest include safeguarding, childhood adversity, public health and child development. She is currently studying for her PhD exploring the motor development of looked after children. -
Zoe Polly (she/her) - S22 Cohort Lead and Lecturer
Zoe qualified as a Children’s Nurse in 2004 and worked in general paediatrics as a staff nurse and Sister until 2012. Teaching in practice was always one of Zoe’s greatest passions so she moved into education in 2012. Zoe’s interests include cancer care, the effects of hospitalisation on the family, pharmacology, pain assessment and management and clinical simulation. Her spare time is currently taking up by studying for her PhD exploring the experiences of siblings when a brother or sister is diagnosed with cancer.
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Lisa Dennis (she/her) – S21 Cohort Lead and Lecturer
Lisa is a children’s Emergency Care nurse by background and still work shifts in her local Emergency Department (you may even see Lisa when you are on placement!). Lisa is an Advanced Paediatric Life Support Instructor, so teaches resuscitation to a variety of Health Care Professionals. Lisa’s areas of interest are acute illness and injury, and she is the Co-Year Lead for Year 2 of the programme. Lisa loves teaching in different ways, including simulation, and learning through gamification. She is currently working towards her MA. -
Zoe Bedford (she/her) – Lecturer
Zoe Bedford is a Teaching Fellow in Children and Young People’s Nursing. She has been a Registered Children’s Nurse since 2004 and she has worked at the university since 2019.
Zoe’s background is varied, she trained in Southampton then moved to London once qualified. She spent a couple of years on a rotation programme at Kings College London then settled in Paediatric Intensive Care for 10 or so years and became an educator there. Since 2015 Zoe has been a lecturer at a London University, a Practice Development nurse on PICU, she also completed a Master’s with Distinction in Education for Health Care Professionals. Before coming to Surrey full time in 2019 she was a paediatric educator in 2 general hospitals down South.
Here at the university, she is Lead for year 2 CYP nursing, personal tutor to some students in all cohorts, she teaches across the years on a variety of topics. She particularly enjoys working with students and colleagues in simulation, supporting students to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to become outstanding healthcare professionals. -
Jordan Harrington-Phillips (they/them) – Lecturer
After graduating from the University of Surrey with a BSc (Hons) in Children’s Nursing, Jordan has a varied background in different clinical environments. With a specialist interest in Emergency Care and Adolescent Health. Jordan continues to work clinically as a Charge Nurse in Paediatric ED in their free time.
Prior to becoming a nurse Jordan worked within the theatre industry; after completing a BA (Hons) in Drama and Applied theatre. Their passion within nursing is built upon utilising both degrees: empowering positive change and creating inclusive and safe environments. You may find them using accidental jazz hands!
Here at the university of surrey, Jordan teaches mainly over First and Second year curriculums. Jordan enjoys Simulation based learning with students and colleagues. Allowing students to develop new skills, gain further knowledge, and become confident in their own potential to be the next superheroes of the child nursing world.
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