Kathryn Smyth

Kathryn has recently contributed to a chapter in the 3rd edition of The Text Book of Non-Medical Prescribing (Nuttall & Rutt Howard, 2016) and has been published in several nursing journals. Kathryn has presented posters on Transition from Children’s to Adult Community Services and the recently published RCN GPN best practice guidelines in managing childhood immunisation clinics. As a member of the RCN GPN Forum Committee she has attended numerous events as part of her role, including the RCN Congress in May 2019 where she was involved in a fringe event on social prescribing in general practice. In order to raise awareness of the benefits of social prescribing and highlight the role of the nurse in improving patient care, in November 2019 Kathryn and a colleague from the RCN GPN Forum developed the RCN social prescribing clinical pages. These provide a range of resources, links and guidelines for the successful introduction of social prescribing in a variety of settings. Ritchie, G., Smyth, K. and Chester, J. (2017) Using the Transition from Children’s to Adult Community Services Learning Resource (QNI) to facilitate an Interdisciplinary Learning Set. Poster Presentation, The Queen’s Nursing Institute Transition of Care Conference. Smyth, K and Chester, J. (2019) Paediatric to adult services: are they lost in transition? Journal of Community Nursing, 33(1). RCN General Practice Nurse Forum (2018): Best practice guidelines for managing childhood vaccination and immunisation clinics. Poster Presentation, The Queen’s Nursing Institute Annual Conference. Smyth, K and Pickering J. (2019) Nurse led social prescribing. Does it work? RCN Congress fringe event. Social Prescribing Clinical Skills Resource RCN (2019). Available here. Rutt-Howard, J. & Smyth, K. (2020) Clinical Skills (Chapter 7) in: Nuttall, D. & Rutt-Howard, J. (Eds) (2020) The Textbook of Non-Medical Prescribing (3rd Edition). Chichester. Wiley Blackwell

Kathryn has developed educational opportunities for general practice nurses across her locality. Increasing placement opportunities for student nurses within general practice is high on her agenda and she is working to identify practice nurses and clinical environments that are keen to develop mentorship opportunities. Through her role at the university and in clinical practice, Kathryn provides mentorship and educational support. Kathryn contributes to local GPN conferences and is an active member of the North West Practice Nurse Association, using this as a platform to share information and support colleagues. As part of her role within the Academic Association of GPN Educators, Kathryn has contributed to the consultation on the Queen's Nursing Institute Education and Practice Standards for Senior General Practice Nurses and the Voluntary Standards for Nurses New to General Practice Nursing. As a member of this professional group Kathryn aims to influence the standardisation of GPN education and access to educational opportunities across the UK.