Mary Bruce

mary-bruce

Senior Lecturer - Association for Dementia Studies

Association for Dementia Studies

Contact Details

email: m.bruce@worc.ac.uk

Mary Bruce is a Senior Lecturer at ADS joining in 2013. Mary is passionate in supporting staff translate theory into practice; she has a particular passion for working within the Acute sector, where she can bring her vast amount of clinical and managerial experience to the classroom.

Clinical background

Mary qualified in 1991 as Registered General Nurse, spending most of her career working within the Acute Sector. Over her 30 years as a nurse, she has worked clinically, managerially and educationally and has always supported the development of staff and services to promote quality care. Prior to joining ADS Mary had posts as a Matron for older people's care and a Multi-Professional Educator, both of these posts focused on the national dementia agenda within the acute sector. These posts were the inspiration for her to move into a full-time educational role within the University of Worcester, where she believed she could truly immerse herself in supporting staff through education to inspire them to be as passionate as she is in the care of people who are living with dementia.

Mary’s particular interests and expertise include: Acute Hospital Care; End of Life Care; Frailty; Pain; and Education in Acute Care looking at the theory/practice gap

Qualifications

  • MA in Education, University of Worcester (2020)
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of Worcester, (2015)
  • FHEA (2015)
  • BSc (hons) Dementia Care, Bradford University (2013)
  • RGN (1991)
  • Diploma Professional Nursing Studies (1991)

Teaching

Mary is involved in developing and delivering a vast range of education and training. She has used her experience and extensive knowledge of education to successfully transition from face-to-face to online course delivery, embracing the challenges that have arisen as turning them into an exciting opportunity.

She is the module lead for Supporting People with Advanced Dementia and also a module for Admiral Nurses at both level 6 and level 7 as part of the Postgraduate Certificate in Person Centred Dementia Studies

Mary has developed and delivered masterclasses on frailty, pain and end of life within the university, but also for Dementia UK and in collaboration with Elderly Residential Services in Gibraltar.

She is also co-lead for the Meeting Centre training course for staff and volunteers looking to establish a new Meeting Centre as part of the UK Meeting Centres Support Programme.

She has been instrumental in the design and delivery of bespoke educational courses, commissioned from a range of health and social care providers including:

  • Birmingham and Worcester Acute and Community services
  • City & Sandwell Acute Hospital Trust
  • Leicester Partnership NHS Trust
  • Heart of England Foundation Trust
  • RCH care homes
  • ExtraCare Charitable Trust
  • Care UK

She has also delivered intensive sessions for GPs within primary care settings, whilst regularly delivering sessions on existing degree and post-grad University of Worcester courses including Paramedics, Occupational Therapy , Physiotherapy, and Return to Nursing.

Research and Knowledge Transfer

Research

Mary has been involved in a number of research/evaluation projects.

These include:

  • Evaluation of RCN leadership programme in acute hospitals. This involved working closely with the RCN and those hospitals who had undertaken the leadership programme in order to identify its impact and sustainability.
  • Mary developed and led an evaluation project commissioned by Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board to provide an independent overview of their multi-level dementia-training programme and explore its impact on practice.
  • Mary has developed and delivered training within the UK Meeting Centres Support Programme, helping people looking to establish new Meeting Centres to support people affected by dementia.
  • Explore nursing students' experiences of participating in a modified Death Café and its impact on their learning about death and dying.

Presentations, seminars and workshops

  • Student Nurse Conference, University of Worcester - presentation: Communication and behaviour
  • Danish Dementia Days Annual Conference (DemensDagene), Copenhagen, Denmark - presentation: Transforming dementia care in hospitals
  • UK Dementia Congress, Doncaster - workshop: Movement for well-being
  • Care Show, Birmingham - presentation: Behaviour that challenges: What do we really mean?
  • UK Dementia Congress, Brighton - presentation: Making a difference - transforming dementia care in hospital 
  • Nursing and Midwifery Conference: Great Minds Don't Think Alike - presentation: Caring to care for people - working with senior acute nurses on a dementia leadership course run by the Association for Dementia Studies
  • Alzheimer’s Show, London - presentation: Pain and behaviour
  • Warwickshire Reminiscence Action project conference - presentation: Living well with Dementia
  • Northwick Park Hospital Dementia Strategy Launch - presentation: Person centred care in the Acute sector 
  • Oral Care Conference, Hertfordshire - presentation

Professional Bodies

Mary qualified as a Nurse 1991 and maintains her registration as a Registered General nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

Publications

Current publications

Mitchell, T., Nyatanga, B., Lillyman, S., Bruce, M., Bryane, S. (2021). Using Death Cafés as a method for discussing death and dying with third year student nurses. International Journal of palliative nursing. 27 (7), 352-360.

Lillyman, S. and Bruce, M. (2017). Caring for people with dementia at end of life. Nursing & residential care, 19(6), 331-334.

Lillyman, S. and Bruce, M. (2016). Palliative care for people with dementia: A literature review. International Journal of Palliative Nursing. 22 (2), 76-81.

Bruce, M., Bray, J., Evans, S. & Brooker, D. (2016). Evaluation of the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board Dementia Training Programme. Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcester.

Evans, S., Brooker, D., Thompson, R., Bray, J., Milosevic, S., Bruce, M. and Carter, C. (2015) Introduction to the transforming dementia care in hospitals series. Nursing Older People, 27, 6, 18-24.

Bray, J., Evans, S., Thompson, R., Bruce, M., Carter, C., Brooker, D., Milosevic, S., Coleman, H. and McSherry, W. (2015). Understanding the needs of people with dementia and family carers. Nursing Older People, 27, 7, 18-23.

Bray, J., Evans, S., Bruce, M., Carter, C., Brooker, D., Milosevic, S., Thompson, R. and Hutt, L. (2015) Improving activity and engagement for patients with dementia. Nursing Older People, 27, 8, 22-26. 

Bray, J., Evans, S., Bruce, M., Carter, C., Brooker, D., Milosevic, S., Thompson, R. and Hutt, L. (2015) Improving the hospital environment for people with dementia. Nursing Older People, 27, 9, 16-20. 

Bray, J., Evans, S., Bruce, M., Carter, C., Brooker, D., Milosevic, S., Thompson, R. and Woods, C. (2015) Enabling hospital staff to care for people with dementia. Nursing Older People, 27, 10, 29-32. 

Brooker, D., Milosevic, S, Evans, S., Carter, C., Bruce, M., & Thompson, R. (2014) RCN Development Programme: Transforming Dementia Care in Hospitals Evaluation Summary Report. University of Worcester.

Brooker, D., Milosevic, S., Evans, S., Carter, C., Bruce, M. and Thompson, R. (2014). RCN Development Programme: Transforming Dementia Care in Hospitals – Evaluation Report.

Planned/in progress publications

Reflecting on the move to an online course for Admiral Nurses

Delivering the Meeting Centre training course

 

External Roles

Royal College of Psychiatrists National Audit of Dementia in Hospitals: Steering Group Member National Audit of Dementia in Hospitals