Joy O’Gorman Registered Nurse (Adult) BSc (Hons)
Joy is the study lead (Principal Investigator)
Joy currently works as an Intensive Care Registered Nurse and holds a PhD scholarship with the University of Plymouth.
Throughout her nursing career Joy has demonstrated a passion for clinical research; this included leading collaborations with patient groups exploring digital health interventions within ICU settings, and spearheading a county wide digital health initiative to empower patients in the management of their long term conditions. Joy’s pro-active accomplishments have attracted recognition from national awarding bodies; this includes winning the prestigious ‘Patient Advocate of Tomorrow’ award by the Patient Experience Network. Joy has sat as a panel member on national research bodies and spoken at numerous national research conferences as a guest speaker.
The theme of her PHD and core concept of the Family and Friends ICU Study was conceived by Joy through her clinical expertise, observations and passion for person-centered care. Under the expert guidance of her PhD research supervisory team Joy has since undertaken extensive research and attracted diverse stakeholder engagement and support for the study. Joy is thrilled to have the support and supervision of the following expert researcher team members:
Professor Sally Abey
Sally is the Chief Investigator and Director of Studies
Sally is Head of School for the School of Health Professions at the University of Plymouth, where she has been a valued member of the academic community since 2005.
Sally holds a PhD in clinical education. Her research focuses on practice-based learning, the role of clinical educators, and the creation of research-informed placement environments. She has led a number of funded projects investigating the integration of technology in health education, including mobile learning, virtual clinical settings, and re-usable digital learning resources such as podcasts and instructional videos. Her recent research also explores the evolving role of telehealth in both clinical education and professional practice, examining how digital consultation models can enhance accessibility, learning, and patient care.
Dr Toni Page
Toni is an academic research supervisor to the Study
Toni is a Senior Teaching Fellow at the Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) working across the Digital Health Leadership and Digital Maternity programmes. She is passionate about supporting the learning and development of both the current and future health and care workforce.
In 2021 Toni completed her PhD in Applied Health Studies at the University of Plymouth. Her PhD focused on developing a feasible and sustainable model offering nursing students the opportunity to help service users and carers in learning about and using digital health. Toni now lends her expertise to the Family and Friends ICU as an active research team supervisor.
Professor Bridie Kent
Bridie is an academic research supervisor to the Study
Bridie is a Registered Nurse, with a background in both clinical (intensive care) and academic appointments, resulting in extensive experience in quality improvement, practice change, health services education and implementation research. For the last 20 years, she has played a leading role in evidence-based practice uptake and implementation in the UK, New Zealand and Australia, leading Joanna Briggs Collaborating Centres in each of those counties – currently she is Director of The University of Plymouth Centre for Innovations in Health and Social Care: A Joanna Briggs Institute Centre of Excellence.
Her research interests focus on knowledge translation (Implementation Science) and practice improvement, in acute and primary care settings. She has held significant leadership positions including Head of School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Plymouth, and for just over two years, was the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Human Sciences. She is now the Deputy Director of the Doctoral College, representing the Faculty of Health, a key contributor to the Truro Clinical School and is currently part of the Covid-19 response team in the ICU at the University Hospital Plymouth, working there as a staff nurse for 2 days each week during the pandemic.
