US nursing academy honours UK nursing professor with fellowship
A nursing academic who is leading the way in reforming health equity and policy in the UK has received recognition from the prestigious American Academy of Nursing.
John Unsworth, professor of nursing and deputy faculty pro-vice chancellor for education in Northumbria University’s Faculty of Health and Life Sciences has been made an academy fellow.
“I am delighted to be recognised by the American Academy of Nursing and look forward to being inducted as a fellow”
John Unsworth
As a result, he will become one of only 30 nurses from the UK to have been honoured by the academy for his contribution to health equity and health policy.
The academy works to advance health policy and practice and promote healthcare through social justice, address racism, tackle inequalities and promote innovation and access to services.
Being awarded one of its fellowships is a significant acknowledgement of the substantial, sustained and outstanding impact an individual has made on health and healthcare, noted the university.
Professor Unsworth has a background in primary and community care, has held senior roles in NHS commissioning organisations and has worked in higher education since 2007.
He is also currently chair of the community and district nursing charity the Queen’s Nursing Institute.
His research focuses on workforce, increasing access to vital services by reducing health inequalities and improving workforce development, and retention and wellbeing across nursing and social care.
He also led the expansion of advanced practitioners as chair of the QNI’s work to address concerns over universal health coverage for those who are homeless, refugees or in custody.
Professor Unsworth will be formally inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing at a ceremony in Washington DC in November.
He is already a fellow of the European Academy of Nursing Science and a fellow of the Faculty of Nursing of the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland.
In addition, he was awarded an OBE in 2022 for services to community nursing and community nurse education.
He has worked extensively to develop international practice and higher education teachers across Thailand, China, Hungary, Chana, Vietnam, Bahrain, Ukraine and Granada in the West Indies.
Professor Unsworth said: “Despite the UK having an exceptionally well-developed system of primary healthcare, some patient populations continue to experience problems with accessing healthcare.
“Amongst these groups are people who are unable to leave their homes because of age, infirmity or illness, individuals with mental health problems or learning disabilities and those people who are detained in prison or who find themselves homeless.
“Problems with access to services widen health inequalities and reduce opportunities to manage long-term conditions and extend life expectancy,” he said. “Equally our workforce is at a critical point.
“By 2030 it is expected that we will need 20% of the working age population in the UK to hold a position within health and social care in order to meet the care needs of our population,” he said.
“The scale of the challenge is significant, and we need all need to be pulling in the same direction to address some of the core issues within the sector including retaining those highly skilled professionals we already have and improving universal health coverage.”
He added: “I am delighted to be recognised by the American Academy of Nursing and look forward to being inducted as a fellow.
“The academy is the leading health and nursing policy body influencing policy makers in the US and globally through its work on evidence synthesis and dissemination. I look forward to contributing to this work alongside the academy’s existing fellows.”
Fellows are proposed and supported by existing fellows within the academy. Professor Unsworth was proposed by former health minister and nurse Ann Keen.
She said: “John is an exemplary nursing leader of significant standing, as both nurses and his peers across a range of UK professional bodies hugely admire him as an inspirational leader.
“He has fought for the retention of primary care specialists, not because of any misguided professional agenda, but because he truly understands the complexity of care and the significant patient safety risks associated with a sub-standard workforce.”
Professor Dianne Ford, pro vice-chancellor for health and life sciences at Northumbria, said: “John’s selection and induction as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing is testament to his workforce policy work both in the UK and internationally.
“His contribution to our research activity around workforce and practice development enables Northumbria to be at the forefront of tackling inequalities and promoting health equity in Newcastle, the North East as well as nationally and internationally,” she added.
