Academic staff
Kath M Melia
Professor of Nursing Studies
Nursing Studies
+44 (0) 131 650 3893
Room 3.06A West Wing, Medical School
Outline Biography
I graduated from the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Manchester, in 1973 and moved to Edinburgh to work in intensive care. I joined the Nursing Research Unit at the University of Edinburgh as a Research Associate working on a study of ward organisation and during that time I completed a doctorate on the occupational socialisation of nurses.
I was appointed to the Chair of Nursing Studies in 1996 after 20 years here as researcher, lecturer and senior lecturer. I served as Head of the Department of Nursing Studies (1992-1998) and as Head of a Planning Unit in the Faculty Group of Law and Social Science (1992-2001). I was the first Head of the new School of Health in Social Science (2003-2007).
I am Convener of the University Student Survey Ethics Committee. I have held visiting appointments at the University of California San Francisco [UCSF]; University of Manitoba; National University of Singapore and am currently Visiting Professor at University College Dublin.
Outside of the University I contribute to Scottish Government Health Department NHS policy development through consultations and working conferences.
Research Interests
My research interests include the sociology of the professions in health care; the modernisation of the NHS; health care ethics and the regulation of the health care workforce.
During an ESRC Research Fellowship (2001-2003) working on a sociological study of the nursing profession in the modernised NHS in Scotland, I became interested in the future of health care professions in the context of workforce planning, managed occupations and the nature of professional teamwork. Both full and sum mary reports of the study, Nursing in the New NHS: A sociological analysis of learning and working can be found on the ESRC web site
Wider interests underpinning my research include the relationship between the universities and the NHS in the production and retention of tomorrow's health care workforce.
I welcome enquiries from potential PhD students, or other academic visitors, working broadly within the areas of NHS organisation, workforce planning, sociology of the professions in health care and health care ethics. I have supervised numerous doctoral students, 20 have successfully graduated and 7 are currently in progress. I have examined over 20 PhDs at other universities in the UK and overseas.
Publications
Publications list for Kath M Melia
Supervision
Projects supervised by Kath M Melia
Teaching
- Organisation of the NHS [Health and Society 1A]
- Ethics in Health Care – Honours Option
- Health Care Ethics [Health and Society 1B]
- Research Methods [Honours]
- Sociology of the professions
- NHS organisation and policy.
Keywords
Sociology of health and illness; sociology of the professions; health care workforce; NHS organisation and policy; ethics; qualitative research methods
This article was published on Dec 8, 2010