Margaret qualified as a registered adult nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, in 1979. She gained over 10 years experience in clinical roles (A&E, general surgery, medicine, critical care, midwifery) as a staff nurse, staff midwife, charge nurse and joint appointment clinical specialist/ clinical lecturer (Manchester). Margaret’s higher education career extends over 28 years across undergraduate/ postgraduate education with academic leadership and research. She was awarded a PhD in 2005 from the University of Surrey, Nurses’ early recognition of medical patients in transition states from acute to critical illness or cardiac arrest; The cue composition of clinical judgements. Postdoctoral research areas include: advanced practice/ systematic assessment, succession planning in consultant NMAHPs roles, evaluation of education for senior healthcare assistants/ assistant practitioners in early years, critical illness, managing long-term conditions (osteoporosis) and healthcare interventions (moving and handling)

As principal investigator for the Lydia Osteoporosis Project (LOP 2) I am leading an action research and evaluation project focusing on the wider dissemination of research findings from an initial project (LOP 1). In collaboration with NHS colleagues this comprises further refinement and implementation of an online module, a complex education intervention ‘Caring for my bones’. A process evaluation focuses on patients’ experiences of moving and handling in acute care and staff’s views on participating in action research that aims to enhance knowledge and practice in the care of older people with osteoporosis.