Meet the Team
CYP Staying Healthy Steering Committee Members' Biographies
Melissa Beaumont
Biography coming soonPauline Carson, MSc PGCHE, BSc (Hons), RN (Canada), RGN RSCN
Pauline is a lecturer in (Education) Children and Young Peoples Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Pauline trained as a general nurse and then a children's nurse before following a clinical career in paediatric cardiology in both the UK and Canada. Pauline's career in nurse education has spanned sixteen years and includes her roles as as a senior lecturer in Children's Nursing at Coventry University, the University of Wolverhampton and Queen's University Belfast.
During this time Pauline has been involved in both pre-registration and post registration children and young people's nurse education. Her of teaching include all aspects of the pre-registration children's nursing curriculum; research; adolescent health and critical care/high dependency care of children and young people. Pauline's areas of interest include all aspects of children and young people's nursing; adolescent health care; family centered care; reflection; nurse education; enquiry based learning and the use of simulated learning.
Nina Heighington
I am a qualified children's nurse and trained at Birmingham university, I currently working as a wellchild transition nurse, leading improvement on transition from children's to adult's services.
Previously I have worked as a pathway coordinator for children with medical complexities and a staff nurse on a busy medical ward.
I have a passion for ensuring young people have a voice in the NHS and that healthcare meets their needs. My main area's of interest in nursing are young people's health, participation and transition, CYP with medical complexities and MDT working.
Julie Hulls
Biography coming soonContact
Carli Whittaker: Professional Lead
Carli has been appointed as the Head of Nursing Practice - Children and Young People (CYP) in the Nursing Practice Academy of the RCN Institute of Excellence.
Being Australian and having completed her Nursing Degree at Sydney University, Carli has utilised nursing to travel and gain extensive international clinical experience in a variety of fields before finding her passion in Children’s Nursing and Paediatric Critical Care (PCC).
Carli completed her MSc Advanced Nursing in 2012 in comparing educational approaches in achieving clinical competence. Carli is currently undertaking her PhD in the exploration of children’s nurses and the retention challenges faced. Carli was the PCC Educator for 11 years at Nottingham Children’s Hospital prior to her role as Director of Clinical Skills (Associate Professor) in the School of Health Sciences (SHS) at University of Nottingham. Carli has also had roles as the Consultant Editor for RCNi Nursing Children and Young People and as the TOC21 Chief Examiner for Children’s Nursing.
Carli’s clinical interest and expertise predominantly focuses on Paediatric Critical Care but is extremely passionate about all professional nursing issues whilst advocating for children and young people and children’s nurses.
Carli is passionate about research, teaching and learning and has extensive knowledge and skills in delivering professional education. She works in collaboratively in partnership with the NHS, private and independent sector, and professional, statutory and regulatory bodies.
Carli's priorities for the coming months are:
- supporting and empowering the CYP workforce
- exploring the challenges of mental and physical health of CYP and their families to who care is provided
- ensuring all our work is considered from an equality, diversity, and inclusion perspective.
To enable progress in these priority areas she will:
- Listen to, learn from, encourage, and work with RCN members to provide support and guidance to enable the delivery of crucial and contemporary CYP work.
- Work collaboratively with all teams to ensure the challenges facing CYP, their families, and the workforce supporting them, are acknowledged and prioritised.
- Collaborate to ensure the CYP nursing voice is heard; whilst utilising expertise to influence and create change at strategic levels to shape service provision and priorities at a local, national, UK and international level.
Page last updated - 21/06/2024
