I am an experienced academic nurse with over 30 years working in roles as a nurse, midwife, health visitor, child protection advisor and lecturer in nursing. In particular, I have substantial professional experience working with and safeguarding the health and wellbeing of children and families. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a registered Nurse Teacher with the NMC. I am the External Examiner for the PG Diploma in SCPHN (health visiting and school nursing ) programmes at Leeds Beckett University with a sound understanding of the regulatory standards governing healthcare education. I have experience as an NMC Registrant Visitor for the approval and monitoring of NMC approved programmes and have acted as External Panel member for other HEIs NMC Approval events.
I joined the University of Stirling as a fulltime permanent Lecturer with a focus on the Early Years at the beginning of December 2014.
I am Programme Director for the MSc Early Years Practice (Health Visiting) and lead on curriculum design and development and the support and co-ordination of the programme team. I am the Project Lead for implementation and sustainability of the Unicef UK Baby Friendly University Standards and successfully led the programme to full accreditation as Baby Friendly in 2021. l am the Deputy Fitness to Practice Lead for the BSc Nursing and BSc Paramedic programmes and an investigating officer. I am the module co-ordinator for several undergraduate and postgraduate modules: Principles and Practice of Child and Family Health and Wellbeing (SCQF Level 11); Health Visiting in Practice (SCQF Level 10); Health Visiting in Practice Conversion (SCQF Level 10). I also contribute to curriculum development and enhancement, teaching and assessment on the BSc Nursing programme.
My research interests are in the field of vulnerable children, child protection, children's mental health and public health nursing (health visiting and school nursing). I am particularly interested in interventions to improve the health and wellbeing of vulnerable children and young people, and the role of the school nurse.
I am a part time PhD student within the School of Health Sciences and I am on track to complete in 2024. The title of my study is "Exploring the school nurse work supporting primary school-aged children’s mental health: a mixed methods study". It is a sequential mixed methods study comprising of two phases. Phase One comprised an online survey of nurses working in the school health service in Scotland. Phase Two employed a Case Study Design and involved online semi-structured interviews with school-aged children aged 9-11 years, parents, SCPHN-School Nurses and teachers. I used participatory methods to collect data from the children.
Awards
2021 Winner Student Nursing Times Award (Education Provider of the Year (Post-registration)MSc Early Years Practice (Health Visiting) Progrmme
2018 2nd Place in Journal of HV Awards (HV Educator of the Year) MSc Early Years Practice (Health Visiting) Programme
2018 Joint 3rd place in Journal of HV Awards (HV Educator of the Year) Alison Hackett
External Examiners and Validations
External Examiner Leeds Beckett University Commenced role as External Examiner for SCPHN HV and SN programmes at Leeds Beckett University on 1st November 2022
Other Academic Activities
NMC QA Registrant Visitor Mott MacDonald
Professional membership
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Higher Education Academy
Senior Fellowship Higher Education Academy Higher Education Academy
Professional qualification
Registered Community Prescriber Nursing and Midwifery Council
Registered Nurse (Adult) Nursing and Midwifery Council
Registered Teacher Nursing and Midwifery Council
Specialist Community Public Health Nurse-Health Visitor Nursing and Midwifery Council
Research
My research interests are in the field of vulnerable children, child protection and public health nursing. I am particularly interested in interventions to improve the health and wellbeing of vulnerable children and young people, and the role of the school nurse.
Hatt J & Hackett A (2022) Building Effective Safeguarding Skills: A shift from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’ in practice. In: Burrows P & Cowie J (eds.) Health Visiting: Specialist Community Public Health Nursing. 3rd ed. London: Elsevier, pp. 231-250. https://www.elsevier.com/books/health-visiting/burrows/978-0-7020-8007-4
Hackett A, Clarke K & Wilkinson J (2022) Social Policy, Context of Public Health and Organisation of Health Visiting Provision. In: Burrows P & Cowie J (eds.) Health Visiting: Specialist Community Public Health Nursing. 3 ed. London: Elsevier, pp. 71-86. https://www.elsevier.com/books/health-visiting/burrows/978-0-7020-8007-4
Brown A, O’Donnell R, Eadie D, Ford A, Mitchell D, Hackett A, Sweeting H, Bauld L & Hunt K (2021) E-cigarette use in prisons with recently established smokefree policies: a qualitative interview study with people in custody in Scotland. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 23 (6), pp. 939-946. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntaa271
Hackett A & Strickland K (2018) Using the framework approach to analyse qualitative data: a worked example. Nurse Researcher, 26 (3). https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.2018.e1580
Hackett A (2014) Bringing School Nurses into the safeguarding fold. Every Child Journal, 4 (3), pp. 18-24. http://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/bringing-school-nurses-into-the-safeguarding-fold.htm
Hackett A (2013) The role of the school nurse in child protection. Community Practitioner, 86 (12), pp. 26-29. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cp/cp/2013/00000086/00000012/art00009
Hackett A (2010) Good Practice in Safeguarding Children: Working Effectively in Child Protection. Review of: Good Practice in Safeguarding Children: Working Effectively in Child Protection edited by Liz Hughes and Hilary Owen, London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2009. 288pp. ISBN 978143109457. Child Abuse Review, 19 (1), pp. 71-73. https://doi.org/10.1002/car.1104
Hackett A (2008) Risk, its perception and the media: the MMR controversy. Community Practitioner, 81 (7), pp. 22-25. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cp/cp/2008/00000081/00000007/art00007
Teaching
Teaching
Programme Director MSc Early Years Practice (Health Visiting) Programme
Project Lead Unicef BFI University Standards
Deputy Fitness to Practice Lead
Fitness to Practice Investigating Officer
Module Co-ordinator for:
EYPP02 (Principles and Practice of Child and Family Health and Wellbeing)
NURU236 (Health Visiting in Practice)
NURU238 (Health Visiting in Practice Conversion)