Dr Iain Atherton

Post Nominals	RGN, Ba(hons), MSc, FRGS, PhD, SFHEA
Biography	I am an internationally recognised in the use of nationally representative survey, administrative and census data to answer policy relevant questions. Since 2016 I have been a co-director of the ESRC funded Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research, one of the ADR UK network. That work has involved him working with colleagues across the UK to facilitate and encourage the use of anonymised linked administrative data to address key policy focused issues. I lead a team of two (soon to be three) research fellows on ESRC funded projects using data to understand the drivers behind home deaths in Scotland, the dynamics of the nursing and midwifery professions across the UK, and the wellbeing of Scotland’s veteran community. This work involves a wide range of stakeholders from academia (including colleagues from other schools at Edinburgh Napier University), as well as policy, regulatory, and the public. I was lead for Edinburgh Napier University’s development of a submission for Unit of Assessment 3 to REF 2021 between 2016 and 2019. I have also played a leading role in enabling the university to become a pocket of excellence associated with Unit of Assessment 3 (Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy) in the Scottish Graduate School for the Social Sciences. I am passionate about the transformative potential of education. He has written on pedagogy in nurse education, and on the population health in pre-registration curriculum. He works closely with colleagues internationally to encourage person centred learning through flipped classroom approaches.
Teaching and Learning	Iain’s teaching focuses on the relevance of statistics and population health to health care professionals in practice. He is an advocate for flipped classroom and online teaching. He has published on contemporary approaches to education in nurse education and led an ESRC funded seminar series on the value of the social sciences to nurse education. That brought together leaders from across nurse education, academics and regulators, to discuss challenges in the sector and informed responses. He has also, along with his colleague Mark Molesworth, head of nursing at Glasgow Caledonian University, recently published a book on ‘Applied Social Sciences for Nursing Students’. He has applied his educational approaches to curriculum and module development, and specifically using flipped classroom approaches. He took a leading role in the development of the successful MSc Nursing (pre-registration) at Edinburgh Napier University. He has also developed the following modules in his career to date: - Principles of Data Management and Analysis (NMS11184) This 40 unit module formed part of an MSc Health and Social Care and provided a practical introduction into how to handle both qualitative and quantitative data. It covered topics from ethics and governance to data analysis with the goal of encouraging students to reach a point where they could open a dataset and run basic analysis. A small project enabled them to have first hand experience of handling a secondary dataset and writing a short report on their findings. - Population Health for Practice (NMS11186) Also a part of the MSc Health and Social Care, this 20 credit module introduced students, largely health care professionals, to the theories and methods of population health. It covered the methods and insights of social epidemiology, and implications for clinical practice. Students were assessed through a 1,000 word editorial advocating for an innovation in their own practice area that was informed by wider population concerns. - Health in a Social and Geographical Context (NUR1120) This 20 credit module contributes to the MSc Nursing (pre-registration). It encourages students to consider their patients lives in the wider context of their situated lives. It addressed key elements of the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s professional standards and introduces students to the ideas of epidemiology, demography and health geography. - Quantitative Methods (NURP26 – University of Stirling) This module formed a part of an online MSc in Health Research. It introduced students to statistical methods and encouraged them to actively engage in analysis using short worksheets and tutorials. The final assessment involved an analysis of a synthetic dataset Iain created to mimic real world challenges of analysing data. He was awarded the University of Stirling’s student nominated Rated Award for outstanding postgraduate teaching for this module. Iain is currently supervising two doctoral and one dissertation student. He has previously supervised five PhD and seven MSc dissertation students through to successful completion. Graduates in a social science related background that has included training in analysing quantitative data, and are interested in pursing a PhD related to the nursing or midwifery professions are welcome to get in touch to discuss potential projects.