Staff Profiles

Modules taught

Pre-registration

Supervision

Supervision of PhD, EdD and DNUR students

Dan's current research project involves using a Narrative Inquiry approach to investigate the formation of professional identity among beginning nursing students.

Journal articles

• Speakman L, Butcher D, Schutz S, 'Bearing witness to the challenges of breathlessness'
  British Journal of Community Nursing 26 (4) (2021) pp.162-166
  ISSN: 1462-4753
  Abstract

  The community respiratory nurse specialist (CRNS) supports patients at different stages of lung disease, witnessing the challenge of living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive illness for which there is no cure. Breathlessness is the most prominent and debilitating symptom experienced; it is frightening, distressing and very difficult to manage. Little is known about the experience of CRNSs in witnessing the distress of patients, specifically those experiencing breathlessness. The nurse may have cared for such patients over many months or years. In witnessing this distress, CRNSs engage in emotional labour, which is associated with burnout and poor-quality care. This paper seeks to identify bearing witness to suffering and vulnerability as components of emotional labour in the context of the CRNS role. It highlights the need for research to explore the experience of CRNSs and insights into supporting people with long-term breathlessness. It is more likely that wellsupported staff can provide sustained, supportive care to patients living with breathlessness.

  Website 
• Walthall H, Roberts C, Butcher D, Schutz S, 'Patients’ experiences of attending an adapted cardiac rehabilitation programme for heart failure in a day hospice.'
  International Journal of Palliative Nursing 26 (6) (2020)
  ISSN: 1357-6321 eISSN: 2052-286X
  Abstract

  Background. Heart Failure is highly prevalent with poor outcomes yet only a small proportion of patients receive specialist palliative care services.
  Aim. To explore if a programme focussing on support and symptom management of people with heart failure in a hospice environment would be acceptable and of benefit to patients. Methods: A pre/post intervention study design using mixed methods was used to evaluate the programme. The programme was delivered in two-hour time slots over a period of 8 weeks. Participants completed 3 questionnaires pre and post and were interviewed within one week of completion. The study was conducted between June 2014 and January 2015.
  Findings. A response rate of 51.7% gave a final sample size of 12 patients. The questionnaire results showed a positive impact on participants’ well-being and views regarding the use of a hospice, but a desire for greater focus on emotional support. Four key themes emerged from inductive qualitative analysis: demystifying perceptions about hospice; positivity about well-being; learning together and consideration of end of life preparation.
  Conclusion. This adapted programme provides a useful model for the increased integration of palliative care into the provisions for those living with advancing heart failure.
  

  Website 
• Spiro J, Butcher D, Greenway K, Twissell A, 'Paving the way: creating space for the doctoral journey'
  Educational Journal of Living Theories 8 (3) (2015) pp.75-94
  ISSN: 2009-1788
  Abstract When I was a doctoral student, I recognized a transformation in both perception and experience, from doctoral journey as compliance and imposition to doctoral journey as empowerment. It enabled me to clarify my values and understand how these are lived in practice, as an educatorresearcher-writer. ‘Creating space’ emerged as a founding principle that connected these different roles and provided congruence between them. In becoming a doctorate supervisor myself, my concern was how to offer ‘creative space’ for others to clarify their own values in a cycle of self-discovery and empowerment. My wish was that others too might experience the doctoral journey as a means of finding a voice and extending it to a wider audience. In this paper I share the process of transforming my own journey into a pathway for others, through the founding principle of ‘creating space’, and demonstrate what this means in practice through co-authorship with doctoral students who were part of my doctoral writing programme.
• Whiteside J, Butcher D, '"Not a job for a man": factors in the use of touch by male nursing staff.'
  British Journal of Nursing 24 (6) (2015) pp.16-22
  ISSN: 0966-0461
  Abstract
  While the numbers of male nursing staff are growing in both the UK and the USA, there remains a significant imbalance both in terms of the total number and the specialities in which male staff choose to work. Management, education and technology-dominated roles, characterised as ‘high-tech, low-touch’ specialities attract disproportionately larger numbers of male nursing staff.
   
  Aim:
  The aim of this narrative literature review was to explore and critically review the factors that influence the perception and use of touch by male nursing staff in contemporary healthcare settings.
   
  Method:
  A comprehensive review of the literature was undertaken using significant online databases focusing on evidence from peer-reviewed journals published in English.
   
  Results:
  Key influential factors arising from 11 selected studies included male nurses' definitions of touch; fear of touch misinterpretation; coping strategies employed; the assessment of certain groups of patients; gender-derived stressors; the emotional experiences of male staff; and the limited consideration of these issues in the pre-registration nursing curriculum.
   
  Conclusion:
  A range of factors regarding touch impact on the way male nurses use touch when caring for patients. A lack of research-based education in the preparation of male students leads to the development of various protective strategies. There is a need for the particular challenges facing male students and staff to be explicitly addressed within undergraduate and post-qualifying education and training programmes.
  Website 

Membership of professional bodies

Nursing and Midwifery Council: Registered Nurse

Dan has clinical nursing experience in Respiratory Care, Rehabilitation and Continuing Care as well as Care at the End of Life. He supports mentors and pre-registration students undertaking clinical practice placements in Primary Care locations across South and West Oxfordshire (DN, HV, SN)