Dr Rachel King

PhD, MMedSci, BSc, SFHEA

School of Allied Health, Pharmacy, Nursing and Midwifery

Lecturer

rachel.king@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 2626

Room 206A, 362 Mushroom Lane

Full contact details

Dr Rachel King
School of Allied Health, Pharmacy, Nursing and Midwifery
Room 206A
362 Mushroom Lane
Sheffield
S10 2TS

Profile

As a lecturer in nursing at the University of Sheffield, my research focuses on the healthcare workforce and I teach across several programmes. I am a registered nurse with extensive clinical experience across emergency admissions, substance misuse, and urgent care, most recently working as a primary care advanced practitioner.

I completed my PhD at the Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research (SCHARR), using ethnographic methods to explore knowledge mobilisation and clinical decision-making in emergency department advanced practice. My research experience includes four years (2018–2022) as a Research Associate on an RCN-funded programme investigating the nursing workforce. In 2022, I was awarded a Florence Nightingale Foundation travel scholarship to conduct research in the Scottish Highlands and Islands to examine the adaptations of advanced practice roles during the Covid-19 pandemic.

I currently co-lead an NIHR HSDR funded research project exploring multi-professional advanced practice in primary care. This project is in collaboration with Sheffield Health Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and Keele University, with strong Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE).

Research interests

I am a qualitative researcher with expertise in ethnography, realist evaluation, mixed methods, PPIE and literature reviews. My research focuses on the healthcare workforce and new roles, alongside patient experiences of care.

Current project

Co-Principal Investigator (with Dr. Emily Wood) of REMAP (Realist Evaluation of Multiprofessional Advanced Practice in Primary Care). Funded by the NIHR HSDR programme (NIHR169270).

This project has the following workpackages:

Interviews with advanced practice policy leads
Survey of multi-professional advanced practitioners
Case studies in primary care
Co-production with stakeholders

Publications

Journal articles

Wood E, King R, Robertson S, Tod A, Senek M, Taylor B & Ryan T (2024) Advanced nurse practitioner well-being: A 4- year cohort mixed methods study. Nursing Open, 11(7). View this article in WRRO
Robertson S, King R, Taylor B, Laker S, Wood E, Senek M, Tod A & Ryan A (2024) Trainee nursing associates in England: A multisite qualitative study of higher education institution perspectives. International Nursing Review, 71(1), 130-139. View this article in WRRO
King RL, Carolan C & Robertson S (2024) COVID-19: a catalyst for change in remote and rural advanced clinical practice - a qualitative study. Journal of Integrated Care: Practical evidence for service improvement, 32(1). View this article in WRRO
King R, Laker S, Alden S, Ryan A, Wood E, Tod A, Senek M, Robertson S & Taylor B (2023) Training and development experiences of nursing associate trainees based in primary care across England: a qualitative study.. Primary Health Care Research and Development, 24, 1-7. View this article in WRRO
Robertson S, King R, Taylor B, Laker S, Wood E, Senek M, Tod A & Ryan T (2023) Primary care trainee nursing associates in England: a qualitative study of higher education institution perspectives. Primary Health Care Research & Development, 24. View this article in WRRO
Senek M, Robertson S, King R, Wood E & Ryan T (2022) Should I stay or should I go? Why nurses are leaving community nursing in the UK. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1). View this article in WRRO
King R, Taylor B, Laker S, Wood E, Senek M, Tod A, Ryan A, Snowden S & Robertson S (2022) A tale of two bridges: factors influencing career choices of trainee nursing associates in England: a longitudinal qualitative study. Nursing Open, 9(5), 2486-2494. View this article in WRRO
Robertson S, King R, Taylor B, Laker S, Wood E, Senek M, Tod A & Ryan A (2022) Development of the nursing associate role in community and primary care settings across England. Primary Health Care, 32(6). View this article in WRRO
Hampshaw S, Cooke J, Robertson S, Wood E, King R & Tod A (2022) Understanding the value of a PhD for post-doctoral registered UK nurses : a survey. Journal of Nursing Management, 30(4), 1011-1017. View this article in WRRO
Robertson S, King R, Taylor B, Laker S, Wood E, Senek M, Tod A & Ryan T (2022) A local stakeholder perspective on nursing associate training. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, 16(3), 126-133. View this article in WRRO
Senek M, Robertson S, Taylor B, Wood E, King R & Ryan T (2022) Consequences of understaffing on type of missed community care - a cross-sectional study. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 4. View this article in WRRO
Taylor B, South J, Robertson S, Ryan T, Wood E, King RL, Senek M, Tod A & Seymour J (2022) Addressing current challenges in adult nursing: Describing a virtual consensus development project methodology. Nursing Open, 9(2), 900-907. View this article in WRRO
King R, Ryan T, Senek M, Wood E, Taylor B, Tod A, Talpur A & Robertson S (2022) The impact of COVID-19 on work, training and well-being experiences of nursing associates in England: A cross-sectional survey. Nursing Open, 9(3), 1822-1831.
Senek M, Robertson S, Ryan T, Tod A, King R, Wood E & Taylor B (2022) Missed care in community and primary care. Primary Health Care, 32(2). View this article in WRRO
Bailey J, Tod A, Robertson S & King R (2021) Exploring advanced nursing practice in stroke services : a scoping review. British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 17(Sup2), s8-s14.
King R, Sanders T & Tod A (2021) Shortcuts in knowledge mobilization : an ethnographic study of advanced nurse practitioner discharge decision‐making in the emergency department. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(7), 3156-3167.
Wood E, King R, Senek M, Robertson S, Taylor B, Tod A & Ryan A (2021) UK advanced practice nurses’ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 11. View this article in WRRO
King R, Taylor B, Talpur A, Jackson C, Manley K, Ashby N, Tod A, Ryan T, Wood E, Senek M & Robertson S (2021) Factors that optimise the impact of continuing professional development in nursing: A rapid evidence review. Nurse Education Today, 98.
Wood E, King R, Robertson S, Senek M, Tod A & Ryan T (2021) Sources of satisfaction, dissatisfaction and well‐being for UK advanced practice nurses: A qualitative study. Journal of Nursing Management, 29(5), 1073-1080. View this article in WRRO
Senek M, Robertson S, Ryan T, Sworn K, King R, Wood E & Tod A (2020) Nursing care left undone in community settings: Results from a UK cross‐sectional survey. Journal of Nursing Management, 28(8), 1968-1974. View this article in WRRO
Senek M, Robertson S, Ryan T, King R, Wood E, Taylor B & Tod A (2020) Determinants of nurse job dissatisfaction - findings from a cross-sectional survey analysis in the UK. BMC Nursing, 19. View this article in WRRO
King R, Ryan T, Wood E, Tod A & Robertson S (2020) Motivations, experiences and aspirations of trainee nursing associates in England: a qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 20(1).
Senek M, Robertson S, Ryan T, King R, Wood E & Tod A (2020) The association between care left undone and temporary Nursing staff ratios in acute settings: a cross- sectional survey of registered nurses. BMC Health Services Research, 20(1). View this article in WRRO
Wood E, King R, Robertson S, Allmark P, Senek M, Tod A & Ryan A (2020) Advanced practice nurses' experiences and well-being: baseline demographics from a cohort study. Journal of Nursing Management, 28(4), 959-967. View this article in WRRO
King R, Tod A & Sanders T (2017) Development and regulation of advanced nurse practitioners in the UK and internationally.. Nursing Standard, 32(14), 43-50. View this article in WRRO
King RL (2004) Nurses’ perceptions of their pharmacology educational needs. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 45(4), 392-400.
King R, Williamson S, Nelson PA, Finn R, Hodgson D, Mitchell C, Barratt J, Horspool M, Aslam A & Wood E () Realist evaluation of multi-professional advanced practice in primary care (REMAP): study protocol. BJGP Open, BJGPO.2025.0272-BJGPO.2025.0272.
Wood E, King R, Taylor B, Robertson S, Senek M, Tod A & Ryan T () Moral distress in advanced practice nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing Standard. View this article in WRRO

Conference proceedings

Riley A, Tod A, King R, Chan A & Robertson S (2022) TH6.8 The Utility and Impact of Advanced Nurse Practitioners in Unplanned Surgical Admissions: A Review of the Literature. British Journal of Surgery, Vol. 109(Supplement_5)
Wood E, King R, Robertson S & Ryan T (2020) "It's Very Stressful But I love It": Advanced Nurse Practitioners' views of Advanced Nursing Practice. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUALITATIVE METHODS, Vol. 19
King R, Robertson S, Wood E & Ryan T (2020) An Exploratory Study of the Motivations, Experiences, and Career Aspirations of Trainee Nursing Associates in the North of England. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUALITATIVE METHODS, Vol. 19
King R, Sanders T & Tod A (2020) Knowledge Mobilisation in Decision Making by Advanced Nurse Practitioners in the Emergency Department: An Ethnographic Study. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUALITATIVE METHODS, Vol. 19

Research group

I currently supervise the following PhD students:

Anna Riley
Rasha Alhazzani
Rehab Almatrafi
Caitlin Lusted
Astri Mutiar

Teaching interests

I am committed to evidence-based teaching and learning. I lead advanced practice dissertation modules (HES424/425) and deliver sessions in research methods, healthcare ethics and independent prescribing, across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. I am experienced in face-to-face, and online (synchronous and asynchronous) teaching, consistently integrating my current research findings into the curriculum.

In 2024 I gained recognition as a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

Professional activities and memberships

Ethics lead for the School of AHPNM
Member of Research Advisory Committee for the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Nurses and Midwives 2025/26
Member of the Academy of Advanced Practice Research (AAPR-UK)
Editorial board member for Nursing Open
Member of the scientific committee for the RCN international research conference (2019)

School of Allied Health Professions, Pharmacy, Nursing and Midwifery

School of Allied Health Professions, Pharmacy, Nursing and Midwifery

Dr Rachel King

Current project

Journal articles

Conference proceedings