Laura Schwartz

I qualified as a Paediatric Nurse in 2005 and started my first role on ward 3B at Alder Hey Children's Hospital. Here I gained valuable experience in all aspects of children's nursing including; diabetes, asthma, cystic fibrosis and general medicine.

In 2007 I was successful in gaining a role on the Oncology Unit within Alder Hey Children's Hospital. This role enabled me to develop specialist knowledge and skills in children's cancer and I developed a passion for developing myself and others on the unit. Whilst working here I gained a qualification in High Dependency Care, PGCert in Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Care and a qualification in Systemic Anti Cancer Therapy.

In 2017 I gained the role of Practice Educator on the Oncology Unit. This was a fantastic role that enabled me to provide education to staff nurses within Alder Hey and our Paediatric Shared Care Units in Chester, Leighton, Bangor, Wrexham and Glan Clywd hospitals. This was a vast challenge but an amazing job that opened up the opportunity for me to be involved in networking and benchmarking with other centres. Within this role I was also a member of a Royal College of Nursing Education Forum. Within this team we benchmarked and standardised competency frameworks across the United Kingdom and developed the Systemic Anti Cancer Therapy Passport. It also gave me the opportunity to present at the RCN headquarters at a national conference regarding social media and its impact on nursing, alongside an online international conference on how COVID19 has impacted upon children and young people with cancer.

Since starting at Liverpool John Moores University in September 2020 I have completed my PGCert in Academic Practice and look forward to developing myself and others.

I am interested in developing resilience for student nurses and have recently undertaken a Mindfulness Champions course so I can undertake mindfulness sessions with others. I keen to develop this and undertake some research within this area.

Degrees

Edge Hill University, England, Diploma Children's Nursing

Certifications

2022, Breathworks, Mindfulness Champion
Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom, Advanced Paediatric Life Support

Academic appointments

External Examiner, Middlesex University, 2022 - present
Senior Lecturer, Health, Liverpool John Moores University, 2020 - present

Postgraduate training

PGCert in Academic Practice, United Kingdom, Liverpool John Moores University, 2020 - 2021
Systemic Anti Cancer Therapy, United Kingdom, Birmingham City University, 2019 - 2019
PGCert Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Care, United Kingdom, Coventry University, 2016 - 2017
Mentorship in Practice, England, Liverpool John Moores University, 2016 - 2016
Developments in Paediatric High Dependency Care, England, Liverpool John Moores University, 2005 - 2005