Jane Blowers

I am experienced in the development of curricula for high quality professionally approved healthcare preparation.  My specific teaching expertise lies in working with people experiencing mental illness at times of crisis,  the prevention and management of violence and aggression, the safe and effective management of risk in mental health care settings and working with the person with a personality disorder.

I began my career as a Registered General Nurse (RGN) at Addenbrookes in Cambridge in 1985.  After moving to Nottingham to complete my mental health nurse education I remained in the midlands for fourteen years; during this period I worked in acute mental health services where I developed a wide range of skills and gained rich experience in mental health practice and team management; during this time I also completed a BSc (Hons) in Health Studies, studying part time at Nottingham Trent University.  

In 2001 I returned to Norfolk, where I had spent my childhood, to take up post at the University of East Anglia.  Whilst working at UEA I have fulfilled a number of exciting roles and completed an MA (Higher Education) achieving recordable teacher status with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).  My previous roles have included School Director of Engagement, School Director of Pre-registration Programmes, Course Director Pre-registration Mental Health/Professional Lead Mental Health, Professional Lead Pre-registration nursing, Associate Dean Teaching, Learning and Quality for the Faculty and Academic Lead UEA Academic Partnerships (interim role). My work with UEA Academic Partnerships continues and I am involved in activitivies such as chairing external validation and re-validation events, aswell as being an Academic Link for two partnership organisations. Currently, I am the Practice Education Lead for the BSc (Hons) and MSc Pre-registration mental health nursing programmes, a role in which I work closely with Practice Partnership organisations, the Course Directors and wider course teams, aswell as other Practice Education Leads within the School. In 2017 I was awarded a Doctorate in Education which I studied for at the School of Education and Lifelong Learning (EDU UEA).  My research focused on the investigation of professional integrity in pre-registration nursing students. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and in 2024 I completed The Point of Care Organisation training to become a Schwartz Round faciliatator, delivering interprofessional Schwartz Rounds at UEA. 

2001 - A focus group study examining the meanings of ‘Zero Tolerance’ of aggression and violence for staff within a large Mental Health and Learning Disabilities NHS Trust-informed work by the Trust Board – for BSc Studies (BSc Hons Health Studies First Class)

2003-4 - Establishing a Framework for the Planning Implementation and Evaluation of Education and Training in the Recognition, Prevention and Management of Aggression and Violence (project work for Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Workforce Development Confederation)

2006 - A Case Study Investigation into the effectiveness of an EBL Learning Package in facilitating the achievement of learning outcomes within the pre-registration curriculum – for MA studies

2012 - 2016 A modified grounded theory study with the aim of  describing, exploring and explaining the meanings attached to local experiences of developing professional integrity in pre-registration student nurses with recommendations for future practice based on findings

Publications

Blowers, (2022) Resilience in Delves-Yates, C. ed. (2018) Essentials of Nursing Practice, Second edition. London: Sage Publications

Blowers, E. J. (2018) An Investigation of Professional Integrity in Pre-registration Nurse Education: A Modified Grounded Theory Research Study , Nurse Education Today, 68, p. 40-44

Blowers E. J. & Munton R. A. (1998) CPNA Members Handbook, Risk assessment and Community Psychiatric Nursing: An introduction, Chippenham: CPNA Publications.

Doy, R., Blowers E.J. & Sutton, E, (2006) The ABC of Community Emergency Care:  Mental Health - drug misuse, psychosis and the prevention and management of violence and aggression in emergency settings in Emergency Medicine Journal 23(4): 304–312.

2024 Point of Care trained Schwartz Round Facilitator (currently involved in delivering interpropfessional Schwartz Rounds at UEA)

Conferences

2024: UEA Academic Partnerships Conference, Curriculum Design and Development 

2019 School of Health Sciences (HSC), UEA Education and Research Festival (member of the organising and plenary session chair)

2018 Networking for Education in Healthcare Advance HE (NET18) Cambridge, U.K : research paper presentation ‘An investigation of professional integrity in preregistration nurse education’

2017 Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) Nursing Education Conference: workshop facilitator 'Continuing Professional Development for Nurse changes and developments in the nursing workforce'

2017 Doing Doctoral Research: Your Academic Voice a conference organised by UEA School of Education and Lifelong Learning (EDU): 'An investigation of professional integrity in preregistration nursing'

2014 UEA Professionalism Conference (member of the organising group and workshop facilitator)

2005 RCN Partnerships in Practice Conference Manchester U.K : workshop presenter ‘The opportunities and challenges of educating student nurses in the effective recognition, prevention and management of aggression and violence’4

2000 - 6 th International Network for Psychiatric Nursing Research Conference, Oxford, U.K: workshop presenter ‘Achieving effective practice: a formative evaluation of a programme to develop a resource pack to integrate this into teams via a link worker system’.

1999 - NHS Trent Executive workshop presenter at Education in Mental Health Conference exploring a local practice development project in liaison with the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.