Dr Andy Mercer

My primary role is as Senior Academic/Professional Lead in Mental Health & Learning Disabilities. I contribute to the HSC mental health team, and have been working closely with Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust to achieve their 'University' status and to establish the new University Department of Mental Health. I am also Partnerships Coordinator for HSC.

My background is in nursing and I worked in acute mental health care before moving into education, firstly as a tutor within the NHS, and later as a senior lecturer in Higher Education. My principal interests are in nursing philosophy and the ethics of caring, and in mental health policy. In my current role I am involved in the delivery and management of education programmes, research supervision, and research and practice development activities in mental health. I am an accredited reviewer with Mott MacDonald, and undertake reviews of nurse education programmes on behalf of the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC). I contributed to the recent NMC review of standards for pre-registration nursing education as a member of the mental health field group.

I am also involved in research, building on my recent doctoral study, which linked philosophy and nursing practice and explored the professional autonomy of nurse practitioners using a hermeneutic methodology based on the work of Paul Ricoeur.

Beyond the School of Health & Social Care I am chair of the University wide group established to develop academic links with Memorial University, Newfoundland, building on the historic associations between Dorset and Newfoundland. Outside the University, I am an elected member of Dorset FA and a long suffering season ticket holder at Southampton FC.