About Me

Director: Dr Lynn Furber

I hope the next few paragraphs tell you something about me, which will encourage you to want to work with me and healthcare communication matters.

Nursing

I have over 25 years’ experience as a nurse, working in the NHS and Academia. And my specialism is in cancer nursing.  In particular, I worked in and managed a clinical trials unit and a chemotherapy unit.  Throughout my work, I have tried to lead by example.  My work ethic is to treat others as I would want to be treated. During this time I helped change and develop services to make them work better.

It is fair to say that my clinical practice informed my PhD. I wanted to explore how we could improve communication and the way we shared information. Most importantly, I focused on breaking bad news and sharing sensitive information. Furthermore, I wanted to use the information collected to improve the continued professional development of doctors. As a consequence, a lot of my work has focused on training healthcare professionals on how to communicate better. It has also been the focus of further research.

Academia

My research and training experience opened up opportunities to work in a University. I became an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at De Montfort University. I was a module leader for various undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Additionally, I created bespoke courses for Spire Healthcare and Macmillan. Because of my backgound, I loved teaching basic and advanced communication skills courses. 

Additionally, I have supervised students and mentored colleagues along the way.  I get a real buzz from seeing people grow and flourish.

My background knowledge and skills, enables me to understand the benefits of

  • change,
  • quality improvement,
  • creative and adaptive managerial and leadership skills

Publications

Please take a look at my publications page where you can find a list of my papers and my PhD Thesis: https://healthcarecommunicationmatters.co.uk/about-us/publications/

Professional Qualifications

  • PGCert (Distinction)  – 2016, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom
  • PhD – 2010, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
  • BSC (HONS) Clinical Nursing Studies with a specialty in cancer nursing – 2000, University of Central England,  United Kingdom
  • Diploma in Higher Education, 1994, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
  • Registered nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, 1994, Staffordshire and Shropshire College of Nursing and Midwifery

Professional Groups and positions

I am a member of the following groups:

And I have honorary positions in the following Institutions:

A bit more insight about me

When faced with the possibility of dying, you soon realise what is important in life. For me, the simple things in life shine out. My soul becomes energised when I am outdoors and immersed in nature.

What am I like, and why should you invest in me? It’s always hard to sell yourself, but I recently completed the Strengths Finder test. My 5 key strengths were:

  1. Developer
  2. Individualisation
  3. Empathic
  4. Learner
  5. Responsibility

These strengths all tie in with me being a nurse, researcher, and educator. Most importantly, I want people to flourish and to help them learn. I take pride in what I do. Furthermore, when given a job to do, I can be trusted to get on with it professionally and competently. I thrive on being challenged and enjoy meeting new people and working with new teams.

My Team

I mainly work alone. But over the years I have developed a strong national and international network. This means that I can draw on people to work with me as and when needed. They all have a range of expertise in health, education, social and organisational development. I love working with people and it is always fun to create new opportunities with others.

Our Clients

  • International Association of Communication in Healthcare
  • De Montfort University – providing advanced communication skills training, research and supporting the organisation of a conference for Spire Healthcare
  • Patient Information Forum Online
  • Kinetic Youth
  • Mesothelioma UK

Jayne Brown, Professor of Nursing, De Montfort University‘

Colleague Feedback:
‘”I have worked with Lynn for over 5 years and I have always found her to be insightful, hardworking, and reliable. We continue to work with her and Health Care Communication Matters because she is also an imaginative, can do person with drive and focus, but also someone who can communicate effectively and compassionately at all levels. An experienced researcher, teacher and health care practitioner, I consider Lynn a safe pair of hands for any project.”