Dr Naomi Anna Watson

 Professional biography

Dr Naomi Anna Watson is a senior academic whose distinguished career reflects a sustained commitment to advancing inclusive and culturally competent healthcare education and practice, social justice, equitable outcomes, and the health and well-being of Black and Global Majority (GM) communities in the UK and the diaspora.  As a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS), she brings extensive clinical, educational, research, leadership, and pedagogical expertise, shaped by decades of senior professional practice across diverse communities in primary care, the NHS, and Further and Higher Education settings.   

Career history

Dr Watson's professional journey spans advanced clinical and healthcare education practice as a Registered Nurse (RN) Adult field, Senior Midwife, Specialist Practitioner (Health Visiting) and clinical healthcare practice educator before moving into academia.  Prior to joining the OU in 2006, She contributed significantly to interdisciplinary  healthcare and nursing curricula innovations in another Higher Education Institution (HEI)  involving medical, nursing  and allied health professionals (AHP)  leading  healthcare student educational development to  embed and sustain interprofessional community working and improve education access for primary care workforce advancement which increased the availability of qualified professional healthcare staff, trained to work in primary care environments. These initiatives delivered notable improvements and an increase in community staffing for primary care in one region of the UK. 

At the OU, Dr Watson's contribution has been crucial to the design, development, delivery, assessment and evaluation of distance learning pedagogies.  As an experienced healthcare educator, she provides a strong practice informed focus with emphasis  on inclusivity and cultural competence as important pedagogical foundations for curriculum development that embeds fairness and social justice to diverse and  marginalised  communities.  She served as Deputy Associate Dean, playing a central role in shaping strategic approaches to tutor development, student experience and teaching quality across WELS and the wider OU. 

Her university service includes key academic governance and quality assurance roles as member of SENATE, and SENATE appointed member of the Senior Appointments Committee, Academic Conduct Officer, contributor to institutional scholarship through the PRAXIS steering committee, and Deputy Chair of the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC),  Black Women's Academy (BWA), mentor to Black Women on the OU supported 100 Black Women Professors Now initiative (100 BWPN) and steering group member of the OU's Black Women's Health and Wellbeing research committee and  Black Women's Manifesto Development for the WELLCOME Project. 

Her research interests span a range of areas across  Distance  Nursing Education and Practice, Cultural Competence and inclusive education,  Diversity, Ethnicity, and Black women’s health and wellbeing in the context of health inequalities and social justice. Her most recent research projects  focussed on  succssful innovative nursing curriculum development as emergency response to Covid-19, and  Distance education and the student experience of Covid-19, drawing on nursing and social work students and alumni as professional student practitioners and exposing gaps in Black participation in healthcare and nursing education. 

She is a Doctoral supervisor, of students researching any of the above areas and is open to receiving students for supervision as appropriate. She is also a research mentor, supporting postgraduate students,  newly qualified Doctoral candidates as research affiliates,  and staff new to writing for  professional textbook preparation and publication. 

University Leadership Roles

 As  Deputy Associate Dean, teaching excellence, Dr Watson shaped strategic approaches to tutor development, student experience and teaching quality across the Faculty and university.  She actively ensured quality outcomes that contribute to improving student participation and success, while also enabling a better understanding of the student voice and faciitating  improved tutor engagement with scholarship and research, 

As Deputy Chair, OU Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), she strengthens academic standards through leading ethical governance, demonstrating leadership, influence and continuous commitment to excellence in research and scholarship.

As Member of   OU SENATE she contributes to the academic rigour, quality development and maintenance of university strategic priorities. 

As SENATE Member of OU Senior Appointments Committee, she  provides advice, guidance and insights into inclusive recruitment processes for senior university staff appointments. 

She was  HWSC  nominated Media Consultant, with FASS and ECYS, for the BAFTA-nominated BBC's Black and British programme, co-produced with the OU. The programme won the Grierson Award,  was nominated for a BAFTA  and is also now available on NETFIX, since 2023, reaching a global audience of  over 13 million.

Dr Watson was HWSC nominated  External Examiner trainer, with STEM,  for the OU's Advanced HE's External Examiner Training programme, co-delivering this training across all four Nations of the UK, served by the OU, thus expanding the number of academics trained  and accredited according to the standards of Advance HE.   

As HWSC Academic Conduct Officer,  she was awarded the OU  'Going the Extra Mile' (GEM) award, for exceptional contribution to the faculty and university's quality assurance processes in the context of academic integrity. 

 Timelines for roles include:

2024: Member of SENATE

2025: SENATE Member of OU Senior Appointments C'tee.

2021-2024: Senior Lecturer Nursing Education

2021-2023 Deputy Associate Dean- Teaching  Excellence:

2021-2022: OU Joint Media Consultant for OU/BBC Co-Production:  We are Black and British.  Aired on February 23^rd & 24^th, BBC 1 AND 2. .  Winner of 2022 Grierson British Documentary award. Nominated for the BAFTA Award. Currently showing on NETFIX. 

2022-current:     Member Open University Research Ethics Committee. 

2025:                 Deputy  Chair HREC.

2025:                 Facilitator, OU Black Women Writing Group. 

2021-2024:     Member Open University’s WELS’ PRAXIS Scholarship Steering Committee.

2023 September-March 2024:  ECR Fellowship Academy Award.

2018-2022 :    Open University HWSC  trainer for OU's Advaced HE's External Examiner Training. 

2013-Present:     Steering Group Member, Black Women's Health and Wellbing Research Network. 

2014-2022: Open University Academic Conduct Officer.  

She holds a PhD In Nursing from DeMontfort University's Mary Seacole Research Centre, and a Masters in Public Sector Management from the Aston Business School, University of Aston in Birmingham.

Dr Watson  contributes to the Facuty's Masters and Doctoral Programmes as  internal monitor, supervisor and VIVA Chair. She was a core participant in  the Faculty's  early establishment and  ongoing development of the undergraduate  Health, Social Care and  Nursing curricula spanning a period of over 15 years. She has been a core member of production teams including the flagship innovative Future Nurse Curricumum (FNC) development,  leading the authorship and co-authorship of  a number of teaching and learning materials,  now successfully launched into presentation. She was module chair  leading the  innovative level 2  theory only module which  successfully served a variety of  student cohorts, including undergraduate RN students, RN Degree apprentice students and Nursing Associates (NA's).   She has supported postgraduate Master's programmes in the faculty,  and continues to contribute to a number of  other undergraduate modules in presentation as monitor, internal examiner, Lead portfolio assessor and forum facilitator. 

Prior to being appointed at the Open University, she was a Senior Lecturer and School Lead for interprofessional Education, in another HEI, collaborating across two universities to  coordinate a successful innovative community  learning and teaching initiative for combined medical, nursing, and other allied health professional undergraduate students.  She also  devised, developed and  led  a  successful  innovative Primary Care Nursing education module for final year undergraduates, which became an essential criteria for RN  employment in community nursing environments to improve recruitment in one English region. 

Research interests and Focus

Dr Watson's research interests are rooted in a deep commitment to knowledge exchange for cultural competence, healthcare, education,  equity, Global Majority representation, and the lived experiences of marginalised and racialised groups within healthcare education and practice.  Her work  focuses on:

Cultural Competence in  Healthcare education and practice.

Ethnicity, diversity and inclusion.

Distance Nursing Education and Practice.

 Inequalities in health and social care.

Inclusive  Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting  Practice in Primary Care and Public Health.

Health and well-being of  Black women and Global Majority communities. 

Research methods:  mixed methodologies,  qualitative/quantitative,  narrative enquiry,  storytelling and participatory/action research enquiries. Cross-cutting interests range across  discourses, including intersectionality, and the extent to which gender, race, social class, ability, and other characteristics impact the experiences of global majority people and marginalised individuals and groups in health, education, social care, and nursing practice. 

Funded  research projects:  

Dr Watson has led and contributed to several funded and institutionally recognised research projects, including:

2022-2023      Internal:  (As PI) RESDEV & PRAXIS Co-Funded Project: The Impact of Covid-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of current students and recent graduates of OU professional programmes -  

2021 - 2022    Internal:  (As PI) RESDEV & PRAXIS Co-Funded Project: Student nurses, nursing curriculums and emergency responses to Covid-19-: a scoping review: 

She also held  a 2023-2024:   Early Career Researchers'  (ECR)  Fellowship Award supporting emerging scholarship, leadership and research in applied healthcare education.    

  Conference Presentations

June 2025: A mixed methods cross sectional study to explore the impact of Covid-19 on  distance learning nursing students' wellbeing, mental health and post pandemic challenges.  International Nursing Congress, Helsinki Finland.  June 9-14 2025. 

May 2024:  Diasporic 'brain drain' of nursing and health care practitioners to supply western health services: Ethical Dilemmas of Policy and Practice.  Caribbean Studies Association (CSA) International Conference.  St Lucia. May 2024. 

July 2023: Impact and implications of the continued drain of qualified nursing and health care personnel from the Global South to support failing Wealthy Health Care Systems in the Global North: The Case of the British NHS.   University of Lusake Zambia. 

 2022: Student Nurses, nursing curriculums and emergency responses to Covid-19: a scoping review: NET/NEP, Barcelona. 

2019: Opportunities and challenges as educational learning points for the empowerment of  Black women: Evidence from research and practice.    International Conference Cayonne  University, St Kitts. 

2018: Here to stay so deal with it. Black Women's experiences of nursing careers.  Birmingham University School- NHS 70 Year Windrush  Celebration.

2018: Cultural Competence and the role of the Doula in disadvantaged communities.  Caribbean Studies Association. International conference.

2015: Cultural competence and its impact on African Caribbean Seniors.   BASW Conference, Glasgow Caledonia University

Collaborative projects include the following:

2023-2024:   The impact of Covid-19 on the mental health, wellbeing and supported learning experiences of current students and recent alumni of Open University nursing and  social work professional programmes: A mixed methods cross-sectional study across the four nations.  Principal investigator.   The Open University.

2012-2023:  Student Nurses, Nursing Curriculums and  emergency rsponses to Covid 19- A scoping Review. Principal Investigator.    The Open University.

2013: Resistance, Resilience and renewal- The health and wellbeing of black women across the diaspora. (collaborative). Co-Organiser, National Conference, The Open University.

2000: An evaluation of the 1998 development for Black and Minority Ethnic Managers in the NHS. (University of Warwick and DeMontfort University> CoInvestigator

2000: A study to investigate the need for appropriate respite care provision for African Caribbean carers and  elders. (Leicestershire Health, Leicester City Council, DeMontfort University).  CoInvestigator.

She is a member of the faculty's research group, the nursing research group, the Black women's health and wellbeng research network and the Wellbeing of Women Third sector  Research Network.

Doctoral Supervision:

Previous:

Narratives of Care:  DeMontfort University -   PhD  Successful Completion. 

 A Holistic Approach to the assessment of students with Learning Difficulties.- EdD;   Successful Completion.

 What's the story? Exploring inequalities in outcomes through the narratives of Black and Brown students in a distance learning setting -   EdD.  Successful completion.

Current: 

 Recruitment of Black and Asian Nursing students  -   EdD In Progress. 

She is Open to accepting doctoral students who wish to explore topics related to nursing participation, Healthcare education, practice, cultural competence across the lifespan, equality, ethnic diversity and inclusion, and the health and well-being of Black women and GM  individuals and communities. 

Teaching interests

Dr Watson brings broad expertise from clinical practice, educational and interdisciplinary perspectives to her teaching, having vast experience of leading curriculum design, development,  and delivery and assessment at undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels. She has a keen interest in fostering student success, amplifying student voice and is passionate about prioritising this through excellent teaching, inclusive learning and effective student and tutor support. She teaches at the undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels, along with Doctoral supervision responsibilities.  Areas she has taught include the following:

Change Management in education and healthcare practice.

Care management and governance in health care.

Child  Care and Health Promotion.

Communication and diversity

Cultural  Competence in nursing education and health care.

Diverse perspectives in health and illness, including menopause, safeguarding, formal care, health, illness, health and care, biological perspectives in nursing, disability in healthcare and education.

Diversity/Ethnicity, Nursing, Health, Education and Social Care.

Distance Education, Independent Learning and  Black awarding gaps,

Interprofessional collaboration and learning in clinical practice and nursing education.

Primary Care Nursing,  Public  Health and Private Medicine.

Specialist Practice in Health Visiting.

Impact and Influence

Dr Watson's work has had a wide-ranging impact on healthcare education, cultural competence awareness, and public understanding of Black and Global Majority healthcare experiences. Her scholarly and leadership contributions have:

• Informed the evolution  delivery, and asessment of distance learning education for nursing and healthcare  students.
• Enhanced institutional approaches to supporting Black women academics and students through leadership initiatives of the Black Women's academy, including mentorship of Black women and facilitating Black Women's writing development.
• Supported national conversations on race, identity and healthcare through media consultancy on the award-winning 'We are Black and British'. 
• Strengthened academic standards and ethical governance through her roles in Senate, HREC and Academic Conduct. 
• Advanced public and institutional awareness of cultural competence and inclusive healthcare education and practice.

Her longstanding  commitment to community health, particularly in African, Caribbean and other Global Majority diasporic comunities  aligns with her active involvement in health care and education charities and networks focussed on Black Women's Health and Wellbeing, Black Women as Doula supporters advancing Black Maternal  justice, Black Men and their absent voices in Black maternal care. She  leads,encourages and supports partnerships and collaborative relationships with third sector organisations and individuals, fostering knowledge exchange  and research awareness relating to  the health and wellbeing of black women across the diaspora.  She  works with individuals and groups serving these communities and continues to provide academic leadership and research guidance to those needing such support for personal, professional and communitydevelopment. 

Invited lectures

2025: Black Perspectives on the future of healthcare:  Leading Routes Organisation. British Library, London.

2019: Opportunities and challenges for supporting the educational experiences of  Black Women: Evidence from research and practice.   International Conference, Cayonne University, St Kitts. .

2018:  Here to stay, so deal with it.: Black Women's Experiences of Nursing Careers.   Birmingham University School. 70TH Year  Celebration of the NHS. 

2016: Retired  Caribbean Nurses Conference, London in 2015, and the Windrush  Conference 70 years of the NHS, Birmingham University in 2018.  

External collaborations

Formerly Associate Editor of the Journal of Ethnicity and Health,

Fellow of Higher Education Academy (HEA -Advanced HE), 

 Reviewer for the Journal of Nursing Management,  

Reviewer for the  Journal of Qualitative Research in Health.

Reviewer for Science Talks- Elsevier.

Reviewer for Frontiers in Health and Medicine. 

External Examiner, Bournemouth University. 

External Assessor,  Bournemouth University, on RNDA development review, delivery and assessment. 

Other Interests

Formerly a volunteer mentor and coach to women and girls from disadvantaged backgrounds, through mentoring with the Girls Network, a national volunteer organisation. (TGN).

Formerly a volunteer,  Panel Chair, fostering and adoption, with Barnados, the children's charity.

Formerly Open University volunteer: Secondary school education in Milton Keynes.

International links

 Member of the  Caribbean Studies Association. (CSA).

CSA Conference Abstract  Reviewer and panel Chair.