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Dr Stephanie Russ

Dr Stephanie Russ (BSc MSc PhD)

Senior Research Associate (SHORE-C)
E: S.Russ@bsms.ac.uk
T: 01273 877934
Location: Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C), University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RX

Areas of expertise: Teamwork & Human Factors, Digital Healthcare Support Interventions, Patient Safety, Quality Improvement

Research areas: Healthcare Quality and Safety

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Biography

Stephanie has a BSc in Psychology, an MSc in the Psychology of Early Development and a PhD in Clinical & Social Psychology from the University of Reading. Following her PhD, Stephanie joined a team at Imperial College London researching the importance of non-technical skills and teamwork in improving patient safety and reliability in surgical care. She became an expert in observing surgical teams and assessing the quality of teamwork using observational tools, as well as developing and delivering training in non-technical skills to healthcare professionals. Since then, Stephanie has worked at the University of Aberdeen as a lecturer in patient safety and completed a National Institute for Healthcare Research Fellowship at King’s College London. She has expanded her focus to explore how best to empower patients to help optimise the safety of their care, with a focus on developing digital support tools for patients, and how best to implement quality improvement initiatives in healthcare. Stephanie joined the team at SHORE-C in January 2022.

Research

Stephanie aims understand how she can bring her expertise in healthcare quality and safety to the important area of psycho-oncology to help understand how to improve the quality of life and care experiences of those suffering from cancer. Specifically, she will be exploring:

How cancer patients can be supported remotely between their episodes of clinical contact using digital support tools
How best to deliver appropriate communication skills training to clinical oncology staff.

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Teaching

Stephanie spent many years teaching clinical staff and healthcare students in the importance of human factors for healthcare quality and safety – an area which has until recent years been under-recognised despite its central importance to the delivery of safe healthcare. Stephanie also enjoys teaching in research methods.

Selected publications

Harris K, Russ S. Patient-completed safety checklists as an empowerment tool for patient involvement in patient safety: concepts, considerations and recommendations. Future Healthcare Journal. 2021 Nov;8(3):e567. 10.7861/fhj.2021-0122

Russ S, Latif Z, Hazell AL, Ogunmuyiwa H, Tapper J, Wachuku-King S, Sevdalis N, Ocloo J. A smartphone app designed to empower patients to contribute toward safer surgical care: Community-based evaluation using a participatory approach. JMIR mHealth and uHealth. 2020;8(1):e12859. 10.2196/12859

Russ S, Sevdalis N, Ocloo J. A Smartphone App Designed to Empower Patients to Contribute Toward Safer Surgical Care: Qualitative Evaluation of Diverse Public and Patient Perceptions Using Focus Groups. JMIR mHealth and uHealth. 2021 Apr 8;9(4):e24065. 10.2196/24065

Russ S, Sevdalis N. Perspectives on healthcare quality and safety. Healthcare Public Health: Improving health services through population science. 2020 Aug 19:135.

Cleland J, Patey R, Thomas I, Walker K, O’Connor P, Russ S. Supporting transitions in medical career pathways: the role of simulation-based education. Advances in simulation. 2016 Jan;1(1):1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41077-016-0015-0

Catchpole K, Russ S. The problem with checklists. BMJ quality & safety. 2015 Sep 1;24(9):545-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2015-004431

Hull L, Athanasiou T, Russ S. Implementation science: a neglected opportunity to accelerate improvements in the safety and quality of surgical care. Annals of surgery. 2017 Jun 1;265(6):1104-12. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000002013

Russ SJ, Sevdalis N, Moorthy K, Mayer EK, Rout S, Caris J, Mansell J, Davies R, Vincent C, Darzi A. A qualitative evaluation of the barriers and facilitators toward implementation of the WHO surgical safety checklist across hospitals in England: lessons from the “Surgical Checklist Implementation Project”. Annals of surgery. 2015 Jan 1;261(1):81-91. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000000793

Russ S, Rout S, Caris J, Mansell J, Davies R, Mayer E, Moorthy K, Darzi A, Vincent C, Sevdalis N. Measuring variation in use of the WHO surgical safety checklist in the operating room: a multicenter prospective cross-sectional study. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 2015 Jan 1;220(1):1-1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2014.09.021

Russ SJ, Rout S, Caris J, Moorthy K, Mayer E, Darzi A, Sevdalis N, Vincent C. The WHO surgical safety checklist: survey of patients’ views. BMJ quality & safety. 2014 Nov 1;23(11):939-46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2013-002772