ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP
Understanding nurses’ experiences of crisis.
Crisis Narrative is a Medical Research Foundation Fellowship led by Dr Simon Walker at the University of Glasgow, within the Healthy Working Lives Group.
What we want to understand
How do suicidal crises develop across a nursing career? How do people describe those experiences? What makes it easier or harder to seek help, and where are the opportunities for support?
The study brings together historical and contemporary perspectives on nursing in Scotland. It examines the interaction between working lives, personal circumstances, professional cultures and experiences of distress.
AT A GLANCE
Crisis Narrative
- Lead researcher: Dr Simon Walker
- Host: University of Glasgow
- Research group: Healthy Working Lives Group
- Historical period: 1980–2025
- Approach: records, survey and oral histories
Three ways of understanding the same problem
Official records help describe patterns. A national survey gathers experiences across nursing careers. Oral histories explore how those experiences unfold and what they mean to the people involved.
An occupational health perspective
We are interested in the conditions in which people work, the support available to them and the way organisations respond to distress. This includes questions about professional identity, workplace relationships, help-seeking and the pressures surrounding a nursing career.
How Crisis Narrative relates to RESUME
Crisis Narrative provides foundation research for RESUME, the wider programme of REsearch into Scottish nursing SUicide and Mental health Experiences. The fellowship is the main focus of this website. RESUME describes the longer-term direction towards developing and evaluating prevention approaches.
