Pam completed a Bachelor of Nursing, University of Manchester and a PhD, King’s College, London. She has worked as a clinical nurse teacher, lecturer, supervisor and researcher in a variety of organisations and countries. Highlights include: community nurse teacher in Tanzania and Mozambique, Director of Nursing Research and Development, Bloomsbury Health Authority, London, Professor and Director, Centre for Research in Nursing and Midwifery Education, University of Surrey and Head of Nursing, University of Edinburgh. Pam’s research, teaching and publications cover nurse migration, decolonisation, international development, nursing leadership, nurse education, emotions, compassion and community healthcare. Books include: The Emotional Labour of Nursing: How nurses care (1992) and The Emotional Labour of Nursing Revisited: Can nurses still care? (2012). Pam worked with Dr Gladys Msiska, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi and ICCHNR scholar (2015), to produce the web-based resource: ‘Embedding Compassionate Care’ . Pam also works with Dr Radha Adhikari, University of the West of Scotland, on decolonisation and new paradigms for global nursing. Their publications include: Adhikari R and Smith P (2024), Decolonising Global Nursing: Concepts, Barriers and Strategies, in Global Health and Nursing: a new narrative for the 21st Century, edited by ICCHNR President Dr Barbara Stilwell.
ICCHNR Involvement: As President of the International Collaboration for Community Health Nursing Research (ICCHNR) from 2019 to 2022, Professor Smith played a pivotal role in promoting community nursing globally through international conferences, symposia, fellowships, and networks. Her efforts focused on building research, educational, and clinical capacity within the field.
Research Interests: Professor Smith’s research encompasses a range of topics, including international and global health, international migration, international development, gender-equal health services, the role of community nursing in global universal health coverage, and the study of emotions in care. She is particularly noted for her seminal work on emotional labour in nursing, which has significantly influenced nursing education and practice.
Honours and Awards: The Royal College of Nursing In recognition of her contributions to nursing and nurse education, Professor Smith was awarded an MBE in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours. In 2024, she received a Fellowship from the Royal College of Nursing, the organization’s highest honour, acknowledging her impact on nursing education and research.
