Louise Phillips

Overview

Louise qualified as a Registered Mental Health Nurse at Long Grove Hospital, Epsom in 1987 and practiced in the NHS and voluntary sector. She completed her first degree in European Cultural History as a mature student at Middlesex University, followed by a PhD on approaches to the body and mental illness at the University of Kent. This later became a book: 'Mental Illness and the Body: Beyond Diagnosis' published by Routledge in 2006.

As well as Senior Lecturer at City, University of London, Louise is Programme Director for BSc and MSc Mental Health Nursing in the Division of Nursing. Her teaching interests include gender and sexuality, nursing and cultural modernity and the learning and practice experiences of mental health nursing students.

Louise was the winner of the Student Voice Award in 2013, and runner up for both the City University WOW awards in 2019 and the Academic Impact Award in 2020. In 2021, she was a winner for both the Student Union Impact Award, and the Staff Enhancement of Student Experience Award. In 2026, she was winner of the Student Voice and Partnership Champion, Academic Impact Award. 

As a researcher she is interested in the area of women's mental health, particularly perinatal mental illness, and is continuing to develop this area in collaboration with colleagues within the School of Health Sciences and antenatal and perinatal mental health services in East London.

Qualifications

• Mental Health Nurse training (RMN), Kingston & Esher Health Authority, 1991
• BA European Cultural History, Middlesex University, United Kingdom
• PhD, University of Kent, United Kingdom

Postgraduate training

• Postgraduate Diploma in Academic Practice, City University London, London, United Kingdom, 2002 - 2004

Employment

• Senior Lecturer and researcher specialising in women's mental health, City University, United Kingdom, 2002 - present
• Community Psychiatric Nurse, Camden & Islington Mental Health Services NHS Trust, 1999 - 2002
• Housing Worker Mental Health, Umbrella, London, 1995 - 1999
• Residential Mental Health Care Worker, St. Mungo’s Community Trust, London, 1993 - 1995

Administrative roles

• Personal tutor for students completing the pre-registration BSc and MSc in Mental Health Nursing
• MSc and PhD supervisor
• Programme Director for MSc Mental Health Nursing, City, University of London

Memberships of professional organisations

• Fellow, Higher Education Academy
• Member, Nursing and Midwifery Council

Award

• City, University of London (2021). Student Voice Award (2013); Student Union Impact Award; Staff Enhancement of Student Experience Award.

Teaching

Educational leadership

Programme Director for pre-registration Mental Health Nursing from September 2016

Postgraduate modules

- APM006

Undergraduate modules

- HSM001

Research overview

Louise has conducted research in the areas of:

- the body and mental illness
- mental health practice
- the training and supervision needs of staff working within women-only mental health practice areas
- the experiences of student nurses in practice.

Her recent work has focused upon perinatal mental illness and the experiences of women with mental illness in pregnancy. She conducted a research study funded by the Florence Nightingale Foundation Trust on the knowledge of student midwives and midwifery educators of perinatal mental illness. She has also recently completed a research study funded by the City University London Pump Priming grant on the experiences and expectations of women with mental illness of their first antenatal appointment.

Louise is involved in three other research studies involving student nurses:

1. An evaluation of the emotional impact of practice on mental health students using personal and professional development groups
2. The attitudes of Turkish and English nursing students towards patients who display suicidal ideation, suicidal attempts and suicidal behaviour
3. A twelve nation study on suicidal behaviour and psychological distress among university students.

Research areas

- Mental Health Nursing
- Women's Mental Health
- Perinatal Mental Health and Mothering
- Contemporary European Critical Theory
- Gender and Sexualities

Grants

- Awareness of perinatal mental illness in East London among student midwives and midwifery educators (Funded by Florence Nightingale Foundation Trust): completed

- The first antenatal appointment: an exploratory study of the experiences of women with a diagnosis of mental illness (In collaboration with a Specialist Mental Health Midwife and Perinatal Mental Health Team) (Funded by Pump Priming grant, City University London): completed

Research students

Publications by category