Mrs Karen Hynes

I first joined Canterbury Christ Church University as a part time lecturer for the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) Programme in 2013, when working as a return to practice health visitor in Kent, having worked formerly as a health visitor (central London), community development health visitor (single regeneration budget, Merton), and lead nurse for safeguarding children and young people (West Kent) before taking a career break to raise my family in 2004. It was during my career break that I was able to further develop my knowledge in safeguarding children and young people, through undertaking a Masters in Child Studies for Safeguarding practitioners at King's College London, having completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Promoting Mental Health in Children and Young People when working as health visitor in central London. My particular interests continue to be in the field of infant and perinatal mental health, advancing children’s rights through effective safeguarding practice, and early intervention to promote health and wellbeing in children and young people and their families, and I now wish to further develop experiential learning and interprofessional development opportunities in higher education. 

I continue to be a member of the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association, the Association for Infant Mental Health, the Institute for Health Visiting and BASPCAN. My particular areas of expertise are within the field of promoting infant mental health and wellbeing; and safeguarding children and young people, and my teaching practice is underpinned by a children's rights perspective to improving children's lives. 

I continue to contribute to the university’s annual domestic abuse awareness conference, which is an ever evolving inter-professional learning event to promote awareness of the impact of domestic abuse and how to respond effectively, so as to improve the long-term outcomes for children, young people and families. This exciting development has come about through the ongoing commitment of lecturers and practitioners across health, education, police, social work and specialist voluntary organisations, to work collaboratively, and with the university's support, to engage in interprofessional learning opportunities in higher education, which is key to effective safeguarding practice.