Bethann Siviter

Bethann Siviter (born 1963) is a British Registered Nurse originally from the United States; she is a nursing author, speaker and advocate for nursing students, healthcare assistants and the art of nursing practice as well as on disability and access issues. The author of the Student Nurse Handbook, Mrs. Siviter overcame sudden illness and resulting disability to return to work in the NHS and has since used her experiences as a patient to highlight issues in healthcare delivery.

She was inducted into the International Nursing Honor Society in recognition of her leadership and contribution to nursing Sigma Theta Tau in 2006.

She belongs to the Royal College of Nursing as a steward. She has also been involved in the British Geriatric Society.

While completing her nurse education at the University of Central England, she started working as a student activist on the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Association of Nursing Students(ANS) National Executive as West Midlands representative, eventually becoming Chair of the RCN ANS(2001–2002) and Student Member of RCN Council (2002–2003).

She qualified as an Adult Registered Nurse in 2002, and received a BSc (hons) in Specialist Community Practice/ District Nursing from the University of Wolverhampton in 2003. It was during this time and as a result of difficulties in her own preparation as a nurse as well as feedback from students received in her role on the ANS that she began to write the Student Nurse Handbook in an attempt to offer support and information for other pre-registration nursing students.

Her first post was as a District Nurse Team Leader (2003) in a nurse-led General Practice. She then became a Nurse Consultant in community care and the care of older people in 2005 at South Birmingham Primary Care Trust.

In 2004, the book "The Student Nurse Handbook" was published by Elsevier, followed in 2008 by "The Newly Qualified Nurse's Handbook" and a third edition of the "The Student Nurse Handbook". She did the cover art for Tracey Levett-Jones' second edition of "The Clinical Placement: A nursing survival guide", also by Elsevier.

She writes about the impact of developing a disability and returning to work after long illness, on the importance of care by healthcare assistants and is a contributor to journals on student nurse issues as well as being a contributor to the RCN's "Statement of Principles on Nurse Education".

She has a regular perspectives column "From the Front Line" in Primary Health Care, a Nursing Standard family journal, for which she has twice been shortlisted as Columnist of the Year in the Periodical Publishers Association awards.

Bethann also presents at seminars and is a regular contributor at RCN Congress (the annual meeting of the Royal College of Nursing). She addresses Nursing Students at numerous UK Universities to promote the essential components of compassion, kindness and patient focus in nursing, reflecting on her own experiences as a patient, as well as the case of Paul and Amanda Steane to highlight the damage that can be done when patients' needs are not taken seriously.

Mrs Siviter is known for her work as an advocate for disabled people, herself becoming disabled as a result of an illness in 2006. Her used of an assistance dog from the charity Canine Partners was highlighted as the first use of an assistance dog by an NHS Nurse (Nursing Standard. 27, 15, 62-63. http://dx.doi.org/10.7748/ns2012.12.27.15.62.p10147).

Birmingham City University (originally University of Central England) recognised her Nursing Leadership and Community engagement, especially her work on behalf of nursing students and disabled people, in 2012 when she was the first alumni of the School of Health to be awarded Alumni of the Year.

• In depth interview with ProNurse.co.uk about writing the books and improving nursing standards
• – South Birmingham PCT newsletter article
• – Background to Student Nurse Handbook
• – NurseWeek News: Bethann Siviter
• – Student Nurse Website
• – Nurse Leadership Seminar Brochure
• – Comment in article about pay award
• – Student Nurse Post referencing Siviter 2004 topic "Placements"
• – Target Jobs article