Roger Watson (born 20 November 1955) is a British academic and Honorary Professor at the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

. He is Professor of Nursing, Saint Francis University, Hong Kong. He is the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of ''

Nurse Education in Practice ''Nurse Education in Practice'' is a peer-reviewed nursing journal covering nursing, midwifery, and healthcare education published by Elsevier. It was established in 2001 and its founding editor was Karen Holland. The current editor-in-chief is Ro ...

'' and an Editorial Board Member of the
WikiJournal of Medicine
'. Watson was the Founding Chair of the Lancet Commission on Nursing, and a founding member of the Global Advisory Group for the Future of Nursing. Watson was elected Vice President of the National Conference of University Professors in 2020 and became President in 2022 until 2024. Watson is a First

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

veteran having served with 205 General Hospital

RAMC The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

(v) (Later 205 Field Hospital now merged with 225 Medical Regiment to form 215 Multirole Medical Regiment).

Education

Watson is a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...

(

St George's Hospital St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals. It is run by the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It shares its main hospital site i ...

London), holds a BSc in biological sciences from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

from the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

Professional life

Watson's clinical area is

gerontological nursing Gerontological nursing is the specialty of nursing pertaining to older adults. Gerontological nurses work in collaboration with older adults, their families, and communities to support healthy aging, maximum functioning, and quality of life. The ...

with a special interest in mealtime and nutritional difficulties of older people with

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

. His research into the alleviation of mealtime difficulty in people with dementia led to the development of the "

Edinburgh Feeding Evaluation in Dementia Scale The Edinburgh Feeding Evaluation in Dementia (EdFED) Scale is a psychometric screening tool to assess difficulty with self-feeding in older people with dementia. It was developed at The University of Edinburgh by Roger Watson and Ian Deary. T ...

". Watson is a proponent of the application of Mokken scaling in nursing research and has also contributed to the understanding of the general application of Mokken scaling and the influence of sample size on Mokken scaling parameters. Watson has held visiting positions in Slovenia, Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland and Italy. He served as a member of the sub-panel for Nursing and Midwifery in the UK Research Assessment Exercise in 2008, and in 2014 on the sub-panel for Dentistry, Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Pharmacy in the UK

Research Excellence Framework The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is ...

. Previously, he was the

of the
Journal of Clinical Nursing
', the ''

Journal of Advanced Nursing The ''Journal of Advanced Nursing'' (also known as ''JAN'') is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of nursing. It is published by John Wiley & Sons. JAN is a world-leading international peer-reviewed journal. JAN targets ...

'', the founding

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

of
Nursing Open
' and an Editorial Board Member of the
WikiJournal of Medicine
'. Watson is a frequent contributor to ''

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'', ''The Conversation'', ''

The Salisbury Review ''The Salisbury Review'' is a quarterly United Kingdom, British "magazine of Conservatism, conservative thought". It was founded in 1982 by the Salisbury Group, who sought to articulate and further traditional intellectual conservative ideas. The ...

'', ''

The European Conservative ''The European Conservative'' is a Pan-European identity, pan-European Conservatism, conservative English-language publication registered in Budapest, Hungary, with an editorial office in Vienna, Austria, and news offices in Brussels, Belgium and ...

'' and ''

The Daily Sceptic ''The Daily Sceptic'' is a blog created by British commentator Toby Young. It has published misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and engaged in climate change denial. History Young founded ''The Daily Sceptic'' as a successor to his prev ...

''. He has contributed to ''

Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly magazine, founded in 1888 and a sister organisation to the non-profit Catholic Herald Institute, based in New York. After 126 years as a weekly newspaper, it became a magazine ...

''.

Awards and recognition

Watson is a fellow of the

Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union and professional body in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916 as the College of Nursing, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Eliz ...

(2009), the

American Academy of Nursing The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) is a professional organization that generates, synthesizes, and disseminates nursing knowledge to contribute to health policy and practice for the benefit of the public and the nursing profession. Founded in ...

(2007), the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

(2014), a Fellow of the

Higher Education Academy Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) is a British charity and professional membership scheme promoting excellence in higher education. It advocates evidence-based teaching methods and awards fellowships as professional recogniti ...

(2007), a Fellow of the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a not-for-profit medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. It was established in 1784 as the national body ...

Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery ''

ad eundem Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of interest to consumers. It is typically used ...

'' (2009) and the National Conference of University Professors (2018). Watson is a Member of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

(2019). Watson was formerly a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...

(2001-2019; formerly the

Institute of Biology The Institute of Biology (IoB) was a professional body for biologists, primarily those working in the United Kingdom. The Institute was founded in 1950 by the Biological Council: the then umbrella body for Britain's many learned biological societie ...

), a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

(2001-2019) and a Fellow of the European Academy of Nursing Science (2005-2022) ). In 2021 Watson was awarded the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

of ''Doctor Honoris Causa'' by the

University of Maribor The University of Maribor () is Slovenia's second-largest university, established in 1975 in Maribor, Slovenia. It currently has 17 faculties. History The university's roots reach back to 1859 when a theological seminary was established wi ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. Watson delivered the Winifred Raphael Memorial Lecture in 2001. In 2017 Watson was inducted into the

Sigma Theta Tau The Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing () is the second-largest nursing organization in the world with approximately 135,000 active members. History In 1922 six Indiana University students at the Indiana University Training S ...

International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. That year, Watson also delivered the annual

Elsie Stephenson Elsie Stephenson (22 January 1916 – 16 July 1967) was an English nurse and the first Director of the Nursing Studies Unit at the University of Edinburgh. The Unit was founded in 1956 and was the first university department of nursing in the ...

Memorial Lecture at The

. In 2022 he was awarded the Margaret Comerford Freda award for Editorial Leadership in Nursing Publication by the International Academy of Nursing Editors. In 2023 Sigma Nursing European Region included Watson in the list celebrating Sigma's centenary by celebrating 100 nurses from the last 100 years in Europe. Watson is included in the Stanford list of top 2% scientists in his field.

Personal life

Born to Margaret McCabe and William Morrison Watson Watson is a former pupil of

Banchory Academy Banchory Academy is a secondary school serving Banchory, Scotland and surroundings, including the neighbouring communities of Raemoir, Crathes, Strachan, Drumoak, Durris, Inchmarlo and Glassel. The current school roll is around 800 pupils. Rec ...

. Watson is a

haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

poet and a member of the British Haiku Society and former member of the

Haiku Society of America The Haiku Society of America is a non-profit organization composed of haiku poets, editors, critics, publishers and enthusiasts that promotes the composition and appreciation of haiku in English. Founded in 1968, it is the largest society dedicate ...

with entries in the ''Living Haiku Anthology'', the ''Living Senryu Anthology'' and The Haiku Foundations ''Haiku Registry''. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, he was selected as one of the European Top 100 most creative haiku authors. A

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, he is married to Deborah Watson (née Yould) and they have eight children and ten grandchildren

Bibliography

Watson has over 500 publications listed o
Web of Science
that have been cited more than 7000 times, giving him an h-index of 44. His three most-cited articles are: * * *

References

External links

*
Entry
on

ORCID The ORCID (; Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a nonproprietary alphanumeric code to uniquely identify authors and contributors of scholarly communication. This addresses the problem that a particular author's contributions to the scien ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Roger Living people 1955 births Academics of the University of Hull British nurses Scottish nurses Nursing researchers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Sheffield Alumni of St George's, University of London Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing Fellows of the Royal College of Nursing Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Academics from Aberdeen English-language haiku poets People educated at Banchory Academy Scottish scholars and academics 21st-century Scottish biologists 20th-century Scottish educators 21st-century Scottish educators Members of Academia Europaea