Dr Shep Chidarikire

Dr Shep Chidarikire is an experienced mental health nursing academic and clinician. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Nursing in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Newcastle. Before becoming a mental health nurse, Shep trained as a primary school teaching in his native Zimbabwe. He is a UK trained mental health nurse and a holder of a Master of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) from La Trobe University, Australia.

Shep is passionate about the influences of culture and mental health especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. His PhD research thesis, awarded in 2021, explored the experiences and quality of life of people living with schizophrenia in Harare, Zimbabwe using a focused ethnography. My research highlights the importance of language, culture, and idioms of distress in understanding mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. This is important if we as mental health providers will achieve better health outcomes for those that speak a different language other than English and have different cultural beliefs and norms.

Dr Chidarikire is a passionate teacher and academic with over 10 years’ experience. He holds the following qualification, Master of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner), Bachelor of Health Science (Nursing) from Charles Sturt University and the PhD from the University of Tasmania.

Shep has several years of clinical nursing experience in adult forensic, acute and community mental health nursing. I have expertise and recent extensive experience in a wide range of mental health settings. After finishing his pre-registration nurse training at the University of York (UK), he worked in forensic adult psychiatry at Ravenswood House, a medium secure hospital located in Fareham, Hampshire. UK.  He also worked as a community mental health nurse for Spelthorne Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) in Staines, a town on the outskirts of London, close to Heathrow Airport, UK. The area of Spelthorne Borough Council has a multi-ethnic population. After moving to Tasmania, Shep worked as a community mental health nurse with the Adult Community Mental Health Team (ACMHS) in Burnie, north-west of Tasmania.

Teaching Experience

Shep's teaching philosophy is based on the idea that learning must be fun to foster a relaxed, respectful, and co-collaborative learning environment. It acknowledges students as active learners and help to nurture students’ commitment to life-long learning. He is driven by quality and excellence in his teaching which ensures students meet registration standards for nursing.

He has extensive experience in coordinating and teaching into large units on multiple campuses. Shep has been a teaching intensive academic for over 11 years. In 2022, a teaching team led by Shep were awarded a team-Teaching Merit Certificate in recognition of his leadership in teaching practice at the University of Tasmania.

Research Experience

Shep has recognised research expertise in mental health nursing, with a record of demonstrable scholarly and professional achievement in the discipline. Graduating with his PhD after 8 years of part-time study, reinforced his standing as an expert in mental health nursing. The PhD helped him to advance the knowledge of mental health nursing through his original research. The results from his research can benefit local, national, and international communities and stakeholders of people living with a mental illness. Also, translating the WHO approved WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire into Shona has demonstrated Shep's expertise, influence and standing within the discipline of nursing on the international stage. Shep's is very proud of this achievement. To further enhance his standing, he has published articles in reputable first quartile high-quality journals.