Claire Pegg at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) South East Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN) writes about why she is passionate about patient-centred research, and how nurses and midwives can take their first steps into research if they would like to.
I had not always planned to be a nurse, but when I left school I was offered the opportunity to shadow a family friend while they were nursing in the community. It didn’t take me long to realise that this was what I wanted to do.
My nursing career has changed and developed over time, but research was something that I’ve almost always been involved in. If you too are interested in incorporating research into your nursing journey – I think that you will find plenty of support out there to help you to do this.
I qualified as a nurse in 2004, and after undertaking an initial period of time in the respiratory ward, I moved into intensive care (ICU) where I loved looking after the patients who were very sick. This environment gave me the chance to take care of the patients holistically, and I enjoyed working with them and their families.
After seven years in intensive care, I wanted to try something new. A post became available for a critical care research nurse based within the ITU. I applied, and began undertaking a role that I found so interesting. I worked in different research areas, including sepsis, delirium and patient psychological safety. I spent another seven years as a research nurse in this environment, before transitioning into community care. Here the skill set was very different, but I enjoyed being able to impact more disease areas.
After two years in the community, I went back to the acute sector as the lead research nurse. This role involved leading a team of about 30 healthcare professionals across 22 different specialities. It was a massive learning curve, and I learned so much about the day-to-day life of research professionals across the different specialities.
My next role was as the NIHR regional chief nurse research lead (KSS), where my main purpose was to deliver on the Chief Nursing Officer for England’s strategic plan for research.
I worked closely with the NIHR Director for Nursing and Midwifery Professor Ruth Endacott to drive forward nursing, midwifery and allied health profession (NMAHP) research within the region I covered. Our main focus was to create a people-centred research environment that empowered nurses, midwives and allied health professionals to lead, participate in and deliver research. This was within all disciplines and across all the different settings, including primary care, and the wider health and care settings. Within Kent, Surrey and Sussex, I focused on influencing advanced clinical practitioners, who had undertaken their Masters programme, to come back to the clinical setting ‘research ready’.
I’m passionate about research because it is ultimately all about improving the care of the patients and service users. There are so many times that as healthcare professionals, we do things because ‘that’s how they’ve always been done’. Our practice is not always evidence based. Our patients need to be the focus of NMAHP research.
I am now in a position where I can start to influence others in how they can support, deliver and lead research. Although this is still a work in progress, NMAHP leads within NIHR Regional Research Delivery Networks (RRDN) can seriously begin to influence and initiate a culture shift where research is everyone’s business. I want nurses, midwives and allied health professionals to know how research can benefit their patients, their careers and the wider health and care system. Here are a few of the practical ways that NMAHPs can begin to understand research.
What support is out there for anyone else who wants to get involved in research as a nurse? Here’s my advice.
Have a conversation with your wider team. In healthcare, teams can be renowned for working in silos and pockets across all the settings. Staff may not even realise their area is undertaking research, so do find out what is happening local to you.
Once you have spoken to your own teams, then your next conversation needs to be with the research and development/innovation (R&D/R&I) departments. There is one based within each hospital, for example. The teams here understand what is happening locally. They will support you to see how you can help with the delivery of studies that are already happening or how you can lead on your own research. R&D teams will always be pleased to hear from someone who is considering supporting, delivering or leading research.
If your healthcare environment does not have a R&D department (for example within primary care) then reach out to your Regional RDN (RRDN). All of the RRDNs have teams that focus on wider health and care settings and who have knowledge of studies in their local areas that you could potentially support. The NIHR also has teams which are a great source of knowledge for any NMAHP who wants to undertake their own research, as they may be able to support you with training, grant applications and funding arrangements.
One of the Chief Nursing Officer’s strategic aims is to develop nurse leaders of the future. So if leadership is your calling, the NIHR has a Senior Leadership Programme. This aims to unlock the research potential of many more senior nurses and midwives.
The NIHR wants to empower senior research leaders to further increase research capacity and capability at a local, regional and national level and to support their development as future research leaders.
If you are looking to develop your academic career within research, then there are now a range of different options that can be considered. Many of these qualifications and courses will allow you the time to develop your own research knowledge. This can be on a part time basis, so that you can remain in your clinical role and implement research that will directly impact your patients within your clinical setting.
If you are unsure of what your research question could be, then consider one of the qualifications or courses that has time set aside to support you in developing this. A research question could arise from an issue you face in your day-to-day working life.
It is important to know the area in which you want your research question to be based and that you have a real passion to drive it forward. There are so many examples where NMAHPs can directly influence the care of their patients by answering a research question.
Too often, we think that it is someone else’s role to influence policy with research, however, with the right question and the right support, NMAHPs can really begin to initiate changing care.
If you are interested in research, then ensure that you speak to someone – support networks do grow organically through conversations. There are many people locally, regionally and nationally looking at driving the research agenda forward, so don’t ever feel alone. You will find people around you wanting to help you take your first step into research.
Claire Pegg works for the National Institute for Health and Care Research Research Delivery Network. Her role is South East Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Profession (NMAHP) health and care director and workforce development lead. Prior to this, she was NIHR regional chief nurse research lead for Kent, Surrey and Sussex and is a Florence Nightingale Scholar from 2022/2023. She previously undertook the NIHR Advanced Leadership Programme (ALP).
