I feel privileged to have been appointed as the first Social Care Nurse Fellow within the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Nursing and Midwifery Office. My role is to enable more nurses and midwives to support, deliver and lead research.
The introduction of the role demonstrates that the Nursing and Midwifery Office is committed to improving research opportunities for social care nurses across all settings.
The aim of the role is to work with key stakeholders and collaborators across social care to:
- Highlight and champion social care nursing.
- Raise awareness of the role of research and improve research-mindedness.
- Consider any development and support needs of social care nurses and identify resources that improve opportunities for social care nurses to become more research active.
- Develop a sustainable, supported and professional workforce of nurses to deliver and lead research across social care.
Research as a concept can conjure up many misconceptions. In my experience, the most common are, ‘research is only for academics’, ‘you must be highly intelligent to have any role in research’, ‘it is very biomedical focused’ and ‘it doesn’t feel applicable to social care’. I must confess, for many years I shared this view.
As a nurse who practices predominantly through a biopsychosocial as opposed to a biomedical lens, I did not see how I could play a part in research and how research played a part in my practice.
However, as my career progressed, I was mentored by some senior colleagues who helped me become more confident and competent in my abilities and more curious about my practice. I began to demystify the concept of research, realising that research is the process of discovering new knowledge and not a ubiquitous one-size-fits-all notion.
Health and social care research covers a wide spectrum, starting from research with a small ‘r’, whereby we might implement changes to our own practice because of what we have read. This may be to deliver evidence-based practice, conduct audits and quality improvement projects or evaluate initiatives within a workplace or setting which can be hard to implement if there is a lack of organisational structure to support this.
The opposite end of the spectrum is research with a big ‘R’ conducted with academic partners through the collation and analysis of big data, such as the VIVALDI study with multiple shapes, sizes and variations in between (the aim of the VIVALDI study is to improve the quality of life for people living, visiting and working in care homes, whilst reducing the risk of infections and avoiding hospital admissions by utilising existing data with minimal input required from care home providers).
However, all too often there is something that gets lost in translation across this spectrum, due to poor communication and a lack of established relationships, leaving social care staff often feeling disconnected. Those often-important findings from ‘r’esearch in clinical practice may not become big ‘R’esearch questions and findings from ‘R’esearch may not be translated and disseminated in a manner that informs changes in social care practice.
Enabling the workforce to feel more involved in research of all types creates opportunities to close this gap and reduce some of the perceived barriers, such as the view by many that research is something that is ‘done to them’ as opposed to ‘with them’.
Research in all guises is critical if we are to produce evidence and ask questions to inform further social care research, policy and practice, ensuring that the needs and views of those delivering and receiving services are heard. There has never been a more crucial time to demonstrate the value of social care interventions and the resources needed to deliver person- and relationship-centred care to an increasingly ageing population, many of whom will be living with frailty, dementia and multiple long-term conditions.
Whilst there is a small but active social care nurse research community, there are disparities in research development opportunities compared to nurses working in the NHS.
Consequently, there are few research role models and mentors visible to those working in social care. This needs to change, but can only happen with the full support of senior leaders across provider organisations. In a time of significant demand and issues with workforce capacity and retention, it can be difficult to even consider releasing time for staff to participate in research activities. However, it could aid career progression and increase job satisfaction and staff retention.
Ultimately, research provides opportunities to develop evidence, inform and demonstrate best practice, improve standards of care and inform new ways of working. This can improve the quality of life and experience of care for those delivering and receiving services.
What is your experience of participating in research opportunities? Leave a comment on this article or join the conversation to share your thoughts.
Dr Zena Aldridge is Social Care Nurse Fellow at the NIHR Nursing and Midwifery Office.
Email: [email protected]