PHA: New research highlights essential role of nurses and midwives across Northern Ireland

The census, incorporating responses from research nurses and midwives across all four UK nations and the Republic of Ireland, reveals nurses and midwives are working at every level in healthcare from Bands 5 – 9 in the UK, and from staff nurse to Directors of Nursing or Midwifery in the Republic of Ireland.

This suggests there are opportunities to join the profession at every level, with continued potential for career progression.

Clinical research nurses and midwives are a specialist workforce, with knowledge, skills and expertise in both clinical practice and research delivery.

The census shows that of those nurses who took part in Northern Ireland:

22% reported working in joint posts, for example as a clinical research nurse for part of their role as well as a clinical nurse specialist;

62% are working within a single disease/area specialism;

38% reported covering multiple disease areas.

The breadth and depth of research nurse and midwife involvement across the healthcare sector highlights their considerable expertise, and the high quality, safe and effective delivery of care they provide for patients.

The number of nurses and midwives in joint roles identifies the potential for more flexible working to enable the workforce to develop research skills alongside clinical practice.

Sonia McKenna, staff manager at the Northern Ireland Clinical Research Network, who coordinated the census in Northern Ireland, said: “This census reveals the extent of our research nursing and midwifery community.

“These nurses are working incredibly hard day and night helping to bring us new treatments and medicine alongside their healthcare colleagues but we now have a much clearer idea of the size of the workforce. Research nurses and midwives are making a difference to the health of people across the UK and Ireland.

“Being a research nurse or midwife is an amazing and fulfilling career. We want research nurses and midwives to know that they are valued, to recognise themselves as part of the wider research community and have opportunities to grow and develop in research.”

Research nurses and midwives have played a vital role throughout the pandemic, supporting both Covid and non-Covid related studies.

During the pandemic they have supported 359 Covid-related clinical research studies and helped to recruit over 2.5 million participants across more than 5,000 sites in the UK.

This includes recruitment to studies such as the RECOVERY trial, which discovered how important the steroid dexamethasone can be in treating the most severe Covid cases.

This discovery alone is estimated to have saved over a million lives across the world, while rapid delivery of Covid vaccine studies required novel workforce models to ensure the rollout of the NHS Vaccine programme.

In Northern Ireland, almost 30,000 participants have been recruited to urgent Covid-19 studies here including those supported by the NI Clinical Research Network www.nicrn.hscni.net.

Dr Janice Bailie, assistant director, HSC R&D Division said: “Clinical trials, new drugs and treatments simply would not be possible without our research nurses and midwives.

“Their contribution is invaluable and critical, it impacts everyone here, and we call on everyone to join us in recognising and applauding this workforce.”

Clinical research nurses and midwives play a vital role in delivering and leading research, and improving patient care.

Their responsibilities include inviting patients and healthy participants to research studies including clinical trials, providing nursing care, undertaking study procedures and developing new drugs, treatments, care pathways or regimens. Those completing the survey work in primary, secondary and tertiary care organisations, industry, academia and charities.

HSC R&D Division is supporting the development of a skilled clinical academic research workforce across nursing and midwifery through its own and national research training awards.

For more information on these awards see https://research.hscni.net/fellowship-awards;

All research staff are also required to undertake training to ensure they meet the standards set out in the Good Clinical Practice guidelines for clinical trials.

To read more about the census see www.nihr.ac.uk/news/at-least-7469-research-nurses-and-midwives-across-the-uk-and-ireland-new-census-reveals/29886.

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