New scheme to create midwife and nurse research champions

By Julie Griffiths on 04 July 2018 Research NIHR - National Institute for Health Research

Midwives and nurses have the opportunity to become research champions and drive improvements in future care through a new £3m training scheme.

A total of 70 senior midwives and nurses will be chosen to take part in the in the ‘Senior nurse and midwife research leader programme’ and will champion the importance of research activity in clinical practice.

The project will be backed by funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to allow participants two days a week to developing a innovation, furthering implementation of science activities and informing research priorities within their organisations.

The selected participants will champion research collaborations and the interdisciplinary sharing of research knowledge and skills throughout their profession.

Director of nursing, learning and organisational development of the NIHR clinical research network Dr Susan Hamer said: ‘The NIHR is hugely appreciative of the vital role of midwives and nurses in the clinical research system.

‘The 70 senior midwives and nurses chosen for this new initiative will be tasked with driving changes to actively develop a dynamic evidence-based culture within the NHS’s largest workforce.’

The NIHR hopes that by building research capacity there will be an increase in the uptake of training and research led by midwives and nurses, which should see improvements in quality of care, outcomes and cost-effectiveness within the NHS.