Career Progression
Historically, research nurses have struggled to get integrated in the clinical care teams as often their role was poorly understood by their colleagues. We are working hard on raising the profile of research nurses and we have developed a career progression pathway to ensure transition from research nurse to nurse researcher for those who want.
We encourage PhD and MSc Nursing students to do their clinical work with our team and we've specially designed a new role encompassing the duties of research nurse, specialist nurse and nurse researcher in one to support career progression.
Our nurses are encouradged to apply questions from their clinical practice in research, and they all have been involved in small research projects. This work led to 5 conference abstracts accepted in 2021 to international conferences.
Information for Students
We encourage students to take placements with us. If you are interested in learning more about working as a research nurse, or you think a clinical academic career is what you would like, then please do get in touch. We were nominated for the 2018 Placement of the Year Award and we continue to have great feedback from our students.
A Day in the Life of an ORNIID Research Nurse
Research by its very nature is structured and organised. Participants must be consented according to good clinical practice and legal criteria, data and samples must be collected according to strict protocols to maintain the integrity of the data, reduce bias and ultimately support a quality research process. However, an ORNIID research nurse sits in a unique position within this context, working within the challenging clinical environment of endoscopy and infusion clinics, co-ordinating activities in collaboration with scientists in the laboratory, clinicians in practice and participants at the core of our activities.
An average day could involve identifying, approaching and consenting participants, collecting and processing samples for the scientists. Or it could involve discussing requirements of new studies and the ground breaking experimental findings emerging from the team. Or it could start with some in-house learning and end up supporting clinical colleagues if a research participant has become unwell. Our team values of accuracy, adaptability, development and humanity direct our practice to keep the wellbeing of our participants, relationships with our collaborators and quality in the research process in symbiotic balance. It is challenging, rewarding and full of opportunities for self and personal development. If you don’t like average, we are the team for you!