Twitter chat report – getting involved in research!
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Way back at the end of 2019 during the old normal, we had a Twitter chat about research. We have summarised the chat to give you an idea about how to get involved in research as a nurse.
Research isn’t for me – it’s too different…
Overall the consensus was that research is a pivotal component in all our clinical practice and underpins our decisions. Part of our professional code of conduct (the NMC code) is that all nurses need to be up to date with the best available evidence. Nurses don’t realise if they practice ‘reflectively’ they are almost doing research daily by observing what works – what doesn’t work etc. Research can be more than just reading other people research. Doing audit and research are not seen as a priority compared to ‘normal day to day’ care. Often research is ‘if time allows’ with ‘normal’ day to day clinical practice taking priority; research should never be a sideline.
Part of the discussion was that early introduction to research is vital – in some organisations it is embedded in nurse training and hopefully with the changes to the pre-registration nursing programmes across the UK this will be more widespread. While some had research included in their training, once these students are qualified, we need to ensure there is support, guidance and encouragement in clinical practice for them to pursue research.
Some of the tweeters were already involved in research and some undertaking postgraduate studies. Often consultants and colleagues had mentored and encouraged them and had backfill. Some had organisational support such as @AUKCAR and local NMAHP networks. Others reflected that they may not be able to be released from their roles for the time needed.
What’s stopping you? – Barriers to getting involved in research
Excellent you tube video suggested by @KarenMarshall02 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuVGt0RETjU from #MakeSpace4Research. Our discussion really highlighted that you don’t need to do a huge randomised controlled trial. You can start off by getting involved in research that might already be happening in your workplace, maybe an audit or a change in the way you do things? Or try and get a small project started yourself. Sometimes the small unfunded projects are the ones of interest to most people and can make dramatic differences to patient care. Getting involved in research can give you a fresh perspective and a new area to focus on in your career. However you do need to be careful that you don’t end up doing the donkey work for someone else, while others take the credit. If you do get involved with someone else’s work, be upfront, ask to be involved in the design, analysis and writing up for conferences or articles.
Sometimes it’s just about the confidence. One of the participant said “sometimes it’s just about how to get started – I think we all surprise ourselves how much we actually know already so it comes back to confidence”. We’d like to help with this so get in touch and let us know how we can help get you more involved in research.
As with everything – work-life balance is everything. Research can as one comment “eats massively into [your] home life”. Now might not be the right time but it is something to consider when you feel ready and able.
For those of you who are doing some research we’d like to help publicise the work you are doing. We need to show that fantastic work that respiratory nurses are doing, if you’d like to do a blog or a short article about how you got involved and what you are doing get in touch. Think about coming to the conference, and when you are ready, submitting to do a poster or a talk. Our conference is very friendly and a great place for people to have a go at a poster. If you’d like some help about where to start get in touch and we can organise a chat! For further information please contact info@arns.co.uk