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Nurse leader keen to champion south London NMAPs

We spoke to our Lead for Research Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Professionals (NMAP), Clair Harris. In this new role, together with Laura McCabe, Clair will work with CRN South London's leadership team to ensure NMAP roles are visible and developed.

What does your role for the CRN entail?

In this role, we will champion the vital role of NMAPs in supporting, delivering and leading research. We aim to strengthen local NMAP networks and support and raise the profile of all NMAP colleagues' work in south London. We will represent partners in the national NMAP structures and share information from the national team with the region's CRN South London leadership team and NMAP networks.

What attracted you to the CRN and this position in particular?

I was excited by this role because I am passionate about the crucial role NMAPs play in supporting and delivering multi-disciplinary research, providing leadership in research teams and embedding research cultures in clinical services.

I also believe that NMAP-led research and practice will be essential to address current health and social care system priorities to support people to stay well and independent, live with long-term conditions, and organise timely access to services. The role presented an excellent opportunity to make an impact in developing the NMAP contribution and strengthening our professional identity as researchers in the region.

What are your priorities for the position?

For me, the critical priority is to strengthen the voice of and raise awareness of the vital role of NMAPs in research across the region, so we thought it was important to first engage with nurse leaders from the partner organisation at the CRN lead research nurse and midwife forum, to share ideas and agree on priorities. The forum will be an essential channel to take forward initiatives within the Network.

What excites you about the role?

I'm excited to strengthen my working relationships with NMAP leaders who are passionate about research regionally and nationally. I also look forward to building new relationships and hopefully making an impact. The biggest challenge is the scale of the task, particularly as south London has a rich pedigree of delivering world-class research. We will need to draw on all the talent of colleagues throughout the region to be successful in this role.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Thank you for the warm welcome from CRN South London's senior leadership team and the lead nurse forum.


The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.