Case study: “My expertise is giving patients and families a voice” – Honorary Nurse Consultant spearheads palliative care research

International Nurses Day is celebrated annually around the world on 12 May and the campaign theme for 2023 is “Our Nurses. Our Future”. This year’s campaign explores what nurses want for nursing in the future to address global health challenges and improve health for all.

One Cambridgeshire nurse taking inspirational strides to improve care through research is Dr Ben Bowers, the first Honorary Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care appointed at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT).

Ben leads an interdisciplinary programme of research focused on improving end of life symptom control at home, based in the Palliative & End of Life Care Group in Cambridge.

Ben has been working with CRN East of England for many years to deliver research in the region and, among other accolades, he is also a Wellcome Post-Doctoral Fellow with the University of Cambridge, a Queen’s Nurse and Community Nursing Research Consultant for The Queen's Nursing Institute (QNI).

Ben qualified as a Registered Nurse in 2003 and specialised in surgery for the first two years before moving to district nursing.

The path to research

In 2015, his path led him to specialise in palliative care and it was during this part of his career journey that he became more interested in research.

“I became involved with national policy and realised that a lot of what we do in practice is based on a limited evidence base.

“It was a complete pivot in my career, but I wanted to do some research to try and understand what's happening in end of life care and to help improve it.”

Ben received a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Fellowship, giving him an opportunity to learn research skills and do a systematic review of evidence into anticipatory prescribing of injectable medications for last days of life symptom control.

During this time, Ben also gained clinical trial experience working on the NIHR’s Best3 trial, testing a ‘sponge on a string’ method to help diagnose Barrett’s oesophagus, a condition that can develop into oesophageal cancer if not monitored. This diagnostic intervention has since been adopted into clinical practice.

Ben’s research into anticipatory prescribing identified substantial knowledge gaps and he secured a very competitive PhD scholarship with the NIHR School for Primary Care Research, which he completed in 2022 with the University of Cambridge.

“I did research about improving last days of life control care, which was very clinically relevant. This allowed me to widely engage with people to do research, and my expertise is giving patients and families a voice in end of life care.”

One of the biggest achievements in Ben’s career was being awarded The Queen Elizabeth Award for Outstanding Service in 2022 in recognition of his long-term commitment to improving evidence-based practice for community nursing and palliative care.

“It’s a lovely feeling when people approach me and tell me about how the research I’m doing is helping to inform patient care; the benefit of being a clinical academic nurse is hugely valuable because I've got a finger on the pulse of what's needed in practice.”

Community Nursing Research Forum

To bring together and support a network of nurses interested in community research across the UK, Ben co-founded and leads the QNI Community Nursing Research Forum. This was launched in 2022 and now has over 600 members.

The Forum is an active community for nurses to become research aware and engaged, and for them to network and share ideas, building a foundation for the future of nurse-led interdisciplinary research.

“Community nurses work very closely with patients and families, and the questions that they ask about care and what could help are really quite nuanced. If we increase the evidence base to inform care in people's homes, in prisons and in GP practices, the clinical care that we can provide can be much more patient-centred.”

Ben’s advice for nurses who are keen to start their path in research is “recognise your potential and knock on the right doors”, just as he did earlier in his career. He said:

“My top tip is to go and find the people you really admire in your field and just approach them. Good research leaders will welcome your interest and ideas, as they’re very keen to get more clinicians involved, so reach out and go from there.”

If you would like to find out how the NIHR can help you add research to your career visit www.nihr.ac.uk/yourpath.