Senior research nurse shares her path to research
The NIHR have launched a new campaign to inspire healthcare professionals to get more involved in research. The campaign, called Your Path In Research, launched on 4 October to coincide with James Lind’s birthday. James Lind is famous for conducting the first ever clinical trial while serving as a surgeon. His experiment on board the HMS Salisbury in 1747 showed that oranges and lemons were a cure for scurvy. As part of the campaign, healthcare professionals across Wessex have been speaking about how they got involved in research and why they think it’s important that more people do. In this blog, Kay Mitchell, NIHR 70@70 Senior Nurse Research Leader and Senior Research Manager for NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, detailed her path into research:
“I first became properly involved in research in about 2004. I had been aware of research before that, but it was in early 2004 that I really ‘dipped my toe in the water’. I started working with a team of healthcare professionals at University College London (UCL). We set about developing an observational study in healthy volunteers to investigate the effect of low oxygen levels on human physiology. The study developed into the Xtreme-everest programme of research, and I have not stopped being involved in research since.
“As well as supporting research in healthy volunteers, I have also worked on studies in intensive care and perioperative medicine. I have also helped others get involved in research through the setting up of the Centre for Nurse and Midwife led Research at UCL, and the setting up of the Southampton Academy of Research in Southampton. I have completed a Masters in Critical Care which included a research project related to long-term ventilation, and currently am studying for a PhD related to epigenetics.
“Newcastle Hospital made a video recently called Make Space 4 Research, I am not sure I can put it any better than they did why it is important for all of us to engage with research. I am sure we all have ‘an itch to scratch’ when we think of things that we would like to improve in our day to day jobs in healthcare.
“I have been supported by the NIHR through my work as a Training Lead, through access to the NIHR Learn platform, and most recently through funding from the 70@70 programme. In addition, I have used NIHR resources such as the Research Design Service on an intermittent basis for teaching and development. The NIHR provide a lot of material online for free that can be accessed by anyone. The only problem is finding the time to make full use of it all.”
To find out more about the campaign and to hear from other healthcare professionals, please visit nihr.ac.uk/yourpathinresearch
