South London nurse urges others to consider NIHR research career
A published south London Nurse Researcher has urged her colleagues to consider a career in research with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
Maria Joao Cardoso Teixeira, - ‘Jo’ - who has worked in the nursing profession for 22 years, has had her University of Aveiro PhD paper titled: 'Understanding family caregivers' needs to support relatives with advanced progressive disease at home: an ethnographic study in rural Portugal’ published in BioMed Central’s Palliative Care Journal.
Jo works in CRN South London’s Division 5 as a Research Nurse. She also is an Intensive Care Nurse supporting the COVID-19 response at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Jo believes that her colleagues have an invaluable contribution to make to improving patient care through research. She said:
“I’m very driven in wanting to improve patient care through research, as without knowledge, technology, treatments, procedures, caring and the way disease is diagnosed cannot progress. I love my career and believe passionately that developing the role of nurses in research is essential in improving the evidence base that will deliver benefits for everyone in the future. I’d encourage nurses to consider a career in research with the NIHR as they provide a lot of support, funding and a network that really helps to advance the portfolio of studies.
"My paper was about assessing and putting in place a system to record and offer community support to chronic patients and their families in my home country of Portugal. The intention was to help to reduce the number of unnecessary visits to hospital Emergency Departments.
“Nurses need to be given the space and time to develop their own studies that answer the important questions from within their own fields of expertise, and I am privileged to provide support to nurses engaged in research at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust two days a week. This work is currently suspended during the pandemic as my time is dedicated to supporting King’s College Hospital in their Intensive Care Unit. I care deeply about our patients and I am proud to be playing my part in supporting the Trust during this really challenging time.”
The NIHR is the largest funder of health and care research in England and the organisation provides the people, facilities and technology that enables research to thrive.
CRN South London’s Research Delivery Manager Robert Pleass said: “I’d like to congratulate Jo on her published paper. It is crucial that the experiences, knowledge and values of nurses are inputted into the design and delivery of research studies.”
You can read Jo’s PhD paper and her other research work on ResearchGate.
