Increasing nursing and midwifery research leadership: impact evaluation of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Senior Nurse and Midwife Research Leader Programme at 1 year.

Background

Although nurses and midwives make up the largest sector of the National Health Service (NHS) workforce, studies have identified a lack of knowledge, skills and confidence to engage and lead research. In 2018, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) invested in the development of a 3-year Senior Nurse Midwife Research Leader (SNMRL) Programme aimed at developing nursing and midwifery research capacity and capability. This review was conducted at the end of year one as part of an ongoing impact evaluation of the programme.

Aim

To evaluate the impact of activities undertaken by NIHR SNMRL at the end of year one of the programme.

Method

The content of anonymised end-of-year one activity, self-reported by SNMRL, was coded independently and deductively analysed by a project team using the modified Visible ImpaCT Of Research framework (VICTOR). Exemplar case studies were selected by the team to illustrate activity within domains. Working group members coded two reports independently then compared them in pairs to increase inter-rater reliability and the quality and consistency of coding.

Results

Reports from 63 of 66 SNMRL were submitted and included for analysis. Reporting reflected progress towards NIHR programme objectives. These included acting as a programme ambassador, creating a vibrant research culture, supporting staff recruitment and retention, enhancing organisational reputation and clinical academic outputs. Networking and collaboration locally, regionally and nationally were widely reported.

Conclusions

The SNMRL cohort reported initiating multiple initiatives aimed at influencing organisational research culture, service provision and supporting nursing/midwifery engagement with research. Evaluation indicated progress to address barriers to research engagement within NHS Trusts.

Informations de copyright

© The Author(s) 2023.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors report no declarations of interest. During the conduct of this work JCM, SBr, SBe, LB and VS were National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Nurse and Midwife Research Leaders. CH is supported by the NIHR Oxford Health Clinical Research Facility. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR, or the Department of Health and Social Care.