Published: 17 September 2018
- New pan-London campaign aimed at nurses and midwives seeking career change
- Nurses and midwives are ‘too important to lose’
- Nurses and midwives will have the chance to shadow a research team for a day and book an appointment online to talk directly to a clinical research nurse
A new pan-London campaign launched today by NIHR aims to attract nurses and midwives into clinical research roles. The Keep Making a Difference campaign is geared toward nurses and midwives nearing retirement, returning from a career break or seeking a career change.
NHS Digital figures show that one in ten nurses are leaving the NHS in England each year with more than than 33,000 nurses leaving last year. There are now more leavers than joiners.
Dr Susan Hamer, Director of Nursing at the NIHR, said:
“Reducing the number of nurses leaving the profession is a high priority for every NHS organisation. NIHR is a significant funder of staff to support clinical research across the NHS and it’s important we play an active role in supporting these efforts. Nurses and midwives are too important to lose.
“Clinical research has transformed treatment in the NHS and the care patients receive. Research roles are highly rewarding and our campaign is all about encouraging nurses and midwives to consider a research role to keep on making a difference in the field of nursing and midwifery.
“With more patients than ever before accessing research trials, now is the perfect time for a campaign such as this. Clinical research nursing is a new and rapidly expanding branch of nursing and with research teams in demand across the country we need more research nurses and midwives to support these teams and deliver great clinical care.”
The campaign aims to reach over 1000 nurses and midwives across London and Kent Surrey and Sussex, 50 of whom will be invited to shadow a research team for a day to gain an insight into the role of a research nurse or midwife.
Nurses and midwives will be asked to sign up to a customised email series to learn about clinical research and will receive one-to-one support to help them take their existing skills and transfer them into a research role. Nurses and midwives will have the opportunity to shadow a research team in a local trust for a day and book an appointment online to talk directly to a clinical research nurse.
Find out more: Keep Making a Difference campaign.