CAREERS
Computer games designer. Neonatal nurse. Old age psychiatrist. Maths teacher. Ballet dancer. Orchestral musician (strings). Chef. Oil/gas geologist. Tunnelling engineer. Some shortage occupations, including neonatal nurses, are exempt from the rules (see box). However, in February the government’s Migration Advisory Committee reviewed the list and concluded that specialist neonatal nurses should be removed, except in Scotland, because there is no longer a national shortage. No other nursing disciplines should be included, the committee said. Adult nurses are not in short supply because most vacancies are caused by ‘recruitment freezes and redundancies, with employers keeping posts unfilled to keep costs down’. The Home Office has not yet ruled on these recommendations. But in the meantime nurses such as Mr Banzon are bracing themselves. He says: ‘I may go to a country like Canada that is friendlier to nurses’ NS Christian Duffin is a freelance journalist
Caroline French sizes up research career opportunities
More than meets the eye In my work as a research nurse for more than four years, I gained experience in a range of tasks and roles. These included recruiting patients, gaining informed consent, collecting research data, dispensing trial medication, collecting and overall study co-ordination (see box). Last year, I moved to a new joint role of research nurse/research fellow in neuro-rehabilitation. This led me to reflect that most research nurse work is concerned with research delivery while the wider research process presents many other opportunities. In the research nurse role, as well as co-ordinating research studies, I also helped neuro-rehabilitation staff to implement evidence-based practice, set up a journal club and devised research awareness sessions for non-qualified clinical staff.
The research process Research idea. Research design. Funding and approvals. Research nurse activities. Data analysis. Dissemination of findings.
revalidation Maureen Kirwan, the conference will update delegates on the development of revalidation and the new NMC Code, and focus on strengthening nursing appraisals. The conference is on July 2 at the Manchester Conference Centre. tinyurl.com/NMCAppandreval Infection prevention The Infection Prevention Society annual conference will be held at the ACC Liverpool from September 28-30, with a large educational programme aimed at directors of infection prevention, microbiologists, pharmacists, and nursing experts. Seminar streams will cover topics such as immunisation and vaccination, faecal transplant, Ebola and compliance with standard precautions. tinyurl.com/IPS2015
As a research fellow, I worked on a study to test a new stroke rehabilitation service. I was responsible for reviewing the literature to inform the study design, managing a patient/public involvement group, co-ordinating the research team, producing study documents and contributing to the funding application. I realised how my research nurse skills were valuable in designing a feasible and unambiguous study, while my academic knowledge helped me to reflect critically on my practice, and ensure the scientific value of studies was retained. Clinical staff have become more eager to refer patients to me for studies. Although I have found that some academic researchers believe research nurses make valuable contributions to study design, it can be difficult for us to access training and develop academic confidence. Despite the challenges, I believe research nurses can use their experience of research delivery to contribute to the wider research process, and can look for opportunities outside their normal roles to enhance their careers NS ISTOCK
Home Office list of ‘shortage occupations’
Caroline French is research nurse/research fellow at Solent NHS Trust, Southampton Researching healthcare practice A two-day seminar on using appreciative inquiry to research healthcare practice will be held on June 25/26 at Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent. Hosted by the England Centre for Practice Development, the event is for research students, researchers and their supervisors, and professionals who are either leading complex change in health care or are teaching, facilitating or researching practice development. tinyurl.com/UAIRHP Sharing good practice Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Yorkshire and Humber, is holding a sharing good practice festival day on June 24 at Rivermead Training Centre, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield. Any healthcare worker in the region can attend free for either the entire day or part of it. Email [email protected]
NURSING june No 10 other :: vol uses 29 no 41 :: permission. 2015 65 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 12, 2015. For personal use only. without Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Computer games designer. Neonatal nurse. Old age psychiatrist. Maths teacher. Ballet dancer. Orchestral musician (strings). Chef. Oil/gas geologist. Tunnelling engineer. Some shortage occupations, including neonatal nurses, are exempt from the rules (see box). However, in February the government’s Migration Advisory Committee reviewed the list and concluded that specialist neonatal nurses should be removed, except in Scotland, because there is no longer a national shortage. No other nursing disciplines should be included, the committee said. Adult nurses are not in short supply because most vacancies are caused by ‘recruitment freezes and redundancies, with employers keeping posts unfilled to keep costs down’. The Home Office has not yet ruled on these recommendations. But in the meantime nurses such as Mr Banzon are bracing themselves. He says: ‘I may go to a country like Canada that is friendlier to nurses’ NS Christian Duffin is a freelance journalist
Caroline French sizes up research career opportunities
More than meets the eye In my work as a research nurse for more than four years, I gained experience in a range of tasks and roles. These included recruiting patients, gaining informed consent, collecting research data, dispensing trial medication, collecting and overall study co-ordination (see box). Last year, I moved to a new joint role of research nurse/research fellow in neuro-rehabilitation. This led me to reflect that most research nurse work is concerned with research delivery while the wider research process presents many other opportunities. In the research nurse role, as well as co-ordinating research studies, I also helped neuro-rehabilitation staff to implement evidence-based practice, set up a journal club and devised research awareness sessions for non-qualified clinical staff.
The research process Research idea. Research design. Funding and approvals. Research nurse activities. Data analysis. Dissemination of findings.
revalidation Maureen Kirwan, the conference will update delegates on the development of revalidation and the new NMC Code, and focus on strengthening nursing appraisals. The conference is on July 2 at the Manchester Conference Centre. tinyurl.com/NMCAppandreval Infection prevention The Infection Prevention Society annual conference will be held at the ACC Liverpool from September 28-30, with a large educational programme aimed at directors of infection prevention, microbiologists, pharmacists, and nursing experts. Seminar streams will cover topics such as immunisation and vaccination, faecal transplant, Ebola and compliance with standard precautions. tinyurl.com/IPS2015
As a research fellow, I worked on a study to test a new stroke rehabilitation service. I was responsible for reviewing the literature to inform the study design, managing a patient/public involvement group, co-ordinating the research team, producing study documents and contributing to the funding application. I realised how my research nurse skills were valuable in designing a feasible and unambiguous study, while my academic knowledge helped me to reflect critically on my practice, and ensure the scientific value of studies was retained. Clinical staff have become more eager to refer patients to me for studies. Although I have found that some academic researchers believe research nurses make valuable contributions to study design, it can be difficult for us to access training and develop academic confidence. Despite the challenges, I believe research nurses can use their experience of research delivery to contribute to the wider research process, and can look for opportunities outside their normal roles to enhance their careers NS ISTOCK
Home Office list of ‘shortage occupations’
Caroline French is research nurse/research fellow at Solent NHS Trust, Southampton Researching healthcare practice A two-day seminar on using appreciative inquiry to research healthcare practice will be held on June 25/26 at Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent. Hosted by the England Centre for Practice Development, the event is for research students, researchers and their supervisors, and professionals who are either leading complex change in health care or are teaching, facilitating or researching practice development. tinyurl.com/UAIRHP Sharing good practice Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Yorkshire and Humber, is holding a sharing good practice festival day on June 24 at Rivermead Training Centre, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield. Any healthcare worker in the region can attend free for either the entire day or part of it. Email [email protected]
NURSING june No 10 other :: vol uses 29 no 41 :: permission. 2015 65 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 12, 2015. For personal use only. without Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
