St Giles Hospice nurses complete national research programme

Two nurses at St Giles Hospice have completed a year-long national research programme, with one receiving an upgrade to a more advanced internship.

Samantha Doody, a clinical nurse specialist and prescriber in the community team, and Ruth Abell, inpatient unit sister, were among the first nurses selected for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Researcher Development Programme for Social Care Nurses.

Samantha was initially accepted onto the entry-level Champions programme, but her application was upgraded to the Research Internship in recognition of her commitment to research in palliative care.

The programme gave both nurses one day a week to develop their research skills through training, mentoring and learning resources provided by the University of Liverpool.

It also provided St Giles Hospice with two days a week of dedicated research nursing activity.

Samantha's project explored hospice staff's knowledge, confidence and training needs when caring for people with motor neurone disease (MND). Responses from 22 staff members highlighted opportunities for further education and development.

She said: “I'm proud to have completed this internship, and still can't quite believe I was upgraded to the Research Internship programme when I applied.

“Working with our MND patients, I could see there were gaps in staff confidence and knowledge, so I used my project to explore that properly. I started the year wanting to understand research, and I'm finishing it wanting research to stay part of my career.”

Ruth's project examined whether education in palliative symptom management improved clinicians' knowledge and confidence in wound care at the end of life.

She said: “This internship has given me the confidence to turn clinical curiosity into research, and research into real improvements in patient care.

“My project looked at wound management at the end of life, and it reinforced for me that our goal isn't always healing a wound, sometimes it's about comfort, dignity and quality of life.”

Ruth also presented her findings as a research poster, which she described as one of the proudest moments of the year.

Other highlights included attending the Voices of Care parliamentary reception at the House of Lords. Ruth also became the internship group's lead, joining the NIHR steering committee to help shape the programme for future participants.

The experience has influenced both nurses' career plans. Ruth has applied for a master's degree in research at the University of Birmingham and has been offered a role as a specialist research nurse at St Giles. Samantha said the internship had already led to discussions about further research opportunities at the hospice.

Cara Bailey, professor of end-of-life care at St Giles Hospice and the University of Birmingham, said: “We are incredibly proud of both Sam and Ruth. Completing this programme, in its inaugural year, is a real achievement for them individually and for St Giles Hospice.

“Their projects show exactly why nurses need to be part of research – they're the ones who see where care can be improved and ask the right questions.”

She said the achievement was another step towards the hospice's ambition to become a centre of excellence for hospice research.

St Giles Hospice also aims to become an official university hospice, a status held by only four other hospices in the UK, according to the organisation.