Academic Career Pathways

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Academic Career Pathways

• Christine Norton PhD MA RN
• Nurse Consultant (Bowel Control) St Marks
  Hospital, Harrow
• Professor of Clinical Nursing Innovation
  Associate Director of Nursing
• Bucks New University
• Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

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The only certainty is change

• Patients (demographics, expectations)
• NHS (technology, community focus, organisation of
  care)
• Nursing (all graduate, support workers, new roles
• Research (focus, funding, governance)

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What will your ideal job look like in

• 1 year
• 5 years
• 10 years
• 20 years
• Is it possible to plan for this?

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The issues

• Much research has only a medical focus
• Many important questions not answered by drugs
• Many nurse academics are not clinical (focus on
  workforce)
• Lack of career structure and progression for
  research nurses
• Would career progress for research nurses attract
  and retain more enable genuine
  multidisciplinary research?

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Recommendations (Finch 2007)

• Annually
• 100 MRes places (35 funded 2009)
• 50 PhD Fellowships (5 NM funded 2009)
• 20 postdoc places (6 NM funded 2009)
• 10 Senior clinical academic fellowships (1st
  round 2010)
• Lack of applicants lack of high quality

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Clinical Academic Careers

• Aim to have clinically active nurses also having
  a research role
• NIHR huge new funding for research nurses
• But not many have carved out own research
  programmes?

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Why education?

• Safeguard patient
• Knowledge competencies
• Credibility of nurses
• Equal member of multidisciplinary team
• Professional and personal development
• Role satisfaction
• Promotion and pay??
• Enabled to develop nursing service
• Become a prescriber
• Enabled to conduct nursing research

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Not all Masters are the same

• Accumulate credits from modules (180)
• Some generic (advanced practice)
• Some clinically focused (cancer nursing)
• Some multidisciplinary
• MSc vs. MRes
• Thesis may not allow you to do original research
• 1 year full time typically 2-3 years part time
  (2k pa)
• Choose carefully and ask lots of questions before
  you sign up

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Clinical nurses doing research for MSc thesis -
excited

• Ward sister RCT gum chewing after surgery
• Nurse endoscopist RCT Entonox for analgesia
• Ward sister marshmallows to firm ileostomy
  output
• CNS H Pylori gastric biopsies for IDA
• CNS introduce enhanced recovery
• CNS info giving improved bowel prep for
  colonoscopy
• Need to be organised to achieve

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Should PhD be the target?

• 3 years full time 4-6 years part time
• Original contribution to knowledge
• 1-2 supervisors, 1 project
• Register with a University
• Training
• Thesis 75-100,000 words viva

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Nursing Research PhD Students

• Maureen Coggrave spinal bowel management
• Sue Woodward reflexology for constipation
• Sarah Collings experience of incontinence
• Maggie Vance nurse led screening for bowel Ca
• Nikki Cotterill questionnaire for incontinence
• Denise Hibberts needs of Muslim women with a
  stoma
• Lesley Dibley stigma in inflammatory bowel
  disease

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Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust Professor
of Nursing 2010

• Director of Nursing Janice Sigsworth 1st job
  work out strategy for CAC in AHSC
• ( for EBP)
• Where to start?
• 25 nurses have BSc target 50
• 2.3 have MSc target 10
• 3 have PhDs target 0.5 (20)

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Our AHSC model tripartite mission
Research
AHSC
Clinical Service
Education
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Career structure nurses in an AHSC

• BSc prepared students ( MSc route)
• with research enhanced preparation
• opportunity for placement in CTU (10 units)
• New staff orientation compulsory (online)
  research awareness skills ( AHPs)
• PhD/Preceptorship programme
• Research nurses development programme

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Research as a career option

• 3rd year student placements
• Research nurse posts often the opportunity is
  missed use to develop skills and ambitions
  career pathway
• Build research into clinical job plans

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Evidence-based practice (effectiveness)
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Issues for Research Nurses

• Employer NHS or University?
• Induction
• Line manager and nursing reporting line?
• Who is responsible for mandatory training CPD
  ( pays)?
• Career pathway? Short term contracts
• Skills development, study leave
• Isolation possibilities for undue pressure
• Not a career
• RCN competencies a start

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Develop research from clinical questions grants

• RfPB 248k, radiation proctitis
• Imperial Charity 436k, improving patient
  experience
• Crohns Colitis UK 109k FI in IBD
• Big Lottery 481k fatigue in IBD
• Coloplast Ltd 10k pilot anal irrigation
• NIHR 99k, development of constipation algorithm

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Conclusions

• Why try for academic progression?
• Others will seldom take the initiative
• It is hard work, but rewarding
• Probably the only way we are going to develop
  genuine multidisciplinary research and enhance
  patient outcomes
• Route to a self-confident research active
  profession