The project is an NHS and NIHR run initiative, in association with the James Lind Alliance, and supported by the NIHR ARC OxTV and ARC North East and North Cumbria (NENC).
‘The first step of the process is to gather the unique views and thoughts about what research needs to be done from a wide range of people involved in or affected by community nursing,’ said Suzannah Kinsella, PSP Steering Group Chair and JLA Adviser. ‘And today we’re announcing the launch of our first two surveys; one for patients, carers and interested members of the public, and one for community nurses and other community-based healthcare professionals.’
Both surveys are open now and can be accessed online at www.arc-oxtv.nihr.ac.uk/communitynursingPSP
Community nursing teams work with patients and their families in places ranging from clinics and health centres, to residential care and patients own homes. They are hugely important in helping the NHS meet the needs of elderly, disabled, or vulnerable patients who may not be able to visit hospital.
As well as providing and monitoring ongoing care, community nurses also play an important role in advising and educating patients – for example about illness and disease prevention – and provide support for patients in social care and welfare programmes. As such, the potential breadth of research around community nursing that could be done is vast, and this project aims to generate a ‘top ten’ list of priorities.
The project is being led and run by a group of NIHR 70@70 senior nurse research leaders from NHS Trusts across England. The NIHR 70@70 programme was set up in 2019 with the aim of strengthening the research voice and influence of nurses and midwives in health and social care settings.
The 70@70 team are working with the James Lind Alliance, a non-profit making initiative that facilitates PSPs with the aim of making sure that health research funders are aware of the issues that matter most to the people who need to use the results of research in their everyday lives.
‘We’re hoping not only to encourage the views of community nurses, the people they care for and their families and carers, but also for community nurses themselves to become more involved in research,’ said Dr Cathy Henshall, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. ‘Generating this list of priorities will give funders, trusts, nurses and academic centres the steering they need to really get to grips with research and the future of community nursing.’
‘The NIHR ARC Oxford and Thames Valley is already supporting the project with a view to helping disseminate its findings among health researchers,’ said Dr Paula Wray, Senior Manager of the NIHR ARC Oxford and Thames Valley. ‘We hope to secure funding to deliver new research based on the outcomes of this project in the near future and encourage our partners across the nation to do so as well.’
More details about the project, including aims and outcomes, steering group members, and updates are available at: www.arc-oxtv.nihr.ac.uk/communitynursingPSP