Claire Baldwin is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Major Trauma. Her six-month internship with the CCR was an exceptionally busy one!
Before undertaking the internship, I had become more interested in multiple aspects of research engagement, including project development, project delivery and professional development. As I am at an early stage in my research involvement, I am interested in a number of research areas which include pathophysiology processes following MT injuries, impact of frailty on patient outcomes in MT and end of life care in MT patients.
During the six-month internship I had the support of two mentors; Professor Dan Horner and Professor Helen Hurst. The opportunity to discuss my plans with two eminent and experienced clinical academics was fantastic. They have been encouraging and supportively critiqued my work.
Achievements
- Developed a research proposal which focused on nurse’s experiences of providing end of life care for patients who have sustained major trauma injuries. This involved undertaking a literature review, exploring qualitative research methods, developing a research plan and writing a structured proposal. The process allowed me to have a greater understanding of my learning needs. I subsequently developed a poster and presented this at the Advance Practice research study day. This was a great opportunity to receive positive feedback and network with other research interested clinicians.
- Utilised leadership skills by encouraging other clinicians to become more research active, highlighting active MT studies in the trust, encouraging recruitment to NIHR portfolio studies and signposting broader learning opportunities.
- Continued to develop my NIHR Associate Principal Investigator (API) role for a MT study at Salford (ACIT II). I spent time with the research delivery team and supported the development of a study database.
- Data collection for a service evaluation; Understanding the prevalence of patients with moderate to severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) presenting with iatrogenic/ idiopathic coagulopathy, current methods of investigation and current approaches to reversal/ treatment (TBI study).
- Developed a group with the Salford palliative care team and trauma geriatrician team to share research ideas to improve the care of major trauma patients in relation to end of life, palliative care and advanced decision making. We have started with a service evaluation of palliative care and Geriatrician involvement in major trauma patients who died within January 2024-July 2024.
- National involvement in MT research. I am a member of the National Major Trauma Nursing (NMTNG) research subgroup. Through this involvement, I have accepted the role of site link at Salford Royal Hospital for a ‘flash mob’ audit of the current state nationally of palliative care and end of life provision for patients with MT injuries.
- First academic publication! I was involved in reviewing some recent publications for an Emergency Medical Journal (EMJ). This was a good opportunity to critically review articles and to develop my writing skills.
- Invited to provide a description about my experience in the NIHR API scheme which was used in promotional materials for a NIHR API event in November 2024.
- Presented my own research journey at the Advanced Practice research celebration event. This was out of my comfort zone, but I felt it went well. I have benefited from listening to other people’s research experiences and I am keen to encourage others to step into research
The internship has been an invaluable opportunity to focus on research and consider whether I would like to develop a clinical academic career. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and have felt like a kid in a sweet shop wanting to try as much as possible in a limited time. I’ve really enjoyed linking up with others who are at different stages in their involvement in research and realising that there are many routes into a research career and no right or wrong answer as to how I choose the best fit for me.
Challenges
Anyone who knows me well is aware that my IT skills are verging on non-existent and has been a huge barrier to me taking the leap into becoming involved in research. I undertook an ‘Introduction to statistics’ session hosted by the CCR and Statistician, Professor Andy Vail. This involved inputting data into an excel spreadsheet and then statistically analysing it using StatsDirect. To say that this is outside my comfort zone would be a gross understatement, but I did it! I don’t think I’m the only clinician in the organisation whose IT skills could be upskilled, and this was a fantastic session which I hope can be repeated for others.
During the internship period, I felt a need to pack as much content into the time as possible, to prove to the Trust and my team that I was worth investing in. I think that this can be a hindrance as it made me want to focus on ‘quick wins’ so that I had outputs at the end of the period. This resulted in a lack of time to consider a longer-term plan as to how I would like to achieve a clinical academic career. I would have preferred the internship to have been over 12 months to have the time to explore this. I have also committed to a number of research, service review and audit projects which are ongoing with now very limited time to undertake them.
I cannot praise the NCA Library and Knowledge service enough. If the rest of the organisation were as helpful, responsive and expert in their field as they are, we would soon achieve outstanding Trust status once again.
Next steps
The internship has cemented my commitment to being involved in research and I would love to develop a clinical academic career. I intend to apply for the NHS England Integrated Clinical Academic (ICA) Internship Programme. I plan to link my learning needs directly to the NCA research and innovation strategy 2022-2027, especially in relation to developing advanced practice and nurse led research, thus delivering the research potential within the trauma service.
I would like to be involved in promoting research involvement to nurses, midwives and health visitors as a great opportunity for career development, retention of staff, education and ability to shape care for patients.