The Newcastle Researcher Development Institute (RDI) was launched in 2022, with £3.2 million grant from Newcastle Hospitals Charity.
To date, the RDI has so far supported 17 nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals (NMAHPs) to ‘Make Space 4 Research’, by developing research skills alongside their clinical practice. One of the RDI offers is a research internship.
This programme is open to all Newcastle Hospitals NMAHP staff and enables them to conduct a project of their own choosing, in their clinical area, whilst also learning more about the research landscape.
The latest research internship cohort consists of a varied range of professions, career stages and experiences. This includes individuals who are at the very start of their research journey to those further along and working towards pre doctoral applications.
Zoe Jackson
Zoe Jackson, a staff nurse working in critical care since qualifying in 2021 has been interested in research since starting university.
She is using this opportunity to look into pressure damage prevention in darker skin tones and assessing the current knowledge and skill level of critical care staff, to identify any areas for improvement.
Zoe said “The funding has allowed me to have protected time to focus on my research project”.
She would like the knowledge learned through this internship to contribute to improving nurse education and overall enhancing patient care. Zoe would also like to share that these opportunities are open to staff even those who have just started their careers.
Ruth Stanley
Ruth Stanley is a paediatric dietitian whose research interest has developed in recent years, through participating in and undertaking service audits and projects.
Ruth said ” I have has come to appreciate the importance of research and how even small projects can influence practice at a local level which has inspired me to become more actively involved in research”.
Ruth is now carrying out a project looking into dietetic provision in intestinal failure.
She has utilised the protected time to gain a better understanding around the wider aspects of research, such as how clinical research is carried out. She also aims to produce an abstract to present at a national conference.
Matthew Douglas-Harris
Matthew Douglas-Harris is an extended scope podiatrist. His internship has been funded by Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) in partnership with the RDI to pursue a research study looking into plantar fasciitis and menopause.
Matthew’s project aims to conduct a series of patient and public involvement workshops to explore the views of those involved in the care of menopausal patients with plantar fasciitis, but especially the patients themselves.
This will help inform the parameters of the second part of the project, which would be a scoping review to map out the literature and inform the direction of further research.
Matthew aims to publish and present this work more widely to help improve patient care and to continue working with the institutions that have supported him so far.
Natalie Eastwood
Natalie Eastwood is a speech and language therapist who is pursuing a research study looking into Speech and Language Therapy-Led Voice Clinics.
Natalie is using this opportunity to both develop and strengthen her research capabilities to enhance an application for National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding via the Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship (PCAF) scheme.
Natalie has been working at the Newcastle Hospitals since 2016 and in that time has become more aware of the research opportunities available to AHPs.
She said “Working alongside SLT colleagues who are research active has made research feel more accessible to me”.
This funding has fuelled her enthusiasm to continue along the clinical academic pathway.
Helen Flett
Helen Flett a senior audiologist has been funded by the BRC in partnership with the RDI for this internship. Helen’s area of interest is quality-of-life outcomes for patients with hearing loss and dementia.
Helen recognised this award as an excellent opportunity to help develop her skills and knowledge which will help to pursue a career as a researcher in the future. During her internship Helen has enjoyed the freedom to plan her working day.
This has involved lots of research related opportunities including observing research ethics committee meetings, carrying out screening studies for a multicentre systematic review and taken an active part in studies and trials.
Helen has also been able to network with specialists in dementia and hearing loss, who have regularly offered advice and assistance during the internship.
Since starting this internship Helen has been successful in gaining a promotion for a more senior position in another trust. On behalf of the NMAHP research team we would like to congratulate her on this achievement, thank her for all her work here at Newcastle Hospitals and wish her all the best in her new role.
Find out more
All of these individuals have recently finished their internships and further RDI offers are opening.
If you are interested in this opportunity or other research related ones, please check NMAHP Research Webzone where you will also find details about ongoing training, fellowships and much more.
