Kerry Lewis is a Senior Research Nurse in Emergency and Critical Care at North Bristol NHS Trust.
She shares her journey into her current role, what she enjoys about it and how she feels she’s making an impact with her work.
I’ve had a roundabout journey to my current role
I come from a background of cancer nursing and then moved into breast cancer research as it sounded an interesting change. I was running the stroke research portfolio at NBT when I was redeployed during the pandemic to help with Accident & Emergency and Intensive Care Unit research. And that’s where I’ve stayed. It has been a big challenge, but a good one!
Day-to-day my role involves line managing my team and our studies
There are ten of us, made up of Research Nurses and Research Administrators, and we work in A&E, ICU, Anaesthetics and Stroke Research.
Video Transcript
Kerry's Story - Video Transcript
My name's Kerry, I am the Senior Research nurse for the emergency and critical care research team. My role involves line managing the research nurses and the administrators within the team. There's approximately 10 of us and we work in A&E, ICU, Anaesthetics and Stroke Research.
I think our research covers some of the more critically ill people within our hospital. And the impacts that we make could have long lasting benefits not only to the people who are affected by the conditions we treat but the departments in which we treat them. We can make an impact into how services are delivered, and we can actually see that in our hospitals.
A common misconception about working in research is that we are in a laboratory or in a library most of our time. Actually, most of our time is spent at an office desk and then in front of patients in clinical teams. I think I've been to the laboratory twice in the six years I've worked here.
If you're brand new to research and you might not have considered a career before, I would suggest trying to get hold of your nearest research nurse or AHP and ask them about their role and about the research that’s happening in your local Community Practice or in your hospital. There will be research going on.
I love the variety within my role
So even though my position doesn't change, the projects that I work on do. Every so often there'll be new projects that we bring on board, and I enjoy that challenge.
I still hold my nursing registration
If I need to, I can help out in areas where I’ve kept my skills up to date.
I enjoy seeing new research come through from people who I’ve worked with clinically
I like working collaboratively with people who are working on their own research, or with other universities. It’s interesting working on lots of projects at once.
Our research covers some of the more critically ill people within our hospital
The impact that we make could have long lasting benefits not only to the people who are affected by the conditions we treat, but to the departments in which we treat them.
With research we can make an impact on how services are delivered, and we can see the positive effects in our hospitals.
A common misconception about working in research is that…
We are in a laboratory or a library for most of the time. Actually, we’re mostly at an office desk and with patients and clinical teams. I think I’ve been in a lab maybe twice in the six years I’ve worked here!
If you're new to research and you haven’t considered it as a career
I would suggest trying to get hold of your nearest research nurse, AHP or doctor who manages their own research project and ask them about their role and about the research that's happening in in your local Community Practice or in your hospital, there will be research going on. It’s hard to know what it’s like without speaking to someone. You can also find out what research is happening in the areas you’re working in.