Rebecca Cousins is Lead Research Nurse for the Urology team at North Bristol NHS Trust.
She has recruited Research Nurses without previous research experience and shares her thoughts on the support available for this path, how she got involved in research, and why she feels she’s making an impact with her work.
After I finished my undergraduate degree I did a research Masters
I considered going into Academia but decided it wasn't for me and completed a postgraduate nursing degree. While I was working on the wards I was thinking about how I wanted to use my interest in research combined with nursing, so I applied for a job as a research nurse.
“We get the satisfaction of engaging hospital patients in research and then following their progress.”
Day to day my role involves having oversight of my team and our studies
I also have oversight of new trials and managing the resources to deliver them.
Having a variety of different types of research in my role is really interesting
We’re looking at improving quality of life for patients and cost saving for the NHS, but also trying novel therapies and innovative treatments. I get excited when we get new studies coming in.
In our team we do such a wide variety of research. From improving the quality of life for women with stress urinary incontinence, and surgical studies for advanced stages of cancer, to finding out how exercise plays a role in pre- and post-treatment for prostate cancer using electric bikes. We also carry out studies with primary care providers, so our role takes us into different settings – hospital wards and out in the community.
One study I’ve worked on that stands out for me was a new therapy in patients with Huntington's disease
I was excited to work on this as it was one of the first in-human trials, which is the first stage in a long process of trialling a therapy. Our study indicated it could improve outcomes for patients. There were only 46 patients enrolled globally and, in my role at that time, we recruited two of them.
I feel like I’m making an impact with my research
We’re currently doing a study looking at whether there's a link between testing COVID positive and subsequently developing new lower urinary tract symptoms. We're recruiting patients in the hospital, which means we get the satisfaction of engaging patients in research and then following their progress. It's often a positive thing for them to be involved with as it’s a separate focus to being ill in hospital. Patients really appreciate that ongoing contact as well; they find it a real support system.
I love being involved in patient outreach and engagement through research and sharing that NBT is actively including patients as participants when we design these studies. Letting them know what’s happening at NBT as our response to COVID, for example, is hugely rewarding.
As a researcher you're building a whole new set of skills
They enhance your professional development as a nurse or healthcare professional. Sometimes research roles are perceived as deskilling from your clinical abilities, but I don’t think that's the case at all. We do have more office-based time, but we also get the privilege in some studies of being able to develop long-term relationships with patients.
NBT is very research active so there’s a solid framework and good support
Our department has research competencies, a research framework and a research strategy. This means there's a very clear direction and support in terms of what my research and clinical objectives are, what my personal goals are, and where there are opportunities for professional development, which I like. We didn’t have such a clear structure and support when I worked as a research nurse in an academic institution.
It’s straightforward to transition into a research nurse role
If you have one to two years post-registration experience. There’s no specific course you need to take. I’ve worked with nurses who have done postgraduate training and those who have come into research without any previous research experience. The key thing is being passionate and engaged about wanting improvements for patients on a wider scale. If you have an interest in it and you’re keen to learn and develop, research could be a really good choice for you.
If someone’s considering a research career
You could see what sort of research is happening in your local hospital, for example our current research at NBT. You could then reach out to see if you could do some shadowing to get a feel for it. The National Institute for Health and Care Research website also has some great resources.
Further information
- Careers and active research vacancies at North Bristol NHS Trust
- Support for your research journey
- Our Current Research
Video Transcript
I'm in the Urology research team and I'm the lead research nurse for that team, so day to day my responsibilities can vary quite a lot, but my main role is to have oversight of the team and the studies that we're delivering. And I also have oversight of new trials that might be coming in and seeing if we've got the resources to deliver those.
After I finished my undergraduate degree I did a research Masters and I was thinking about going into Academia but then decided it wasn't for me. I then looked at doing postgrad nursing, which I completed, and then when I was working on the wards, I was thinking how I wanted to use my interest in research to combine with nursing. And that's when I applied for a job as a research nurse.
Having that mixture of studies where we’re looking at improving quality of life for patients and cost saving for the NHS but also trying really novel therapies and innovative treatments. And I think that having that variety of different types of research in your role day-to-day is really interesting to be involved with.
I've worked with nurses who have done postgraduate training and I've worked with nurses who have come into research, and they haven't had any research experience. But I think the thing that's really key is that they are just really passionate about wanting change for patients and improvements for them. I think that's the thing I look for in my team, is that they're really engaged with wanting to help patients but on a wider scale, and actually it's very easy to transition into a research nurse role if you've got one to two years post registration experience. There's no course you need to take it's just if you have an interest in it, and you've done a bit of your own background, and you're keen to learn and develop, then research could be a really great choice for you.