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7c1c5828-e040-4058-a214-a3f1d860532c COMPLETED: CLECC Toolkit and background: Creating Learning Environments for Compassionate Care (CLECC) CLECC is a training and development programme that has been tested and measured over several years in different care environments. It is designed to help improve the wellbeing of health and care staff and make a difference to patient care. It’s easier for you to care for patients when you feel well cared for yourself An important part of feeling well cared for is working in a team that supports you, where members care about how you are and want to help you It’s hard to provide good care to patients when you feel stressed, isolated and unsupported CLECC aims to provide the conditions in which every team member feels able to be compassionate with each other and with patients We have developed and tested CLECC in real-life health and care settings to see how practical it is to use and to understand its impact in different settings. Our results to date indicate its promise for supporting staff learning and wellbeing, and the delivery of compassionate care. Professor Jackie Bridges Professor Jackie Bridges, a nurse by background and now Professor of Older People’s Care at University of Southampton in the UK, has led this work for over a decade. She has worked closely with experts from different fields, particularly in nursing practice, to develop the CLECC programme and the accompanying research. This page contains a facilitator guide and accompanying resources to help health and care teams learn about CLECC and use it in a practical real-world setting. CLECC is constantly being improved and revised with feedback from nursing, care staff and managers so please get in contact with any feedback. You can fill out the form below or contact us direct. Contact us Email arcwessex@soton.ac.uk Or via our Twitter page Let’s start with the basics What is CLECC and what evidence do we have that it works? Our two videos below can answer those questions Guides – How do we do that? I want to use CLECC A guide for facilitators – 101834 A4 Brochure - CLECC Facilitator Manual AMENDS - Jackie Bridges - FINAL .pdf Download PDF • 1.14MB I want to show CLECC to a team and get them thinking about how to use it Slideshow to accompany facilitator guide – download PDF here (32 pages) CLECC Whole Team Introductory Learning Activities slideset .pdf Download PDF • 13.63MB I want to tailor how I use CLECC based on understanding people’s experiences at work Download the questionnaires below: Workplace Learning Questionnaire – for use by teams to identify team learning climate strengths and issues Team CLECC Workplace Learning questionnaire for care settings .pdf Download PDF • 108KB Climate for Care Questionnaire – for teams to evaluate team working climate CLECC Team Climate for Care questionnaire .pdf Download PDF • 107KB Please take time to tell us why you are using CLECC

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860cb5e1-0b96-40d2-ae12-634f4a925c64 ADOPTED PROJECT: Exploratory research to examine the health impact of scams and fraud and the current knowledge and systems in the police and partner agencies for targeting and delivering victim support services Team: Ruth Halkon Dr Michael Skidmore Dr Felicity O'Connell Dr Amy Meenaghan Professor Mark Button Start Date: 1st May 2024 End Date: 30th November 2024 Project Partners: Police Foundation and University of Portsmouth This research explores how being a victim of fraud affects people’s health and wellbeing and what help they need to recover. We used surveys and interviews to reach fraud victims and spoke to the professionals who support them. How fraud affects health Most fraud victims have emotional or mental health problems. In the study, 92% had at least one symptom. Common issues included worry (58%), stress (56%), fear of becoming a victim again (52%), and feelings of anger (46%), weakness (46%), or distress (45%). Victims also had more serious symptoms like depression (18%), hopelessness (16%), panic attacks (8%) and feeling out of control (14%). Physical health was also affected. Over half (58%) of victims had symptoms such as trouble sleeping (45%), headaches (27%), or tiredness (24%). Changes in behaviour were common too. Victims often became distrustful (44%) or stopped going out (19%). We found that symptoms often happened together. Victims with emotional symptoms often also had physical ones. We found six separate patterns or “clusters” of symptoms, such as a “worry and distrust” group, and a more severe “hopelessness and self-harming” group. The impact varied widely. Some felt only mild, short-term symptoms. Others felt long-term effects that lasted for years. These were worse among the old or those in poor health. Nearly 19% said their daily lives were seriously affected. Some stopped using technology or thought of taking their own lives. Why some victims are more affected than others We found many things can impact how much a victim is affected including: the tactics used by fraudsters (e.g. building fake relationships or using threats), the amount of money lost, any pre-existing health issues, feelings of shame or self-blame, and lack of a support network. Victims who had a mix of these factors often suffered more. What support do victims want or need ? Many victims wanted practical help – such as advice on avoiding further fraud or help getting their money back. Others wanted help to come to terms with what had happened. But only those the police deemed "vulnerable" received further support. The report highlights a mismatch between what victims want, what they need, and what is available. Some people who could benefit from support don’t qualify or don't think they need or deserve it. The concept of "vulnerability" is also vague and needs to be better defined. How services should improve Many victims felt blamed, ignored or treated with suspicion by the police, banks and tech companies. This often made their health worse. Those who got the right help from family and friends, case workers or peers were best able to recover from the fraud. Recommendations include: •Keep support options open beyond the initial police report. •Define vulnerability more clearly in policy. •Adopt trauma-informed approaches across all service •Launch public campaigns to challenge victim-blaming attitudes and explain how fraud happens. In short, we need better understanding and better support to help fraud victims recover and reduce long-term harm. What did we do with this new knowledge This study has been completed but has not yet been published. It has been submitted to an academic journal and will also be published by the Police Foundation in the autumn. The research study was presented at Portsmouth University’s 2025 Counter Fraud, Cybercrime and Forensic Accounting Conference in June, where it was the keynote speech. Through this conference we shared our findings with public health experts, academics, police leaders and representatives from the private sector. We also hope to present the work at the Australasian and the Pacific Conference on Law Enforcement and Public Health, having been invited to present because of the global impact this research could have. Where next? This project was an exploratory study which we are planning to use as the basis of a much larger study. This is particularly important as while the impact of fraud is beginning to be known amongst specialist circles, it is a struggle to get this issue noticed in general policing/policy circles who do not realise there is a problem let alone understand the impact that our poor responses to fraud is having on millions of victims. •We are currently in the purpose of drawing up a proposal for a follow up study. This study will explore a) the sheer scale of fraud, its impact on health, evidence gaps in relation to both; b) what is known about the policy response/interventions (e.g. what exists, what's known about the effectiveness of responses) Methodology: •Phase 1: Review of: a) the evidence and theory to explain and account for the impact of fraud on victim health; b): of policy responses/interventions •Phase 2: Empirical research: (not just the health impact of fraud but also policy responses/interventions) •Phase 3: Develop a risk assessment tool and health toolkit to guide frontline support staff •Phase 4: Preliminary evaluation of the toolkit The project team for the new research proposal would include the Police Foundation and Portsmouth University along with Professor Mike Levi of Cardiff University and Thara Raj, Director of Public Health for Warrington.

9f2dd724-7738-441f-b1ed-16eef04ecccd ENRICHER-C: Involvement in the criminal justice system & the impact on women's health in Dorset & Hampshire – Community comparison Chief Investigator: Emma Plugge, Associate Professor of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine , University of Southampton Team: University of Southampton - Donna Arrondelle, Research Fellow - Kathleen Kendall, Professor of Sociology as Applied to Medicine - Sara Morgan, Lecturer in Public Health - Julie Parkes, Professor Public Health - James Raftery, Professor of Health Technology Assessment EP:IC -Donna Gipson, Director -Lucy Wainwright, Director Prison Reform Trust -Paula Harriott, Head of Involvement Partners : University of Southampton, Dorset Council, Southampton City Council, HM Probation Services, South West, One Small Thing, Prison Reform Trust. Start: 1 October 2024 End: 31 March 2026 Summary This study will look at what happens to women’s health and wellbeing when they are being followed up by probation in the community, serving a ‘community sentence’. We will follow up these women in Dorset and we will compare any changes in wellbeing to changes in women from Hampshire who go to Hope Street on a community sentence. Hope Street is charity-funded residential care for women from Hampshire in contact with the criminal justice system; women live in special accommodation in the community where they are secure and where they are able to access a range of health and social care services. Women in contact with the criminal justice system are often from the poorest communities and they have many different health problems, particularly relating to their mental health. These health problems are often related to their crimes and so by making sure they get the services they need, this will help their health improve and benefit wider society by helping tackle crime. This study will ensure that this unique information is available to those who plan and deliver health services locally. The Southampton research team on this project are carrying out a 5-year evaluation of Hope Street. This means they can use the data that they are collecting as part of this evaluation on the health of women at Hope Street to compare to women from Dorset on community sentences. Researchers will collect information on the health and social care needs of the two groups of women at similar time intervals over a one-year period. They will then compare this information to look for differences. They will interview the women to understand their experiences. They will also look at the cost of their care. The information from the study will help the professionals who plan health and social care services and also those who work in criminal justice settings such as prison or probation. Women with experience of the criminal justice system are part of the nine-person study team. They have helped design the project and will also be important in spreading the word about the study. This will enable us to reach not just academic audiences and policy makers through publishing in journals and presenting at research conferences, but also people with lived experience of probation and imprisonment, and charities that work in this area. Informing a wide range of people will be important in ensuring that the findings from this study are acted on.

3ace18ec-d7ab-47b5-898a-8030d0eb53f7 POST DOCTORAL PROJECT: Early detection of chronic liver disease in community settings Chief Investigator: Dr Kate Glyn-Owen – University of Southampton Project Team Members: Julie Parkes – University of Southampton, Dr Richard Aspinall – Portsmouth University Hospitals NHS Trust Organisations Involved: British Liver Trust, Portsmouth Football Club (Pompey In The Community), Portsmouth City Council public health team Background: Liver disease is the third biggest cause of early death in the UK. Two of the main causes of liver disease are drinking too much alcohol, which directly damages the liver, and being overweight, which can lead to fat building up in the liver and causing damage. If liver disease is detected early, it is possible to prevent disease progression, and in some cases to reverse damage done. This benefits patients and reduces impact on the healthcare system. The best way to detect liver disease early is not known. Tests and risk scores are available which use a simple blood test and information about the patient. These were developed in hospital settings, for people with known liver disease. They have not been used sufficiently in general population settings and we do not know how good they are at detecting liver disease in these settings. This project is investigating how these tests and scores perform in general population settings, using data from the UK Biobank, a big dataset from general population volunteers. We are exploring whether combining tests/scores with information about people’s risk factors, may improve detection of disease.We are going out to community settings, performing a risk assessment and simple scan for liver disease in populations at high risk. We are working with Portsmouth Football Club, the British Liver Trust and Portsmouth City Council public health team, to target populations at risk and to find out how effective we can be at early detection of disease in these settings.

a8af900b-b089-4b7b-8da9-b042b753eab0 The feasibility of community pharmacies testing for Hepatitis C in people who inject image and performance enhancing drugs Principal Investigators: Dr Ryan Buchanan Team members: Dr Ryan Buchanan (Academic Clinical Lecturer Hepatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton), Professor Salim Khakoo (Professor of Hepatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton), Dr Charlotte Cook (Hepatology Research Fellow, University Hospital Southampton), Dr Mark Wright (University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust), Charlotte Matthews (Southampton City Council), Dr Gemma Ward (Public Health England) , Colin McAllister (Southampton City CCG), Stuart Smith ( Hepatitis C Trust ), Mark Wright (NHS England, Wessex Operational Delivery Network for Hepatitis C ), Pamela Campbell (Solent NHS Trust, Homeless Healthcare Team) Start: 1 December 2019 Ends: 1 January 2024 Project Partners : University of Southampton, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Solent NHS Trust, NHS England, Public Health England, Southampton City CCG, Southampton City Council, Hepatitis C Trust. Lay summary: The people at highest risk of Hepatitis C (HCV) in the United Kingdom (UK) are those who are sharing needles, syringes or injecting equipment. This includes people who inject performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) such as steroids.This population are high users of needle and syringe programmes, however, the risks taken by this population and their access to testing for HCV are poorly understood. The information that is available is not consistent, with the proportion of people with HCV varying widely but may be as high as one in seven PIED users. The study has been discussed in detail with bodybuilders, a gym owner, pharmacists and people who work at needle and syringe programmes (NSPs). The bodybuilders were very keen to be involved in the study as they want to have accurate, scientifically performed studies. They feel strongly that the information that is out there currently is not representative of their community that use PIEDs. They also felt that it was important that to have a focus on HCV but they were keen to be involved in a study that also addresses at other elements of liver health. The methodology for the study were discussed and adapted after patient and public involvement (PPI) meetings.The aim of this study is to see if widening access to testing of HCV based in community pharmacies with a pathway into specialist care is able to provide improved and acceptable access to testing and treatment compared with standard care. We also want to gain a better understanding of the burden of HCV in this group of people who are using PIEDs, and an understanding of risk behaviours. We will also investigate knowledge of liver disease caused by other factors (e.g. alcohol and obesity). This will be done via interviews with bodybuilders to understand more about their behaviour and the risks they take. This will be followed by a survey with an associated HCV test and measurement of liver scarring. The information gained from the interviews, surveys and tests will give a far greater understanding of this population and their risk of HCV. This information can then be used to target at-risk groups and to adapt current approaches with the aim of elimination. The results will be disseminated in medical journals and presented at medical conferences. Publications doi.org/10.1111/jvh.13207 https://doi.org/10.1111/jvh.13554 https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpp/riac064 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2022-BASL.130 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2021-BASL.40 https://doi.org/10.1111/jvh.13786 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-8278(20)32040-7

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0962122f-1175-4112-bec9-7327da6e0e5a COMPLETED: Work lives and Wellbeing of Mental Health Nursing Workforce Lead applicant: Prof Jane Ball Co-applicants: Dr Gemma Simons, Prof David Baldwin, Prof Peter Griffiths, Dr Catherine Smith, Dr Emma Wadey Project Summary: Read a long project summary Read a short project summary We have a growing demand for mental health care and nurses are key to meting this demand. Each year roughly 10,000 NHS staff in England leave mental health services. 22% of nursing posts in mental health are vacant. Across the NHS it is recognised that work pressures impact on staff wellbeing, their ability to deliver care well, and likelihood of staff staying in the NHS. Despite being a priority area, most research related to nurses’ work engagement, retention and positive staff outcomes focuses on staff in general acute hospitals. Very little attention has been paid to mental health nurses’ work lives and wellbeing. Where will the research take place and who will it in involve This study focusses on mental health nurses. It will take place in Wessex but also includes desk research to collate workforce data, and a national survey of nurses in a range of mental health settings (community, hospitals, specialist units). The project will be led by the mental health workforce team at Southampton, in collaboration with the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Staff Support Hub, and the national lead for mental health nursing. An advisory group and patient public group will support the research. Aim & Design The aim is to examine the work lives and wellbeing of mental health nurses, in order to improve wellbeing and retention of these staff. This study will map what is known about the mental health nursing workforce, identify modifiable workplace factors that impact on staff experience, wellbeing and outcomes, and work collaboratively to identify solutions. The companion project will identify metrics that we can use to assess the wellbeing of the mental health workforce. Methods Labour market and workforce review - analyse data on the mental health nursing workforce, to create an overview. Survey nurses working in mental health (in Wessex NHS Trusts and a national sample). The questionnaire includes measures of: burnout, job satisfaction, intention to leave, workloads and practice environment. We will include open-ended questions so staff can give their views of work-life challenges, how they impact on their health, and what helps. The RCN Mental Health Forum will be main gateway for the national survey. Interview and focus groups with mental health nurses in Wessex NHS Trusts to explore experiences and views of working in mental health and issues related to wellbeing. These will be both before and after the survey (to help with survey design, and afterwards, to enrich interpretation). Coproduction workshop . Preliminary findings will be shared with a wide range of people with vested interest in, or responsibility for, the mental health workforce (e.g. nurses, managers, workforce leads) at a Wessex based co-production workshop, to identify actions and next steps. How will the findings inform improvements in population health and patient care? Services will run better and care quality will be improved if the workforce is healthy, happy and there are enough staff to provide care to the expected standards. Publications doi:10.12968/bjmh.2023.0037

32e7d264-0fc5-4abd-9de2-3d80f41ddbb6 PROCED: PROactive, Collaborative and Efficient complex Discharge Joint Lead: Dr Carlos Lamas Fernandez and Professor Michael Boniface . Co Applicants : Antonio Martinez-Sykora (CORMSIS), Professor Peter Griffiths, Abigail Barkham (Southern Health NHS FT), Eleanor Corbett Partners: University of Southampton, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust & University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. Lay Summary Aims: PROCED aims to improve complex hospital discharge by using computer algorithms to support the way community and social care services are planned for patients fit to leave hospital. The goal is to avoid patients staying in in hospital longer than needed when they are well enough to be discharged. Leaving hospital at the right time is better for patients for many reasons. It reduces physical and mental deconditioning and chance of hospital infections. It also allows patients to recover with families, friends, and carers. By planning care earlier during hospital stays, PROCED aims to provide more time for patients and families to discuss care needs with care workers. Also, integrated care services are expected to be more efficient as resources can be planned using better predictions of patient needs. Background : In 2018/2019 patient discharges from hospital in the UK were delayed by over 1.5 million days. Almost 75% of delays were due to arrangements for community care not being in place. Plans require many services including further non-acute care, residential homes, nursing homes, care packages, community equipment and public funding. Avoiding delays to discharge from hospital is desirable as it leads to better outcomes. The University Hospital Southampton has recently developed a digital system supporting complex discharge. The system allows patients, families, and care providers to share information about a care needs and resources during discharge decisions. PROCED will now extend this system with advanced computer algorithms to support better decisions making. Approach: PROCED will develop computer algorithms that can predict care needs and schedule care services. Predictions will be developed using machine learning. Machine learning is a way to train a computer by using data about patients and services they use. Scheduling will use optimisation algorithms to find the best use of resources from available options. The prediction and scheduling algorithms will be integrated within a discharge decision process. The process will be part of a patient journey co-designed with patients and healthcare workers. The algorithms will be tested to ensure they are accurate and useful.The approach will be assessed by patients and the workforce for acceptance and overall satisfaction. Patient and Public Involvemen t: Patients and public have helped develop the research concept and will be involved in co-design, testing and evaluation. PPI will influence data usage, patient journey, algorithms, and visualisation. The public will participant in a Steering Committee. A PPI Committee will organise eight workshops to involve patients and public in the research. Dissemination: Communication materials will engage the public and decision makers.Evidence of effectiveness, safety and acceptance will be published. A complex discharge system with computer-based decision support will be demonstrated. The outcomes will be championed with institutional, regional, and national implementation teams.

c011903f-4a36-460d-bf9c-db9cb8525bc0 Implementation and Evaluation of the Advanced Practice Research Toolkit Chief Investigator : Professor Kerry Gaskin, Birmingham City University Start Date: 1st October 2024 End Date: 31st March 2026 Summary Research is important for clinicians to improve treatments and care in the NHS. It is fundamental to what is called advanced practice. In 2023 the Advanced Practitioner Research Toolkit was developed for one NHS trust to help plan research activity. This novel toolkit, developed to meet the needs of advanced practitioners in one organisation, has gained interest nationally and internationally, with many positive comments received about how simple it is to use. We are currently designing a national evaluation to ascertain how the toolkit has been implemented and the impact it has had for advanced practitioners. It has the potential to improve research and engage more clinicians in research, leading to evidence based service improvement in the NHS. Anecdotally this pillar is perceived as being more difficult to achieve within the AP role due to a variety of barriers, including operational priorities, lack of time and lack of support. A common theme arising from communication with APs at GHNHSFT was ‘ not knowing how or where to get started’ , which informed development of the toolkit. The objectives of the APRT were to support APs to 'get started' with the research pillar; to encourage AP teams to consider their research priorities; to enable individual and team research objective setting and to aid appraisal discussions. The aim of this project is to improve Advanced Practitioners’ (AP) research capabilities, thereby enabling APs to achieve the research pillar of their role Objectives: · to develop a tailored strategy to implement the APRT · to test this implementation strategy in the context of healthcare organisations · to evaluate the acceptability, appropriateness and feasibility of the APRT · to evaluate the impact of using the APRT for APs, AP Teams, Supervisors and Line-Managers · to report the findings and recommendations to inform future roll out across the NHS Development and Implementation of An Advanced Practice Research Toolkit - Birmingham City University

f6a3bc9c-cb06-4577-8723-be7beaceddc2 COMPLETED: Development, evaluation and provision of an intervention for primary and community NHS staff to help carers and homecare workers supporting people living at home with dementia with their continence. Principal Investigator: Dr Catherine Murphy, Senior Research Fellow, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton. c.murphy@soton.ac.uk Team: Jane Ward: former carer, Alzheimer’s Society Research Network Member, co-founder of Dementia Friendly Hampshire, Patient Research Ambassador: Prof Miriam Santer: Professor of Primary Care Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton: Prof Jill Manthorpe: Professor of Social Work, Director of NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health & Social Care Workforce, King’s College London – Associate Director of NIHR School for Social Care Research: Prof Mandy Fader: Professor of Continence Technology, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton: Dr Leanne Morrison: Lecturer in Health Psychology, School of Psychology & Primary Care Research Centre, University of Southampton. Partners: Health Innovation Wessex, Alzheimer’s Society, Homecare Association, Carers UK, Queen’s Nursing Institute, Dementia UK, King's College London. Start: 1/06/2022 End: 1/4/2024 Plain English Summary of Findings We found that Healthcare professionals wanted an easy and quick to use intervention to sign-post carers to continence care guidance. Homecare workers would welcome resources aimed at having difficult continence conversations The findings led us to develop the first evidence-based website to support healthcare professionals to provide continence advice to the carers of people living with dementia. The intervention also provides carers with detailed, practical self-management guidance. The website is www.demcon.org.uk A summary of the work can be found in this article: C Murphy, B Bradbury, M Fader, L Morrison, M Santer, J Ward, H Chester. Supporting continence care for people living at home with dementia. 22 APRIL, 2024. Nursing Times What Next? The project has provided foundational findings for the next phase of work which includes developing a new intervention to support homecare workers to initiate continence conversations with people living at home with dementia. This work (DemCon2) is being funded by NIHR Three School’s Dementia Research Programme and will start Autumn 2024. Initial Summary (2022) Most of the 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK live in their own homes with support from family or friend carers. Dementia puts people at much greater risk of developing continence problems (with urine/wee or faeces/poo) than people without dementia of the same age. Continence and toilet-use difficulties cause many problems for both people living with dementia and carers, for example, sore skin, infections, embarrassment, anxiety, fear of going out, relationship breakdown, and expenses such as cleaning carpets or laundry. Dementia can mean that using pads or reminders do not work well for people as time goes by. Many carers find dealing with incontinence hugely distressing. They describe feeling poorly prepared and alone. Many find it difficult to talk about and want better support from health and care professionals. Recently we asked people living with dementia, carers and nurses to tell us what information and support they would find useful. From that, we developed a detailed, practical handbook specifically for carers, covering: · understanding why someone with dementia might become incontinent · helping people keep ‘dry’ · managing incontinence · talking about incontinence · continuing with daily activities and socialising. The handbook contains many ‘real-world’ quotes from carers and will be made freely available on www.continenceproductadvisor.org (an NHS endorsed website). This is a good start but requires carers to find and use the handbook by themselves. Most carers want proactive support from the professionals they see (either healthcare or homecare workers), but healthcare professionals often feel ill-equipped to help carers or advise homecare workers. Therefore, in this study, we will develop a new resource that will build on the handbook and equip healthcare professionals to: · start conversations with carers and homecare workers · discuss continence problems and help people choose goals · deliver practical advice to carers and homecare workers. To do this, first we will review research on similar resources and speak to up to 45 primary and community healthcare professionals and homecare workers to fully understand their needs and how a new resource could be used and useful. We know that many people living with dementia and carers have regular contact with homecare workers who often help with washing and going to the toilet. Then, we will work with carers, people living with dementia, healthcare professionals, homecare workers, care commissioners or funders, voluntary groups and professional bodies to develop the resource. We will ask up to 60 people living with dementia, carers, homecare workers and healthcare professionals to use the resource and tell us what they think. We will then make changes to improve the resource. We want this resource to be used by as many primary and community healthcare professionals as possible so that they can support homecare workers and family carers. So, throughout this project, we will ask people about the best way to make it both useful and accessible. It will be freely available via www.continenceproductadvisor.org and we expect adopted and recommended by a range of organisations such as the Alzheimer’s Society, Skills for Care, Homecare Association and professional groups.

Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow and Specialist Research Nurse, Portsmouth < Back How I overcame my fears to win recognition for nurse research Rosalynn Austin Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow and Specialist Research Nurse, Portsmouth For the past 3 years, every year in October, I have a tradition. The call for Early Investigator Awards (EIA) comes out and with the support of my supervisors I submit an abstract. Every year the abstract gets rejected. When I saw the email this year, from the British Society for Heart Failure (BSH), I steeled myself for the traditional annual rejection. The words, “I am delighted to tell you that you have been selected to present at the meeting” jumped off my screen and I double checked to see if it was actually addressed to me. To then learn that my research was the first nurse led research to be shortlisted for this award carried with it a mixture of honour and responsibility. Having attended this conference before I knew my biggest challenge was not the 5-minute presentation, but in explaining burden of treatment to a clinical audience, unfamiliar with this theory. I knew that this was key to them understanding the relevance of my results and increasing the possibility of impacting on their clinical care of heart failure patients. Channelling my inner Florence Nightingale, I wrote and re-wrote my presentation, practicing it multiple times to the cardiology team at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust. “Never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself.”― Florence Nightingale Nerves before a presentation are normal for me, but on Thursday Dec 2, 2021 my pre-presentation nerves were on a new level. The knowledge that I was the first nurse to be invited to present for this award category in the BSH, had raised the stakes considerably. I wanted honour and represent so many nurse researchers who inspired and supported my journey as a Nurse Researcher. At the coffee break following my presentation, nurses and doctors come up to me and not just comment on my presentation going well, but on how they found it interesting. Better than that they had more questions about burden of treatment and my research. This continued on social media and even now looking back on Thursday evening I can’t help but smile. I felt then that regardless of the announcement of winner announcement on Friday morning, that I had won. I had represented nurse researchers honourably, becoming a trailblazer, inspiring others and creating clinical curiosity around burden of treatment. The announcement ( https://twitter.com/BSHeartFailure/status/1466720998468820994 ), the next day, that I together with Simon Beggs (Cardiology registrar & Honorary clinical lecturer) and Amrit Lota (Cardiology Specialist Registrar, specialising in heart failure and imaging) were to be joint winners cemented those thoughts. I am grateful to my supervisors who supported me in this journey and especially the participants who gave of their time to inform my research. This win is theirs too. To find out more about the winners follow on twitter: @RosalynnAustin @amritlota *Link to the report of the event including the announcement of the winners of the EIA: https://bjcardio.co.uk/2022/01/freedom-from-failure-the-british-society-of-heart-failure-annual-meeting-highlights/ Previous Next