Nursing Research

Ready… Steady…. RESEARCH!

Let’s make research part of every learning disability nurse’s everyday business?

Research is essential to improving the care and outcomes of people with learning disabilities.

In 2020 Dame Ruth May, then Chief Nursing Officer for England launched a plan for research for the nursing profession, with the aim of making research matter across all fields of professional practice.

There are many opportunities for learning disability nurses to get involved in supporting, delivering and leading health and care research

The range of opportunities for learning disability nursing research might include:

• Helping people with learning disabilities, their families and carers to understand relevant opportunities and to become partners in research

• Working with research teams to recruit and consent people into important studies to improve outcomes.

• Identifying the impact of a clinical initiative or a specific role in order to further develop this.

• Using and learning from existing research findings to develop further study, sometimes focusing in more detail on a certain topic.

• Looking at ways to incorporate research findings into your own practice and the practices of the organisation you work for.

In partnership with the CNO’s research team, next year we will be looking at ways to encourage more learning disability nurses to get involved in research; and how research can play a greater role in the recognition, promotion and celebration of the learning disability nursing profession.

If you want to know more about the role of clinical research within modern health and care, look at this free online programme Improving Healthcare through Clinical Research

Additionally, the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) covers how treatments and cures are discovered; the impact of clinical research; how we undertake clinical research and why we do clinical research.

For the latest registration details go to: FutureLearn: Improving Healthcare through Clinical Research