Celebrating the impact of nursing on research and innovation

Find out why we think Clinical Research Nurses are fundamental to championing innovation within the NHS in our latest blog.

This year on 29 April the Royal College of Nursing mark their Inaugural Clinical Research Nursing Day with a theme titled  ‘Celebrating clinical research nursing and its vital role in health care’. We spoke to Linda McQuaid, a former Director of Nursing and current Clinical Director for our Patient Safety and Experience team and asked her about how the expertise of clinical research nurses – and nurses of other specialisms – can be applied to support the spread and adoption of innovation within the NHS.

To me, Clinical Research Nursing Day is a great opportunity to reflect on the impact nurses and midwives have across all of health and care. Nursing is one of the professions at the heart of the NHS, but there still remain misconceptions about the true breadth and depth of how nurses contribute to the system. I think organisations like the Health Innovation Network (HIN) are a great example of how the skills and expertise of nurses can be brought to bear in ways that the general public might not be aware of – including helping to drive world-class research, evaluation and transformation.