Eight Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Profession (NMAHP) Paget staff have been awarded honorary titles from the UEA as part of an initiative to enhance collaboration between the hospital and the university.
JPUH Director of Nursing Paul Morris is announced as Honorary Associate Professor, while Jacky Copping MBE (Deputy Director of Nursing), Claire Whitehouse (Senior Nurse for NMAHP Research), Helen Hall (Research Grants Advisor), Kirsty Cater (Head of Midwifery), Beverly Chilson (Head of Integrated Therapies), Rene Grey (Professional Lead for Physiotherapy) and Katy Dogbey (Consultant Midwife) have been appointed as ‘Honorary Fellows’.
The appointments come after JPUH, UEA and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals worked together to develop new ways of strengthening research carried out by nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (AHPs), such as therapists and radiographers, in clinical departments across the hospital.
The NMAHP Embedded Researcher model - which is showcased this month in the British Medical Journal and is being piloted at both JPUH and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals - will give research more dedicated capacity in clinical environments. It is proposed that hospital departments should have their own permanent ‘Embedded Researchers’ to contribute to patient care, experiences and outcomes.
The model proposes that research formally becomes part of job descriptions, giving nurses, midwives and AHPs an opportunity to specialise and become research leaders, with a focus on local healthcare needs.
In addition, it includes formalising and strengthening links between clinical organisations and higher education institutions - such as the senior research appointments announced by the UEA and JPUH.
JPUH Senior Nurse for NMAHP Research Claire Whitehouse, who has been instrumental in developing the new Embedded Researcher model, said: “It goes without saying that research is so important in helping develop treatments to help patients both now and in the future.
“The NMAHP Embedded Researcher model is aimed at putting research within clinical departments on a more permanent footing, making it an integral part of certain nursing, midwifery and AHP job roles.
This will allow staff in these roles to really specialise in research in their particular field, leading projects that will have a direct impact on local healthcare needs here in our part of Norfolk and Waveney.”
Professor Sally Hardy, Dean of School of Health Sciences at the UEA, said:
“Celebrating the contribution of our Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Professionals working at the forefront of practice, makes it intuitive that these are the people who should lead and drive research activity from which to further evidence what is often ‘hidden treasures’ of professional practice expertise.
“Through this series of Honoraria we can really cement UEA’s close collaboration with the JPUH’s research and evaluation service, where we can continue trail-blazing across all methods of critical enquiry for improving and extending the knowledge base for achieving excellence in patient and staff outcomes and experiences.”