The Impact of FFC-AL-EIT on Resident and Setting Outcomes

FFC-AL-EIT was implemented by a Research Nurse Facilitator working with a community champion and stakeholder team for 12 months to increase function and physical activity among residents. FFC-AL-EIT included four steps: (Step I) Environment and Policy Assessments; (Step II) Education; (Step III) Establishing Resident Function Focused Care Service Plans; and (Step IV) Mentoring and Motivating. A total of 85 communities and 794 residents were included. The age of participants was 89.48 (SD=7.43), the majority was female (N=561, 71%) and white (N=771, 97%). Resident measures, obtained at baseline, four and 12 months, included function, physical activity, and performance of function focused care. Setting outcomes, obtained at baseline and 12 months, included environment and policy assessments and service plans. Effectiveness was based on less decline in function (p<.001), more function focused care (p=.012) and better environment (p=.032) and policy (p=.003) support for function focused care in treatment sites.

Making ICU Research Happen: a Qualitative Descriptive Study About the Role of the Research Nurse in New Zealand Level III Intensive Care Units

<p>This study explored the role of the research nurse in New Zealand (NZ) Level III intensive care units (ICU). Little was known about this role in NZ prior to this study. A qualitative, descriptive approach, using semi-structured interviews was used. The study was conducted in six Level III ICUs throughout NZ, who employed a research nurse. Interviews were conducted with research nurses (n = 11), the doctors they work with (principal investigators) (n = 6) and nurse managers (n = 6) for the ICUs, and the findings were triangulated. The views across all ICUs and stakeholders were generally similar, with differences only being in some operational areas. This study found that the primary role of the research nurse was trial management, where they coordinated all elements of trial conduct. Almost half of the research nurses were also involved in trial design through their positions on management committees. Research nurses also played a vital role in patient and trial advocacy, and they bridged the knowledge gap by bringing research to staff nurses, patients and their families. The issue of consent for clinical trials in the ICU setting was significant, as this was a process which research nurses were very involved in. Consenting patients was a shared responsibility of research nurses and doctors. There was a perception that research nurses were senior nurses, but not necessarily because of their role in research. The majority of research nurses reported to a nursing line manager, and also had an informal accountability to the principal investigator (PI). Research nurses and PIs worked closely in the pursuit of rigorous research for ICU patients, and research nurses were highly regarded by PIs. This study provides clarity about the research nurse‟s role and showcases their key contribution in ensuring that NZ ICUs undertake high quality research, thus contributing to potential improvements for future patients‟ outcomes.</p>

Making ICU Research Happen: a Qualitative Descriptive Study About the Role of the Research Nurse in New Zealand Level III Intensive Care Units

<p>This study explored the role of the research nurse in New Zealand (NZ) Level III intensive care units (ICU). Little was known about this role in NZ prior to this study. A qualitative, descriptive approach, using semi-structured interviews was used. The study was conducted in six Level III ICUs throughout NZ, who employed a research nurse. Interviews were conducted with research nurses (n = 11), the doctors they work with (principal investigators) (n = 6) and nurse managers (n = 6) for the ICUs, and the findings were triangulated. The views across all ICUs and stakeholders were generally similar, with differences only being in some operational areas. This study found that the primary role of the research nurse was trial management, where they coordinated all elements of trial conduct. Almost half of the research nurses were also involved in trial design through their positions on management committees. Research nurses also played a vital role in patient and trial advocacy, and they bridged the knowledge gap by bringing research to staff nurses, patients and their families. The issue of consent for clinical trials in the ICU setting was significant, as this was a process which research nurses were very involved in. Consenting patients was a shared responsibility of research nurses and doctors. There was a perception that research nurses were senior nurses, but not necessarily because of their role in research. The majority of research nurses reported to a nursing line manager, and also had an informal accountability to the principal investigator (PI). Research nurses and PIs worked closely in the pursuit of rigorous research for ICU patients, and research nurses were highly regarded by PIs. This study provides clarity about the research nurse‟s role and showcases their key contribution in ensuring that NZ ICUs undertake high quality research, thus contributing to potential improvements for future patients‟ outcomes.</p>

Research nurse and nurse researcher: differences and similarities

No abstract available

EP.WE.842Maintaining Recruitment to Surgical Trials during the Pandemic

Aims Recruitment to Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) has traditionally been the domain of Research Nurses. Due to the unprecedented pressures of the COVID pandemic, the majority of Research Nurses have been redeployed to other clinical roles, or those still working within research have had to focus on COVID-related projects. This has left existing surgical trials struggling to recruit. We report on our experience of engaging Specialist Nurses without a research background as well as Consultants and Trainees to support surgical research in these challenging circumstances. Method The Sunflower RCT was first opened to recruitment in August 2019 at our trust. The recruitment was led by single Research Nurse, but the delegation log included a range of Consultants, Trainees, and Specialist Nurses. Due to the COVID pandemic, recruitment was paused from March 2020 and restarted in July 2020. Data were collected on recruitment until January 2021. Results In the seven months before the recruitment pause, 80 patients were recruited (average 11 per month), with the highest proportion of recruits by the sole Research Nurse. Following the recruitment pause, a further 45 patients were recruited (average 7.5 per month). These patients were recruited by Consultants (20, 44%), Specialist Nurses (12, 27%), Trainees (7, 16%), Research Nurse (3, 7%) and postal consents (3, 7%). Conclusions We have demonstrated that surgical research activity can be maintained even with minimal Research Nurse recruitment by engaging all members of the surgical team, especially utilising Specialist Nurses, who may not commonly be approached for such a role.

Fidelity assessment of nurse-led non-pharmacological package of care for knee pain in the package development phase of a feasibility randomised controlled trial based in secondary care: a mixed methods study

ObjectivesTo evaluate fidelity of delivery of a nurse-led non-pharmacological complex intervention for knee pain.SettingSecondary care. Single-centre study.Study designMixed methods study.ParticipantsEighteen adults with chronic knee pain.Inclusion criteriaAge >40 years, knee pain present for longer than 3 months, knee pain for most days of the previous month, at least moderate pain in two of the five domains of Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index pain scale.InterventionsNurse-led non-pharmacological intervention comprising assessment, education, exercise, use of hot/cold treatments, footwear modification, walking aids and weight-loss advice (if required).Outcome(s)Primary: fidelity of delivery of intervention, secondary: nurses’ experience of delivering intervention.MethodsEach intervention session with every participant was video recorded and formed part of fidelity assessment. Fidelity checklists were completed by the research nurse after each session and by an independent researcher, after viewing the video-recordings blinded to nurse ratings. Fidelity scores (%), percentage agreement and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) were calculated. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted with the research nurse.ResultsFourteen participants completed all visits. 62 treatment sessions took place. Nurse self-report and assessor video rating scores for all 62 treatment sessions were included in fidelity assessment. Overall fidelity was higher on nurse self-report (97.7%) than on objective video-rating (84.2%). Percentage agreement between nurse self-report and video-rating was 73.3% (95% CI 71.3 to 75.3). Fidelity was lowest for advice on footwear and walking aids. The nurse reported difficulty advising on thermal treatments, footwear and walking aids, and did not feel confident negotiating achievable and realistic goals with participants.ConclusionsA trained research nurse can deliver most components of a non-pharmacological intervention for knee pain to a high degree of fidelity. Future research should assess intervention fidelity in a routine clinical setting, and examine its clinical and cost-effectiveness.Trial registration numberNCT03670706.