CeNREE marks 12 months of success

More than 70 nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (AHP) are receiving support from the unique Centre of Nursing, Midwifery and AHP Research and Education Excellence (CeNREE) 12 months after it was launched at University Hospitals of North Midlands.

CeNREE was set up to help create a culture of research and innovation and to provide support for nurses, midwives and AHPs who want to engage with research in their clinical practice at both Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital.

Since it launched in April 2022 more than 70 members of UHNM staff are involved with work-based projects and academic and research development opportunities.

Dr Alison Cooke, UHNM Assistant Director of Nursing, who leads CeNREE has become Senior Research Leader for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to help roll out the programme and build an environment of research-led care and evidence-based practice across the regional health authority.

A number of research awards have also been given as well as 12 people being appointed to the Chief Nurse Fellow programme, again helping to embed research into clinical practice at UHNM.

Saul Lovatt, Cardiology nurse who is one of the Trust’s National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Pre-doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship (PCAF) award holders said:

“It is great that this is happening here in Stoke and what a great opportunity for nurses, midwives and AHPs to develop research careers this award represents. I am grateful to CeNREE for the support.

“As a member of the local community and also a nurse at UHNM, to have our Trust as part of this wider progressive change is fantastic! Offering benefit to patients from improved care, and having voices represented in research is really important. 

“As a nurse, these opportunities help to attract and retain the fantastic staff that we want, who are passionate about improving care for our patients.”

Jo Mayer, Chief Cardiac Physiologist who has also received a NIHR PCAF award, said: “It is fantastic to have the support of CENREE, who promote and facilitate the development of academic research within clinical practice.

“ The PCAF provides you with dedicated research time to identify knowledge gaps through critical appraisal and interpretation of existing literature. From this we can generate ideas and potentially translate these into worthwhile research projects in the future, that can make a meaningful difference to our patients.

“I was very well supported through the PCAF application process by CeNREE and if anyone is interested in academia within clinical practice, I would definitely recommend reaching out to them to ask further questions’.

The success of CeNREE will be celebrated as part of a Trust-wide Symposium in July. Staff and students who would like to showcase their work can submit their entry on the abstract template on the intranet.

Dr Cooke said: “The showcase will provide the opportunity to present their work in a supportive environment. We also want to celebrate the success and excellence of our work and engage all members of UHNM staff in this. There will be prizes for the top oral and poster presentations in each category and the best overall presentation as voted for by symposium delegates.”

Together with UHNM Research and Innovation team, CeNREE has also launched its own Trust-wide Research Star Award which aims to acknowledge and reward staff at UHNM for their dedication and commitment to research at our Trust.

For more information about the symposium, how to enter an abstract and book a place, see here and more information about the Research Star Scheme is available here.