Abstract
Introduction: Clinical research within Paediatric Intensive Care (PICU) is necessary to
reduce morbidity and mortality associated within this resource-intensive environment.
With UK PICUs encouraged to be research-active there was a drive to understand how
centres support research delivery.
Aim: To identify the research workforce available within UK/Ireland PICUs to support
clinical research delivery.
Method: An electronic survey, endorsed by the Paediatric Critical Care Society (PCCS),
was designed and reported in accordance with CHERRIES guidelines. The survey was
distributed by email to all UK/Ireland Nurse Managers and Medical/ Nursing Research
leads, aiming for one response per site during the period of April-June 2021. Only one
response per site was included in analysis.
Results: 44 responses were received, representing 24/30 UK/Ireland sites (80%
response rate). Responses from n = 21/30 units are included (three excluded for
insufficient data). 90% (n = 19/21) units were research active, although only 52% (n
= 11) had permanent research roles funded within their staffing establishment. The
majority of units (n = 18, 86%) had less than two WTE research nurses. Resources
were felt to be sufficient for current research delivery by 43% of units (n = 9), but
this confidence diminished to 19% (n = 4) when considering their ability to support
future research. The top barriers to research conduct were insufficiently funded/unfunded
studies (52%; n = 11), clinical staff too busy to support research activity (52%; n = 11)
and short-term/fixed-term contracts for research staff (38%; n = 8).
Conclusion: Despite the perceived importance of research and 90% of responding
UK/Ireland PICUs being research active, the majority have limited resources to
support research delivery. This has implications for their ability to participate in future
multi-centre trials and opportunities to support the development of future medical/nursing
clinical academics. Further work is required to identify optimum models of clinical
research delivery
reduce morbidity and mortality associated within this resource-intensive environment.
With UK PICUs encouraged to be research-active there was a drive to understand how
centres support research delivery.
Aim: To identify the research workforce available within UK/Ireland PICUs to support
clinical research delivery.
Method: An electronic survey, endorsed by the Paediatric Critical Care Society (PCCS),
was designed and reported in accordance with CHERRIES guidelines. The survey was
distributed by email to all UK/Ireland Nurse Managers and Medical/ Nursing Research
leads, aiming for one response per site during the period of April-June 2021. Only one
response per site was included in analysis.
Results: 44 responses were received, representing 24/30 UK/Ireland sites (80%
response rate). Responses from n = 21/30 units are included (three excluded for
insufficient data). 90% (n = 19/21) units were research active, although only 52% (n
= 11) had permanent research roles funded within their staffing establishment. The
majority of units (n = 18, 86%) had less than two WTE research nurses. Resources
were felt to be sufficient for current research delivery by 43% of units (n = 9), but
this confidence diminished to 19% (n = 4) when considering their ability to support
future research. The top barriers to research conduct were insufficiently funded/unfunded
studies (52%; n = 11), clinical staff too busy to support research activity (52%; n = 11)
and short-term/fixed-term contracts for research staff (38%; n = 8).
Conclusion: Despite the perceived importance of research and 90% of responding
UK/Ireland PICUs being research active, the majority have limited resources to
support research delivery. This has implications for their ability to participate in future
multi-centre trials and opportunities to support the development of future medical/nursing
clinical academics. Further work is required to identify optimum models of clinical
research delivery
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 848378 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Frontiers in pediatrics |
| Volume | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 May 2022 |
Keywords
- research nurse
- staffing
- workforce
- paediatric intensive care
- study recruitment
- research delivery
- clinical academic