Mental Health Nursing Research- comment from an NIHR 70@70 nurse research leader

Blog  – based on a recently published editorial for Mental Health Practice – December 2020

Since May 2019 I have been a NIHR 70@70 nurse research leader. I believe it is vital that mental health nurses contribute to the NHS research agenda to ensure care and treatment is evidence based.  We need to be united to strengthen the research voice of mental health nurses and I want to have a positive impact and enable mental health nurses to take their place as skilled research leaders alongside other professions working in mental health research.  The 70@70 Senior Nurse and Midwife Research Leadership Programme is a national, three year initiative, which commenced in May 2019 and is funded by the National Institute for Health research (NIHR) to celebrate the 70^th birthday of the NHS. Originally, seventy senior nurses and midwives in England were funded through the programme to promote and embed research into clinical practice.  Representation of nurses and midwives as research leaders globally and in the NHS, is inversely proportionate to their numbers as the largest professional group in the healthcare workforce; a situation that is unlikely to change without direct initiatives such as this programme. 70@70 fellows are funded two days a week to hone their research leadership skills, provide mentorship for colleagues, and work with their employing organisations to develop tangible career pathways which incorporate research and clinical activity. The initial cohort of 70 has reduced to 63 of which nine are mental health nurses. The seven who left pursued other career opportunities. Support for the group nationally is provided in geographic groupings by five clinical academic professors of nursing with the mental health cohort receiving mentorship specifically relating to their clinical specialism. The group of nine are united in their aims to strengthen the research voice of mental health nurses, to increase capacity and capability of nurses to lead mental health research and encourage inter-disciplinary collaboration. It is vital that the 70@70 programme demonstrates a positive impact to strengthen the case for future programmes which are necessary to enable nurses to take their place as skilled clinical academic research leaders. We appeal to our mental health nurse colleagues nationally to seriously consider applying for this programme if NIHR repeat the programme so we can build a network of mental health nurses who are not only research minded but research active.

Dr Anita Green

Associate Director of Nurse Education

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Acknowledgements: Dr Anita Green is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Nurse and Midwife Research Leader.

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/documents/7070-nihr-senior-nurse-and-midwife-research-leader-programme/22750

Green A (2020) Editorial ‘We need to boost the research voice of mental health nurses.’ Mental Health Practice 23 6 5.

Green A Pound A (2020) Undergraduate paramedic students’ understanding of mental health ‘insight’ placements.  Journal of Paramedic Practice 12 10 2-5

Green A Searle E Hannah L Robertson M (2017) How to make Balint Groups relevant for mental health nurses.  Mental Health Practice 21 2 18-21

Green A Case P Taylor I (2017) Enhancing research awareness with a research and development ‘spoke’ placement.  Mental Health Practice 20, 7 24-28

Scholes J Petty NJ Mcintosh T Green A Flegg K (2017) Managing support for newly qualified practitioners: lessons learnt from one healthcare region in the UK. Journal of Nursing Management 25 102-109