More OUH nurses complete BRC internship

Three Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) nurses have completed the first stage of their clinical academic journey after presenting the findings of their Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) internship research projects.

The five-month internships are usually aimed at nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, healthcare scientists, pharmacists and clinical psychologists (NMAHPPs) who have little or no research experience.

This second internship cohort of 2025 consisted solely of nurses:

• Hannah Terry, Renal Supportive Care Nurse
• Patrick Vickers, Registered Nurse, Hyper Acute Stroke Unit
• Kenny Gray, Senior Charge Nurse, Cardiac and Thoracic Critical Care Unit

The Oxford BRC was able to fund a second group of interns this year thanks to an additional £170,000 from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to spend in areas that deserved extra investment. As well as the internship, the BRC launched its Preparatory Award for a Research Career (PARC) programme.

Dr Clair Merriman, Divisional Lead for NMAHPPs Research and Innovation for NOTSSCaN Division, led the internship programme and organised the presentation day. She said: "When we analysed the data, we realised that fewer nurses than expected were signing up for our internships, compared to other allied health professionals, so we used the additional funding we received to help more nurses to take their first steps on the academic career pathway."

The BRC award covers salary costs allowing the interns to have protected time for 18.75 hours a week for five months. Each intern was taught core research skills early in the internship and had weekly sessions with an experienced research mentor. They all carried out projects of their own choosing that related to their clinical practice.

Hannah Terry works with patients on haemodialysis who are often approaching the last year of life and supports them with choices and decisions they need to make for their future. Her project assessed whether the patient questionnaire used in the service was still fit for purpose. She found that it was but uncovered a number of barriers to using it effectively.

She said the internship had been a very valuable experience: "I have loved every minute of this. I would recommend it to anyone. The three of us have been close-knit and we've fed off each other. I've loved the research process. I feel that I've grown as an individual. It’s definitely made me a better nurse. I've become more confident, because I know that what I'm doing through the research is correct, which hopefully means the patient should have confidence in me. I'm definitely an evidence-based practice person, I think. I've got so many more future research projects bubbling away."

She said she had been talking to her fellow renal supportive care team about how they could carry out more research to improve their service.

In the Hyper Acute Stroke Unit, where Patrick Vickers works, there is a real issue with patients experiencing post-stroke depression, anxiety or apathy. His project explored how the psychological needs of patients affect their functional outcomes, and whether they can be screened to anticipate problems and prevent the decline in function.

Patrick, a newly qualified nurse, found that 14 days was the optimal time to screen patients - later than is currently carried out in his team - and assessed a number of alternative screening tools.

"I loved the research at Uni, and I thought it would be really nice to do this. As a student and a newly-qualified nurse on the stroke unit, I noticed that a lot of our patients were low in mood, potentially depressed, and that was one of their reasons for not getting out of bed and engaging with therapy. I really wanted to look at that relation and how we could improve it."

He added: "I've loved the internship. I found the teaching really good and the support from my mentor has been great. It has also given me the time to apply for my Masters, which I'm starting in September. Without the internship, I probably wouldn't have understood what research in nursing means. Because of the internship I know that research is something I really enjoy."

Kenny Gray's project looked at a subject that might support OUH in one of its proprieties – the recruitment and retention of staff, for which he is the lead in his unit. He looked how he could improve shadow shifts - when Band 5 staff are able to get a taste of what it’s like on the CTCCU before applying for a role there– and whether they have a beneficial impact on retention.

He said: "I've been a nurse for a long time, and it has been very eye-opening. It has helped in a lot of different ways with my role. As you get more senior, there's an onus on you to do more service improvement projects and audits that are ultimately aimed at improving patient care. I think the kind of knowledge you get from research can help you do the things you're required to do, but to do them better.

"A lot of things you do intuitively because it seems right - the shadow shift is one - but maybe I should dig deeper to see if they work. And if they do, how can they be improved?"

Dr Clair Merriman concluded: "It has been fantastic to see this small, dedicated group working so hard together. Their projects have been fascinating and aimed at really improving the work of their teams and ultimately benefiting patients. I really hope that they go on to further their research careers and inspire their colleagues to do the same.

Pictured: from left, Hannah Terry, Patrick Vickers, Dr Clair Merriman and Kenny Gray.