The Repository Project: Supporting Collaboration and Connectivity in Nursing Research

Research is an activity which nurses do as normal, core business. But attempting to find a nurse researcher expert in the UK can be very challenging and there is no quick, accessible mechanism to understand the scope, nature and activities of Registered Nurses in the UK leading research in health care. There is also no central co-ordinated national record or database of their research projects. Therefore, the problem is that there is not only a lack of knowledge, sharing and networking, but also limited visibility of Registered Nurses leading important health research. For our team in the speciality of Babies, Children and Young People’s (BCYP) health and nursing, we believe that this lack of important information was very much needed.

This belief was the start point to The Repository Project, which was to build and share a purpose-built database and systematic synthesis of research conducted by registered children’s nurses in health and social care. Our aim was to develop a repository database of inspirational nurse research leaders, and their research projects conducted within the speciality area of children’s nursing. To do this, a team led by Professor Jane Coad, at The University of Nottingham and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, were awarded a grant from NHS England & Improvement in 2023. We believed that the project would be a step towards supporting the nursing profession to fill knowledge gap in its expertise. This work was intended as background for a larger project seeking to identify the research priorities of children’s nursing, but also had the potential to be a test case for a much-needed UK nursing repository for all specialities of nursing.

How did we do this?

The project had two phases. First to gain a sense of what was needed and second to survey the Registered Children’s Nurses we approached who met our criteria. We gathered information on the demographics of the Registered Children’s Nurses, where they worked, their interests and expertise. We also found gaps in which conditions were researched and regional disparities in expertise. We believed that this might be useful information in terms of identifying potential PhD supervisors or examiners, including what methods the researcher had used and sources of funding.

Following permission for inclusion in The Repository Project, the details of researchers and their research projects were stored and made accessible in a repository format in NHS Futures. This resource has the potential to ensure that BCYP nurse-led research in England is pulled together and we believe is the first tool of its kind.

We hope that this work will aid in creating connection and collaborations to strength the network of Registered Nurse researchers and develop communities which is fundamental to the success of the profession. Finally, we hope it will be a catalyst for future repositories and much more sharing of research. Importantly, the show casing of nurse leaders is vital if nurse-led research is to be positively achieved.

Authors: 

Professor Jane Coad, Professor in Children and Family Nursing, Centre for Children and Young People’s Health Research, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Nottingham. Lead for NMAHP Research and Director – Strategy and Clinical Research, Centre for Care Excellence, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.

Professor Joseph C. Manning MBE, Professor of Nursing and Child Health, School of Healthcare, College of Life Sciences, University of Leicester.

Assistant Professor Laura Holliday, Child Health, Centre for Children and Young People’s Health Research, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Nottingham.

Dr Susan Tomlinson, Research Fellow, Centre for Children and Young People’s Health Research, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Nottingham.