Celebrating Research Excellence at the Royal College of Nursing Conference (RCN)
On Wednesday 10th September, colleagues from University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) proudly represented the Trust at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) International Nursing Research Conference 2025. The conference explored the pivotal role of nursing research in addressing pressing health challenges and supporting innovative research that drives equitable, evidence-based care.
Day three of the event focused specifically on Clinical Research Nursing, highlighting the vital roles nurses play in leading, designing and delivering research in clinical settings. As part of this, nursing representatives from UHPNT showcased three posters and one presentation across the course of the day.
MHA/MCA Clinical Officer Brenda Parker, who has recently completed the Chief Nurse Research Fellowship, presented her poster titled 'Barriers, Challenges and Factors Affecting Mental Capacity Documentation: A Service Improvement Project'. Her work explored documentation standards and collaborative approaches with multi-professional teams to improve compliance and quality. This clearly demonstrates the lasting impact of fellowship projects well beyond their formal conclusion.
Chris Gordon and Katie Byrne, both members of UHP's Agile Research Team, showcased their 'Being Dynamic: The Evolution of an Agile Research Team' poster. This detailed the development of the Agile Team within Research and Development at UHPNT, with their presentation highlighting how the team adapts to evolving needs of the department and its research portfolio.
Liana Stapleton, former Critical Care Research Nurse at UHPNT and now Research Lead at Livewell Southwest, presented 'Embedding Research into Critical Care - The Hybrid Research Nurse Model'. Her poster illustrated how integrating research roles within critical care/ICU settings can enhance clinical trial recruitment and support flexible, dual-role nursing.
Catherine Pitman, Lead Research Nurse at UHPNT, and Dr Olusola Solanke, R&D Senior Project and Analytics Manager, presented 'A Real-Time Dashboard Supporting Clinical Trial Delivery: A Mixed-Methods Service Improvement Project'. Their innovative digital platform consolidates study progress data across UHPNT, enabling real-time reporting and oversight. This presentation generated significant interest, with other Trusts across the country requesting demonstrations and further collaboration.
All of these presentations reflect the depth of innovation, leadership and commitment to improving patient care and research delivery at UHPNT. We are very proud of our colleagues' achievements and their contributions to advancing clinical research nursing, and would like to thank them for attending and presenting at the conference.
