Bright funding helps healthcare staff turn research ideas into better patient care
Generous donations to Bright Charity are helping nurses, midwives and allied health professionals take their first steps into research, creating new opportunities to improve care for patients across Northumberland and North Tyneside.
Thanks to funding from Bright, Northumbria Healthcare has been able to introduce dedicated research internships for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional (NMAHP) staff. The programme gives clinicians protected time to develop research skills, explore important healthcare questions and bring evidence-based improvements into everyday practice.
Frontline staff can face significant barriers to getting involved in research, including busy clinical workloads and limited opportunities to develop their research skills. The internships help overcome some of these barriers, giving staff the confidence, knowledge and experience to lead and contribute to research that has the potential to make a difference to patient care.
The programme supports four internships each year, enabling staff from a range of professional backgrounds to spend dedicated time developing research projects alongside their clinical roles.
As well as supporting professional development, the initiative is helping to strengthen the connection between research and patient care. Interns gain hands-on experience of research methods, learn how to translate evidence into practice and develop skills that can benefit patients and services long after the internship has ended.
One project explored whether switching to decaffeinated tea and coffee could have a positive impact on anxiety, sleep, falls and incontinence among people aged 65 and over in both hospital and community settings. The findings could help inform future approaches to supporting the health and wellbeing of older adults.
Jeanette Milne, Head of Nursing, said: “This has been an invaluable and greatly appreciated opportunity for our NMAHP colleagues. It has provided a fantastic opportunity to help staff take their first steps into research and impact patient care.
“Thank you for the support that has enabled this work. The benefits have been significant, and we are very grateful for the investment.”
Every donation to Bright helps make projects like this possible, providing opportunities to go above and beyond what NHS funding alone can provide.
By supporting staff to innovate, develop new skills and explore new approaches to care, Bright supporters are helping to create improvements that can benefit patients today and shape healthcare for the future.
View the research internship posters below:
