Abstract
BackgroundHealthcare professionals outside of medicine (HCPs), including nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, are increasingly involved in research for patient benefit. Their challenge is to negotiate inter-professional or professionally isolated contexts. The aims of this study were to evaluate the ‘Healthcare Professionals in Research’ (HPiR) Facebook group (a self-directed and confidential peer support group for doctoral and postdoctoral HCPs) including engagement, the experiences of doctoral and postdoctoral HPiR members and to identify future career challenges using an on-line survey.MethodsThe HPiR Facebook group was launched in May 2019. Five HCP Community managers (CMs) were trained in on-line platform curation, moderation and screening. An on-line survey was designed to capture data from HPiR members. A purposive sampling approach was applied. Respondents were required to be doctoral and postdoctoral HCPs and a registered member of the HPiR group. Respondents represented a range of healthcare professions, 79 % of whom had over ten years clinical experience. Membership growth and engagement was analysed. Descriptive statistics were used to present numerical data. Qualitative data were analysed thematically.Results96 members were admitted to the group within the first month. All members were actively engaged with group content. 34/96 doctoral and postdoctoral HCPs completed the survey. Most members joined for networking (88 %) and peer support (82 %) purposes. Analysis of text responses showed difficulties in balancing a clinical academic career and highlighted the consequences of undefined clinical academic roles and pathways.ConclusionsDoctoral and postdoctoral HCPs value the opportunities that HPiR provides for peer support and connection with fellow HCPs. HPiR has the potential to strengthen research capacity, support research skill development and drive change within the clinical academic community. Clinical academic roles and pathways need to be standardised. The creation of opportunities beyond doctoral studies is a priority.
Highlights
Healthcare professionals outside of medicine (HCPs), including nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, are increasingly involved in research for patient benefit
Respondents Ninety-six members were admitted to the group within the first month of launching Healthcare Professionals in Research’ (HPiR). 100 % (96/96) of members actively engaged in the HPiR site through commenting (305 comments), posting (97 posts) or reacting (878 reactions) to group content
The majority of respondents worked within an National Health Service (NHS) setting (65 %) and had over 10 years’ experience (79 %) working as a healthcare professional. 30 % of respondents had over 20 years post-qualification clinical experience (Fig. 2)
Summary
Healthcare professionals outside of medicine (HCPs), including nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, are increasingly involved in research for patient benefit Their challenge is to negotiate interprofessional or professionally isolated contexts. Healthcare professionals outside of medicine (HCPs), including nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, are becoming increasingly involved in research for patient benefit. For many years the NHS has recognised the value of supporting clinical research and clinical academic careers in order to improve NHS services, reduce healthcare costs and to provide the most effective care for patients. As HCPs cross the traditional divides between clinical and academic settings to engage in cutting edge research, the increasing challenge is to learn and thrive in new inter-professional or professionally isolated contexts
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