Research and Innovation in Nursing

With the strong realization with regards to improvement required in quality patient care and experiences being aligned to constant developments needed in the healthcare industry, nursing as a subsector of this industry is increasingly receiving accolades and recognition by various organizations which are coming forward to support research and innovation in fields of nursing practice, thus contributing to enhanced patient safety and positive health outcomes.

Taking into account the roles and responsibilities of nurses in transforming healthcare, NHS has been granted funding for nursing innovation fellow role in England where the funding trust will work with innovation and the nursing team to develop nurse-led innovations, one of them being the oral project to prevent pneumonia in stroke patients. Some nurse-led innovations backed by NHS include oxehealth, a contact-free patient monitoring platform, and Oxford Medical Simulation which uses virtual reality to provide virtual care to patients.

Working on similar lines, NHS Scotland Innovation Centre along with RCN, efforts of some nurses were appreciated through Nurse Awards for innovation in dermatology service redesign which improved patient care outcomes, and reduced patient waiting time from 55% to zero by combining the use of available technology.

Wonderful positive steps are being taken to revolutionize NHS Care by the NHS Scotland Health Innovation Assessment Portal to make AI-enabled tools and apps accessible to nurses to work towards best-in-class patient care delivery. Another prestigious organization working steadily for nursing innovations is Scottish Health Innovations Ltd or SHIL which translates innovative ideas into useful products to drive sustainable healthcare service.