Laura Y has been a research nurse for about four months. She has worked as a nurse for 12 years in total four years in her home country of Italy and the last eight years in the UK. For the last few years, she has worked in neurosurgery and neurointensive care. Laura Y has wanted to become a research nurse for the last two years: I really, really, really liked the idea of working to something that is still unknown, that it could help to improve things. When she worked on an intensive care ward, Laura Y had met research nurses and asked them about their topics. She thinks the work suits her personality as she likes observing things and being very organised. A major perk for Laura Y of her research nurse post is the working hours. She is relieved not to have any more irregular shifts and feels it has drastically improved her quality of life, especially her sleep. She sometimes has to work overtime but can then use the time in-lieu. When Laura Y was working as a ward nurse, she would often miss out on breaks and not be able to go to the toilet when needed; in contrast, working in research is better experience. However, Laura Y is on a fixed-term contract and moving from a permanent post was a bit scary.

Laura Y works on a number of studies in the areas of breast cancer, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. For some, she is the lead/main research nurse and for others she is a back-up/support nurse. Some of these studies were already running when Laura Y started in post and a few are in the process of being set-up. She has a Site Initiation Visit scheduled for one study and was surprised to hear that, despite the term suggesting it would be in-person, it would be conducted over telephone. In the studies, Laura Y’s role involves: identifying patients (by screening data, going to clinics and attending Multidisciplinary Team meetings), approaching patients about studies (if the consultants have not already done so), consenting patients and ensuring data collection (including from skin swabs and tissue removed during surgery). This latter aspect sometimes involves Laura Y going into surgery to ensure the correct equipment for the study is used. Laura Y thinks it is important to have good working relationships with clinical colleagues because at the end of the day, we are using their facilities to do the study. She has drawn on help from other nurses in finding a room to use for study activities.

Laura Y’s main source of training has been through shadowing other research nurses and asking her colleagues questions. She feels well-supported and likes the friendly environment she now works in. However, it was three months into her post before she undertook Good Clinical Practice training and she thinks this would have been helpful sooner. She had some training about the computer software used for research at her Trust about a month after starting her job, but it was a bit pointless by that time as she had already had to use it. Although Laura Y was used to communicating with patients and explaining things like clinical procedures to them, the nature of patient contact in research has been an adjustment. She felt she needed to develop a quick but effective approach whereas before on the neurointensive care ward as a clinical nurse you had time to explain things and you were there with the patient, not going anywhere, so there was time. Laura Y doesn’t wear a uniform in her current job and this is something she is super happy about she also thinks that research nurses are more approachable in our clothes [‚] because a uniform always creates [‚] a difference between you and the patient.

Laura Y would very much like to stay working in research and hopes that her contract will be extended. She thinks that other nurses interested in a research post like hers need to be aware of the office-based and organisational activities involved. Laura Y would like the chance to work on some neurosurgery studies as this is her clinical background. In fact, Laura Y once had an experience when she was caring for a patient which led her to question whether a particular medicine was appropriate for some patients, and she would like to work on a study looking at this topic if one is available in the future.