Developing critical enquiry, capacity, capability and confidence in the health and care workforce.

BACKGROUND: Health and care staff have limited opportunities to design, deliver and lead critical enquiry activities. AIMS: To explore barriers and enablers of building capacity, capability and confidence of these practitioners who wish to undertake critical enquiry activity. METHODS: A realist conceptual framework including the development of middle range theory allowed analysis of the scholarship process and outcomes. Data were collected through snap surveys, interviews (face to face and online) and project output (posters). RESULTS: Nine scholars completed the programme and all participated in the study. They all experienced an increase in capacity, capability and confidence in critical enquiry activity. Six overarching themes arose from analysis of the interviews and snap survey data: value; expertise; attitudes; meaningful, responsive support; brain space; and skill and knowledge acquisition. DISCUSSION: A combined focus on people and project while staff remained embedded in their work area was key for the growth of skills and knowledge and creating impact from projects. Guilt at having dedicated time to take part in the programme was a self-imposed barrier to building capacity and capability. Social capital (gained from bringing together individuals from different groups with shared values) facilitated bonding, which increased psychological safety and helped enable capability and confidence. CONCLUSION: The combination of theory and practice embedded in a real-world context led to positive outcomes for staff, patients, carers and the facilitation team as real-life changes were made in clinical environments.

Evaluating the impact of a ward environment with 20 single occupancy rooms and two four-bedded bays on patient and staff experiences and outcomes in an acute NHS Trust: a mixed-methods study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Traditionally, wards in acute care hospitals consist predominately of multioccupancy bays with some single rooms. There is an increasing global trend towards a higher proportion of single rooms in hospitals, with the UK National Health Service (NHS) advocating for single-room provision in all new hospital builds. There is limited evidence on the impact of a ward environment incorporating mostly single and some multioccupancy bays on patient care and organisational outcomes. METHODS AND ANALYSES: This study will assess the impact of a newly designed 28-bedded ward environment, with 20 single rooms and two four-bedded bays, on patient and staff experiences and outcomes in an acute NHS Trust in East England. The study is divided into two work packages (WP)-WP1 is a quantitative data extraction of routinely collected patient and staff data while WP2 is a mixed-methods process evaluation consisting of one-to-one, in-depth, semistructured interviews with staff, qualitative observations of work processes on the ward and a quantitative data evaluation of routinely collected process evaluation data from patients and staff. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was obtained from the UK Health Research Authority (IRAS ID: 334395). Study findings will be shared with key stakeholders, published in peer-reviewed high-impact journals and presented at relevant conferences.

Embedding research (ER) led by nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (NMAHPs): the NMAHP-ER model.

BACKGROUND: Previous embedded researcher models have focused predominantly on an individual being a temporary team member and embedded for a project-limited short-term placement. AIM: To develop an innovative research capacity building model to address the challenges of developing, embedding and sustaining, research led by Nurses, Midwives, and Allied Health Professionals (NMAHPs) in complex clinical environments. This healthcare and academic research partnership model offers an opportunity to support the 'how' of enabling NMAHP research capacity building from within the researchers' clinical area of expertise. METHOD: Collaboration between three healthcare and academic organisations and the iterative process of cocreation, development and refinement took place over 6 months during 2021. The collaboration relied on virtual meetings, emails, telephone calls and document review. RESULTS: A codesigned NMAHP embedded research (ER) model is ready for trialling with the individual being an existing clinician working collaboratively within the healthcare setting and with academia to develop the skills to become the ER. CONCLUSION: This model supports NMAHP-led research activity in clinical organisations in a visible and manageable way. As a shared, long-term vision, the model will contribute to research capacity and capability of the wider healthcare workforce. It will lead, facilitate and support research in and across clinical organisations in collaboration with higher education institutions.