Clinical research provides international opportunity for former nursing student
A recent graduate has had the opportunity to take part in an international conference after being inspired by a placement she completed while studying at GCU.
Tami Rose finished her journey at University in the summer after graduating from the Adult Nursing programme. Fast forward a few months, and she’s involved in the continued battle against coronavirus as a Staff Nurse at the Respiratory Ward in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Despite the stress of long hours and a never-ending stream of patients, Tami has found comfort in her passion for a different side of nursing – clinical research.
September 2020 saw her complete a ten-week placement at the Glasgow Clinical Research Facility, having missed out earlier in the year due to asthma. This led to Tami getting involved in the coronavirus vaccine trials, where she took on the role of supporting patients before and after receiving the jag.
She said: “I think the best thing about clinical research is just how different it is because it goes against all the stereotypes of nursing. I enjoyed how you were still caring for the public but doing it in a different way than being in a ward.
Seeing the impact of the coronavirus vaccine has been really inspiring, I’m proud that I was a part of that in the early stages. Even now in the hospitals, I’m noticing more things that take me back to it – like medicine manufactured by Pfizer. I’d never have given something like that a second thought before, so it has definitely had a big effect on me.
When I was originally told I was going to be doing a clinical research placement I was worried it would be all reading and journals. I totally had the wrong perception of the whole thing and was definitely proven wrong. Now I’m trying to make other students aware of what’s involved so that they can look forward to it, rather than dread it.”
Tami was presented with the perfect opportunity to raise awareness within the student nursing community thanks to GCU’s Dr Gordon Hill. Having been made well aware of Tami’s positive experience on placement, he encouraged her to get involved in his presentation at this month’s International Association of Clinical Research Nurses Conference (IACRN), taking place in Atlanta, USA.
The IACRN has over 400 members from all over the world and aims to enhance clinical research quality and safety through specialised nursing practice.
Tami explained: “Gordon asked me if I would make a pre-recorded video about my clinical research placement experience. I just really spoke about my blog that I’d previously written and how I’m constantly looking for links to research on the wards. I think I’m one of the only students involved in the conference, which is pretty cool! The whole experience is really exciting for me moving forward in my career.
I’d like to go down the research route at some point. I’m not sure yet what I want to specialise in, whether it’s respiratory or something else, but I’d definitely like to go into research in whatever area I decide to focus on in future.”
Dr Gordon Hill said: “Our presentation detailed the novel clinical research placements jointly developed by GCU, the Glasgow CRF and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. These have been hugely successful and our presentation generated a lot of interest from the delegates and from a wide variety of student groups, research groups and CRNs via social media. Tami’s presentation was fabulous. She really emphasised the amazing opportunities that are offered in the CRF and was hugely encouraging to other student nurses to seek out clinical research experiences.”
By Ross Clark
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