Dr Janet Scammell and Dr Sarah Collard from Bournemouth University and clinical nurses Amy McLeod and Hannah Kennedy from Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RBCH) recently presented at NET2019, the leading annual international conference for networking in healthcare education.
Their presentation (Support4Nurses: NHS Acute Hospital and Local University Partnership to Improve the Retention of Registered Nurses) discussed the benefits and challenges of partnership working when undertaking healthcare research and concluded that communication, commitment and compromise are key elements for a successful collaboration.
Amy and Hannah were able to share their own experiences and personal learnings during their time as members of the steering committee for the research project 'Making TRACS to improve nurse retention'. Dr Scammell and Dr Collard reflected on how the collaboration successfully grounded the research in the realities of clinical practice. The presentation was received very positively, generating many questions. It was wonderful to share our experiences with NET2019 participants concerning the new initiatives that have resulted within RBCH through this collaborative project, not least our web portal http://support4nurses.uk/
