The 2021 Nursing Times Awards will take place on 27 October.

Two shortlistings for national Nursing Times Awards

Two teams linked to the University of Exeter have been shortlisted for awards at the prestigious 2021 Nursing Times Awards.

The Research and Development team based at the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust’s RILD building has been shortlisted twice in the Clinical Research Nursing category.

Their work around the Royal Devon and Exeter Tissue Bank is one of the areas shortlisted.

In the Clinical Research Nursing category, the RD&E has been shortlisted alongside NIHR Exeter Clinical Research Facility and the University of Exeter Medical School, for work around the Royal Devon and Exeter Tissue Bank (RDETB).

The RDETB collects ‘spare’ tissue samples from patients for research, and has expanded to support a diverse range of specialties, including cancer, diabetes, vascular medicine, obstetrics, and COVID-19. This is made possible by a nurse-led research team, who identify areas of collaboration, then support teams through all stages of the project, from development to sample collection and storage.

Mr Malcolm Crundwell, Consultant Urologist, said: “Since setting up in 2001, we have far exceeded our original remit of facilitating biomedical research in urology, and as the founder and Clinical Director of the RDETB, I am delighted that these abilities have been recognised by the Nursing Times Award Shortlisting team.”

The RD&E and the University of Exeter Medical School have also been shortlisted in the same category for their innovative strategies to increase the engagement of clinical staff in research.

This includes starting the Chief Nurse Research Fellows programme, where clinical staff undertake bespoke research training to identify local clinical research priorities, setting up a nurse-led Embedding Research In Care (ERIC) unit to help with innovation, evaluation and research participation, and establishing a Clinical Academic Network to aid collaborative working.

Helen Quinn, Research and Development Director, said: “We know patients treated in research-active hospitals have better outcomes, which is why we’re committed to supporting our clinical staff to develop the skills and knowledge they need to progress their own research projects. We are delighted for all the staff who have worked so hard on these initiatives to be shortlisted this year.”

The 2021 Nursing Times Awards will take place on 27 October 2021.

Date: 15 September 2021