Developing sustainable nursing and allied health professional research capacity

Could you give me a leg up …? Models, frameworks and support structures to help aspiring clinical academic speech and language therapists

BACKGROUND

Increasing research capacity and capability for the speech and language therapy (SLT) profession is a key national strategic driver, with many speech and language therapists (SLTs) aspiring to a clinical academic (CA) career. There are known benefits but also acknowledged challenges with this career path, including limited funding opportunities and a poorly established career trajectory.

AIMS

To present models, frameworks and support structures that can be used by aspiring SLT CAs to chart research knowledge and skills, and plan career development. Organisational models are also presented to facilitate SLT CA career development and research capacity-building.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

A narrative review was conducted using a literature search of published peer-reviewed journals across four electronic databases: Medline, CINAHL, AMED and Embase, with additional search for grey literature through internet searches. Search results were screened against eligibility criteria by two researchers, with full-text articles retrieved and reviewed by four researchers independently.

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

The database search and grey literature search combined identified 610 records. Full-text screening of 66 records resulted in 19 articles or grey literature sources being included within the narrative review.

MAIN CONTRIBUTION

This paper details models, frameworks and support structures pertinent to SLTs that can be used at an individual and organizational level to assist CA skill development and career paths.

CONCLUSION & IMPLICATIONS

The national climate is looking positive for aspiring SLT CAs. The time is now to take the initiative and use the support structures available to show our CA value and develop the necessary skills outlined within these resources to fulfil our ambitions.

WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS

What is already known on the subject Interest in CA careers within the SLT profession is increasing. Whilst there are known benefits to embedding research within clinical practice, barriers exist including the strategic and operational steps individuals can take to make the career path a reality. What this study adds This narrative review has searched the literature for CA models, frameworks and support structures created for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. These tools are presented and discussed, with special consideration and focus to the SLT profession. What are the clinical implications of this work? This paper will provide SLTs with the tools to support their personal CA career development as well as advocate for CA roles within their teams and organisations. Organisational models are also presented to support SLT managers to foster a CA path for workforce development.

Experiences of a community of research practice: a service evaluation

BACKGROUND

A community of research practice (CRP) was established to increase research capacity and provide learning opportunities and networking for healthcare practitioners, working within a Children's Care Group. The CRP aimed to engage research-interested practitioners in research to develop their skills and confidence, encourage networking, and build research capacity.

AIM

To report the results of a service evaluation that was undertaken to review the CRP's value in practice.

DISCUSSION

Thematic analysis revealed four themes - 'positive environment', 'confidence', 'professional development' and 'networking' - highlighting benefits from the CRP, alongside the challenges encountered.

CONCLUSION

This article highlights the significant contribution of CRP for practitioners in the context of an innovative organisation with a supportive culture.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

A CRP empowers healthcare practitioners to engage with research while in clinical practice, enabling increased research confidence, and the development of research skill and knowledge and enhanced networking. CRP can potentially influence recruitment and retention.

Experiences of hospital allied health professionals in collaborative student research projects: a qualitative study

Background

Active engagement in research by healthcare organisations and clinicians is associated with improvements in healthcare performance. Barriers to research engagement by clinician allied health (AH) professionals include competing priorities from high clinical workloads, lack of research skills and confidence, and lack of supportive research relationships. Collaboration with universities on joint clinical research projects is well recognised as a means of building health service research capacity. Research projects undertaken by students as part of their qualifying degree represent one such opportunity. However, there are few reports evaluating these collaborations from the health service perspective.

Methods

A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to explore the experiences of AH professionals in the co-supervision of students completing research placements as part of their professional degree course.

Results

Fourteen health service employees from six allied health disciplines described collaborations on research projects with 24 students from four different universities. Student placements and projects varied widely in length of placement, extent of collaboration, supervision structure and study design. Three overarching themes were identified in the AH professional co-supervision experience: 1) Professional growth; 2) Mismatch with expectations; and 3) Focus on the student. Project outcomes were categorised from the health system perspective. These were 1) Healthcare performance improvements, including local increases in staff clinical practice knowledge and wider contributions to the evidence base; 2) Research capacity gains within the health service, including research knowledge and skill development, collaborative linkages and opportunity for future research; and 3) Staff-centred outcomes including increased job satisfaction.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates the potential for AH professional supervision of students on research placements to contribute to healthcare performance improvements and research capacity gains within health services, alongside providing personal benefits for the AH professionals involved. Early consultation with a health service-employed research specialist may support health professional and student learning, team collaboration and project coordination for these student projects.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-022-08119-7.

What is known about clinician researcher careers in allied health? A scoping review of the last decade

PURPOSE

Although the benefits of clinician researchers for health services are now more clearly recognised, their career development is not well understood. Hence, the purpose of this paper, a scoping review, is to determine what has been discussed in the literature about career opportunities for allied health (AH) clinician researchers in health services.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

A structured literature search was completed in December 2020 for literature published 2010-2020 in English. A total of 2,171 unique abstracts were found and screened by two reviewers and 206 articles progressed to full text screening.

FINDINGS

Forty-six studies were ultimately included; however, only two of these had aims directly related to AH clinician researcher careers, with the remainder containing only incidental data on this topic. Over half (56.5%) of the included studies were conducted in Australia, with a variety of AH professions represented. In terms of research design, 52.2% used cross-sectional survey designs, while case studies and qualitative research designs were also common. Key observations were that varying terminology and definitions were used, and there was little information about the inclusion of research in clinical positions or opportunities for formal clinical researcher positions in health services. There was some evidence to support that there are limited career opportunities after PhD completion, and that current career pathways are insufficient. There was conflicting evidence on whether engagement in research is beneficial for clinical career progression.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

This review highlights a lack of research on this topic and outlines future directions to better support career pathways for AH clinician researchers.

"There hasn't been a career structure to step into": a qualitative study on perceptions of allied health clinician researcher careers

Background

There are many demonstrated benefits for health service organizations engaging in research. As a result, growing numbers of clinicians are being encouraged to pursue research as part of their clinical roles, including in allied health (AH). However, while the benefits of having clinician researchers embedded in AH services have been well established, the career needs of those engaged in these dual roles are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine perspectives of the career pathway for AH clinicians engaged in “clinician researcher” roles within Australian health services.

Methods

A qualitative descriptive study was conducted, utilizing semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling was used to ensure selection of varied locations, professions and role types. Results were analysed using thematic analysis. Trustworthiness was established using regular peer debriefing during theme development, and respondent validation of final themes.

Results

Fifty-seven AH clinician researchers, including those who did and did not have research as a formal component of their current role, participated in semi-structured interviews. Key themes were as follows: (1) clinician researchers prefer roles which are embedded in health services; (2) current opportunities for clinician researcher roles in health are insufficient; (3) there are deficiencies in the pathway for clinician researcher careers; (4) clinician researchers are not always valued or incentivized by health services; (5) the current career challenges impair the viability of clinician researcher careers; and (6) the clinician researcher career path has been improving, and there is hope it will continue to improve.

Conclusion

This study outlines a number of weaknesses in the current career structure and opportunities for AH clinician researchers in Australian health services. In particular, while there are strong intrinsic drivers to pursue this dual career, extrinsic drivers are poorly developed, including a lack of job opportunities, an unstable career pathway and a lack of valuing or incentivizing this career choice within health services. This often means that clinician researchers feel compelled to choose between a research or clinical career, leading to loss of this valuable combined skill set. The findings of this research may assist health services in developing and supporting improved clinician researcher career pathways.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12961-021-00801-2.