RCN announces Akinsanya Award 2010 shortlist

Published: 13 January 2010

The RCN Research Society has announced the shortlist for the Akinsanya Award 2010 for Innovation in Doctoral Studies in Nursing.

The award is granted to the most innovative thesis in nursing and aims to celebrate and promote excellence in nursing scholarship, as well as innovation and its potential to influence health care policy and practice. The award is named after RCN Fellow Professor Justus A. Akinsanya.

Carol Haigh, Professor in Nursing at Manchester Metropolitan University and chair of this year's judging panel, said the standards of submissions were ‘excellent’. RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Dr Peter Carter said:

"This year's shortlist demonstrates the wide variety of subjects, styles and the high quality of nursing research in UK. They are a testament to the vital role nursing research plays in encouraging excellence in healthcare and in developing the specialised knowledge needed to overcome the many health challenges the country faces."

The winner will be announced at the RCN's International Nursing Research Conference in Newcastle in May 2010.

Further information

The shortlisted theses and their authors for the Akinsanya Award 2010 for Doctoral Studies in Nursing are:

Exacerbations of severe asthma: psychosocial predictors and the impact of a nurse-led clinic - Dr Alison Pooler
Holding it together: A psychosocial exploration of living with frailty in old age - Caroline Nicholson
Prospective observational study of postoperative epidural analgesia for major abdominal surgery - Fiona Duncan
The lived experience of younger women with cancer of the vulva: a phenomenological study - Hilary Jefferies.

In addition to the Award, the winning author will receive £250, be supported in the dissemination of their work through a variety of media and will be awarded a free place at the RCN International Nursing Research Conference in Newcastle from 11-13 May 2010. All theses submitted for the Awards are deposited in the RCN's 'Steinberg Collection', a unique collection of nursing theses held in the RCN Library.

Read more about the RCN International Research Conference.