Research nursing offers attractive career options, enabling nurses to use core nursing skills, contribute to the development of new evidence and improve patient care.

Opportunities for development may include senior researching roles, leading teams or research facilities (akin to the ward manager role), education or even being principal investigator on studies. Working in research may lead you to become interested in an academic career, and pursue a PhD, or a Professional Doctorate to become an independent nurse researcher.

Nurses within research provide and deliver high quality patient care to support the delivery of clinical research studies within a service or department.

Duties could include preparing trial protocols and other trial-related documentation, helping to develop new drugs, treatments, care pathways or regimens for patients, dealing with data collection, submitting study proposals for regulatory approval, and coordinating the initiation, management and completion of the research, managing a team, or working in academia.

Examples of jobs within Research:

• Clinical Research Nurse (CRN)
• Research and Development Nurse
• Research Midwife
• Research Sister / Charge Nurse
• Senior clinical research nurse
• Research Manager
• Research Associate
• Clinical Academic
• Joint Clinical Nurse Specialist and Clinical Research Nurse
• Independent Nurse Researcher 

See the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) website for information on research roles for nurses and midwives.

If you're interested in research roles...

• See the RCN Research and innovation section for news, resources and information.
• Join the RCN Research Forum and the RCN Research Forum Facebook group.
• Use your contacts, colleagues, RCN Research Forum Facebook group, etc. to connect with Research Nurses for career advice and insight.
• Contact your local NHS Research Office to arrange an informal chat with the Lead Clinical Research Nurse, or enquire about shadowing or short term work placements.
• Find out whether there are any projects or initiatives around research, quality improvement or innovation in your workplace and ask to be involved.
• Shadow nurses in various research roles. This could be through your network, informal visits, or through your current employer.
• Search for Research Nurse vacancies and examine their Person Specifications. Identify what experience, skills, qualifications, or training is required.
• Speak to your manager for support, and make sure any goals or aspirations are documented in your 121s.
• See if your employer offers mentoring or coaching, or has any career frameworks. You may want to see if there is an RCN Learning rep within your workplace.

Nursing Career Resource

For more information about the desired qualifications, education, skills and experience needed to transition into Research Nursing, see the Research section of the RCN's Nursing Career Resource which includes videos, case studies, links, and further resources.

NIHR resources

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has lots of useful resources such as:

• Introduction to health and care research (includes introductory resources and courses such as 'starting out in health and social care research,' 'improving healthcare through clinical research,' and 'research skills e-learning.' 
• NIHR Learn (open to all)
• Research as part of your career (advice and ideas around helping with research projects or supporting people to take part in research studies)