Ways to expand your Research and Service Development skills
CPD/Evidence based practice
A great place to start is to find out about your organisations library and knowledge services and the support they can offer. If you have a physical library, find out it’s location/contact details, how to register and what services/training they offer. Enquire about registering for an NHS Open Athens account. Many will also offer informal training and guidance on journal searching and how to read, understand and critique research articles.
Develop your ability to read and understand journal articles https://libguides.tees.ac.uk/read_article
Look for national guidelines and knowledge summaries applicable to your area of practice. Resources include:
- https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance
- https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/evidence-services/journals-and-databases
- https://library.nhs.uk/knowledgehub/
Find others to share discussions about journal articles you have read. Reflect on the key messages and how will they contribute to your future practice. This could be a peer, in a journal club, on twitter etc.
Getting involved in research, audit and service development
Educational and training resources include:
- https://www.nihr.ac.uk/health-and-care-professionals/engagement-and-participation-in-research/
- https://www.wiley.com/en-us/customer-success/cochrane-library-training-hub
- Research, Audit and Quality Improvement – elearning for healthcare (e-lfh.org.uk)
Contact your local Research and Development team to find out more about their work.
If you have students in your team / area, find out more about what they are studying and any research they are doing.
Seek out opportunities to participate in data collection for research, clinical trials audit and/or service improvements in your area of work.
Formal Resources/Sharing current / best practice
Keep up to date with professional developments via professional forums. Find out about the ‘hot topics’ concerning your profession at the moment.
Look for online discussion forums for your professional or interest group. Contribute to the discussions.
Access podcasts, blogs or online recordings of conference presentations in your areas of special interest.