Opportunities
| Opportunities | |
| Sub-theme | Example quotes |
| Developing skills (n=6) | We’ve been able to give some people a lot more rehab…We’d ring them every day saying, “come on, do your exercises now!” Pre-COVID we would see them twice a week maybe, if that (P6-AHP). We had to quickly convert simulation training from face-to-face…we did it virtually via Teams, and that worked really well…Students loved it (P3-AHP). I have started a remote journal club as people are keen to learn, even if normal in-service training isn't available (R13-AHP). |
| Identifying areas for new research and collaborations (n=17) | There’s a particular interest in this group of patients around rehabilitation and problems with long-term recovery from COVID-19. So, we’re working with the respiratory medicine team as a collaboration that we weren’t working with before (P3-AHP). I listened to a lot of problems that would lead to really good research projects (P6-AHP). (It’s about) liberating the frontline workers' voice in identifying key questions they have from their practice; what do they think are the priorities during the pandemic and going forward into this new normal? And then driving the research agenda to try and answer those priority questions (P8-Nurse). |
| Using clinical academic skills | Being flexible and responding to new information honed from academia prepared me for the continually evolving situation with new guidelines for clinical practice for COVID-19 (R34-MCA). There are over 5500 nurses (in the organisation) …we used a database that enabled us to skills match so we could redeploy groups of nurses…that was coordinated very much by clinical academics. Doing a PhD, a viva, helps in times like this (because) you know how to work under incredible pressure (P5-Nurse). Leadership and management skills have been useful (R33 -MCA). |
| Flexibility and management skills (n=17) | |
| Appraising, utilising and sharing latest research and evidence (n=26) | A key to the COVID-19 crisis is evaluating and adjusting strategies quickly…This kind of mindset was already instilled in me…it made a big difference to how responsive we could be (R9-MCA). I think being a clinical academic during a pandemic where little is known about the condition is a superpower. I’ve been able to research what rehabilitation needs to look like as well as implementing it (R23-AHP). |
| I often receive information about resources, for example, webinars, new papers, that I share with my NHS colleagues (R6-MCA). I can explain research findings in a language other staff and patients can understand (R19-Nurse). I’m able to discuss with patients that the Daily Mail version of vascular medicine is probably not correct (P7-MCA). | |
| Advocacy of the clinical academic role (n=6) | We had a golden opportunity for (nurses) to see research in action…that was a joy to see that lightbulb of how research can really transform patient care, that was pretty good (P5-Nurse). They recognise you as one of them, in the same uniform, in their environment (P1-Nurse). Lots of them want to be a clinical academic. The negatives they saw were how hard work it is, they were gobsmacked…when they went home, I’d still be there catching up on my academic work (P6-AHP). |
AHP, allied health professional; MCA, medical clinical academic.