An open admission…

So here it is.

As we know, I have now safely navigated through the PhD journey, and can officially say I have qualified as a Doctor of Engineering. My thesis, which examines future systems of hand hygiene measurement in healthcare, will soon be available for anyone to read.  Amazing.

Image from: http://manpreetdhuffar.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/photo1.jpg

Even more exciting (not sure I ever thought anything would top that…which shows you how much a PhD can change you!), we also know that I have now started working for the NHS – with the phenomenal IPCT at UHCW. 

Now two weeks into my role as IPC Research Practitioner and I have been blown away by how much I am enjoying myself, how diverse the workload and challenges that face the team are, and crucially how overwhelmingly welcoming the team have been.  I never doubted that for a second, but they have surpassed even my high expectations. I have LOVED every moment I have been there, and am so excited about the plans we have been making.  One thing I know for sure…we’re going to be BUSY!

And my admission?

I am SMUG.

I cannot help it. I have tried to battle it, but to no avail.  I just cannot help randomly smiling whenever I think about how much I am enjoying my new post-doc freedom, the ability to offer an “expert” opinion on real world, patient safety matters, and to be given the opportunity to develop research ideas that could make a difference to the way we think in the IP community.  It’s fantastic, and the picture below sums it up beautifully.

Whilst I enjoyed my PhD journey immensely, there is an element of being “caged” – when all is said and done, the main purpose is to develop as a researcher, and ensure you display skills required to earn the qualification.  Once this has been achieved, the freedom is granted to really focus on the research area…and this feels immense!

Image from: http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Smug.jpg

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Double Headline Week #UHCW #IP2014

Having returned from a lovely holiday, it’s been such an exciting week so far – two major headlines:

1. I officially started my new role as Infection Prevention and Control Research Practitioner with the wonderful IPCT at UHCW. I had an amazing couple of days, sitting in on meetings, watching team members prepare to spread the love (#IPSWales) planning our summer of research activities, and taking part in my very first team schimee.  Cannot believe I get to do this every week now!
2. We had our abstract accepted for #IP2014 – we’ll be there sharing our work on how ATP screening may help increase engagement with environmental cleaning… Look for the #TeamGreen poster.  The team have also been successful with other abstracts, but I’ll leave it to them to share that news over on their twitter feed….

 

 

Not sure what next week will bring, but tomorrow I have my final Warwick Women In Science (WIS) meeting before we announce our WIS A Day With…2014 plans, so I am sure there will be plenty more excitement to come…

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Reflections on @BCUHealth #SaferCare14

Now I have had a few days to reflect on the BCU Safer Care Conference (#SaferCare14) I thought I’d jot down a brief overview, and then provide an update on what happened after my workshop…a session which involved a lot of talking, sharing of experiences, and post-it-notes…

The day started strongly with three high flying expert speakers addressing the diverse range of delegates.

 

photo @quality_safety1

Prof Laura Serrant-Green explored a history of nursing, highlighting that it was through the collection of evidence (relating to the health of those living in abject poverty in slums) that public health was driven to improve.  This theme has continued with each major change that humanity has faced, be it global warming, industrial incidents, or the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance. Healthcare has to respond to change.

Key to her talk was that nursing, and healthcare in general, can be viewed as a combination of science and art.  It is a science to create new evidence, but it is an art to be able to translate this evidence and make it understandable for all…

 

photo @quality_safety1

Professor Mark Radford presented a compelling case for why research is relevant to everyone, encouraging the delegates to “be brave” and not to look at “dead end questions”.  A fun quiz regarding “real” research definitely won over the audience.  Much interest was also generated by his presentation of the UHCW CARE Model, a collaborative research approach rolled out at UHCW to widen participation and scope of research, to the benefit of all.

 

photo @quality_safety1

Ann Casey gave a wonderfully engaging talk beginning with a personal story about her experience with a patient named “Ted”. This experience was the trigger point for her to begin her research journey, and provided necessary motivation in the face of common barriers – including self-doubt, lack of time and lack of skills.  Despite always knowing that something needed to change, it wasn’t until Ted came along that Ann was able to find the courage to break the cycle and trigger the change herself.  It wasn’t easy, but she soon found that help was there if sought, and by taking a research approach change has occurred…

 

After these inspiring talks the delegates, refreshed from lunch, were able to develop their research skills through a series of tailored workshops.   I ran one looking at common barriers to research, which allowed delegates to explore their experiences and perceptions of what prevented them being involved in research, and together we generated ideas of how these barriers could be overcome.

This involved lots of discussion, and the use of post-it-notes, which I have now been organising into common themes.  We used a framework based on the work Roxburgh (2006), who highlighted factors limiting nurses’ participation in research, and the workshop output appears to extend and develop this.  I’m quite excited with the data we’ve produced, and look forward to sharing it with the delegates and beyond shortly…

Until then, I’m just happy that I’ve managed to keep the post-it-notes in order…they did seem to get everywhere!!

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