Renal nurses offered up to £300,000 research grant
A new grant scheme has been opened for nurses with experience in caring for kidney patients who are being encouraged to “help change the future of renal medicine”.
The funding, offered through a partnership between several kidney care charities and other organisations, can be used towards the cost of undertaking research into kidney conditions or improving patient outcomes.
“My research will support my nursing practice”
Emma Jones
Nurses can apply for up to £300,000 each under the scheme.
Kidney Research UK, one of the participating charities, said the project’s research priorities were threefold.
The first surrounds improving treatments, including research into how to make kidney transplants last longer, making dialysis “more tolerable”and improving the quality of life for patients undergoing procedures related to kidney conditions.
The second is researching comorbidities, including how kidney disease is linked to other conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, and how to improve psychosocial support for people undergoing treatment.
Thirdly, nurses are encouraged to apply for the funding to research health inequalities in kidney care. This could, the charity said, include investigating why some demographics are more at risk of kidney disease and progress to kidney failure faster than others.
Emma Jones, a renal nurse currently researching how people with kidney failure make decisions about a transplant, said nurses were in the ideal position to improve care via a scheme like this.
“I did not set out to do a PhD when I became a nurse, but my research will support my nursing practice,” said Ms Jones, who is also a trustee of Kidney Wales, another one of the charities involved in the partnership.
“There are many invaluable skills I have developed, such as conducting interviews with patients, writing study protocols and presenting my research findings to various audiences and stakeholders.
“Research provides an opportunity for continued learning and drives the involvement of nurses in the implementation and facilitation of new procedures in kidney medicine.”
“We hope to inspire more nurses to put themselves forward to help change the future of renal medicine”
Aisling McMahon
Funding as part of the scheme can range from £40,000 for a ‘start-up’ grant to a fellowship up to the value of £300,000.
As well as funding, successful applicants will be offered support on improving their research skills through e-learning resources from the Association of Nephrology Nurses.
The research grants are being funded by Kidney Research UK, Kidney Wales, the Association of Nephrology Nurses, the Northern Counties Kidney Research Fund, the family of the late Dr Stewart Cameron, and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool.
Kidney Research UK executive director of research Aisling McMahon added: “Nurses are a huge part of every kidney patient’s journey and we are encouraging them to bring their experiences and ideas into research.
“Together with our partners in this new programme, we hope to inspire more nurses to put themselves forward to help change the future of renal medicine.”
Applications for research funding open on 28 August and more information can be found here.
