Buckinghamshire CAMHs, EIS, Oxford OA CMHT and Sandford OA male inpatient areas participated in the pilot with year 2 pre-registration nurses. Nominations were made for the\u00a0‘most engaged MESH student’\u00a0award across all four participating sites nationally, with\u00a0Oxford Health\u2019s candidate,\u00a0Cynthia Okoli, winning the award.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0Cynthia Okoli<\/p><\/div>\n
Cynthia Okoli is undertaking an\u00a0MSc in\u00a0Mental Health Nursing at Oxford Brookes University. She joined MESH whilst on placement at\u00a0Sandford inpatient ward and was supported to achieve specified\u00a0clinical research goals with support from\u00a0the\u00a0NIHR Oxford Health\u00a0Clinical Research Facility (CRF).<\/a><\/p>\n Cynthia\u2019s experiences of clinical research prior to MESH\u00a0were\u00a0limited, and she had reservations about the initiative. However, during MESH, Cynthia described\u00a0changes in her\u00a0understanding and appreciation for research, with\u00a0a \u2018penny drop\u2019 moment becoming\u00a0evident in her\u00a0final reflection meeting. Cynthia said that the experience\u00a0had allowed\u00a0her to revisit her understanding of research, which she had previously thought of\u00a0as dry, academic and \u2018all about writing\u2019.\u00a0However,\u00a0she felt that her MESH placement experience had shown her that research within\u00a0nursing should be viewed like any other part of clinical care,\u00a0saying:\u00a0\u201cthis is the same thing we are doing on the ward\u2026just in a research setting\u201d.<\/p>\n Cynthia’s reflections on learning about informed consent helped her to\u00a0recognise that gaining skills in consent taking were transferable to clinical practice and were applicable to all aspects of caregiving. These insightful\u00a0reflections highlight why it is so important that we expose nurses to clinical research early on in their career pathways.<\/p>\n Samuel Agyapong, Clinical Research Nurse at the NIHR Oxford Health CRF who supported the MESH placement, commented: \u2018The MESH programme addresses a major strategic priority in nursing. It helps with supporting nurses to drive change in healthcare through high-quality, evidence-based practice, promotes their contributions to the development of important research questions, whilst also highlighting career opportunities in research. This is important in mental health research where nursing involvement can be particularly influential in clinical practice\u201d.<\/p>\n Cynthia will join the NIHR Nursing and Midwifery table at the\u00a0Student Nursing Times Awards\u00a0ceremony<\/a>\u00a0in London this\u00a0April to celebrate her achievements and to meet with colleagues and mentors who can support her in her future research journey.<\/p>\n We would like to congratulate Cynthia on her achievement.<\/p>\n