To celebrate international women's day we interviewed women working in research at our hospitals.
We spoke with Catherine Renwick who has worked for Royal Brompton & Harefield hospitals for 25 years in a range of roles from bedside nurse in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), to clinical nurse specialist.
Catherine currently works as a consultant nurse in the paediatric arrythmia and Inherited Cardiac Conditions (ICC) services, where she sees children with many different diagnoses including arrythmias (abnormality of the heart rhythm) that occur due to congenital, acquired and inherited causes.
She is also currently undertaking a HEE/NIHR Doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic fellowship.
Read her interview below.
What inspired you to get into research?
There are several reasons why I got into research.
I didn’t participate in research when I was a PICU nurse but once I moved into a nurse specialist role, research was always a component of our job description. Despite this, research was still one of the things that you never quite got to do because you don’t have protected time, and it’s quite hard to devote time to research due to busy clinical workloads.
One of the differences between nurses and doctors when it comes to research is that nurses don’t have job plans set out in quite the same way, so finding time to complete research is always quite difficult.
However, since starting in my current role as a consultant nurse it’s become a bit easier to devote time to research. There are four key domains of a nurse consultant role which we are expected to develop, and research forms a part of this. For me, research was the area I felt I needed to develop the most and could also benefit from more training in.
What excites you the most about research?
What excites me the most is being able to develop my skills and level of experience which will enable me to work on research projects which benefit patients.
Another thing that excites me about research is that I see myself as a facilitator for other nurses developing along their research career. I think it’s really important that we have advocates for nurse-led research because it’s something we could still improve on as nurses.
Do you remember having to make any difficult choices in your research career?
One time that was very difficult in my career was stepping away from my bedside nursing role. I used to work in PICU at a time when clinical nurse specialist roles didn’t come along that often - and I knew that was what I wanted to work toward but I didn’t feel quite ready for it.
But I also knew I wanted to stay in PICU and become a sister before I moved into the cardiac clinical nurse specialist role. But the job for a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) role came up and I knew it may not come up again for a while so I applied for it and I got the job.
Although the CNS role did take me away from my clinical bedside role, which I really missed for a long time and I still do, to a certain degree, it has opened up many opportunities. One of which is now being a consultant nurse and being more research active.
What are the most challenging aspects of research for you? Do you mind sharing how you worked to overcame these?
I am currently completing an HEE/NIHR Doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship. It’s a big change from the clinical role I have been used to, although I am still working clinically but only one day a week. Not only am I missing the wider clinical aspects of my consultant nurse role, but there’s also a lot to get organised before you can even start a research project. I am working on fine tuning my projects protocol and submitting for ethics approval which is a lengthy process. However, I have great support from my supervisors and their research groups, in addition to lots of opportunities for support within the trust including the doctoral support group, ACORN and the monthly research cafés.
What's been your greatest accomplishment so far?
In terms of research, my first great accomplishment has to be completing my master’s degree and dissertation. I carried out primary research looking at the exercise habits and barriers to exercise for children with arrythmias, which was a massive piece of work whilst working full time. The project has led me onto the research I am conducting for my Doctoral fellowship.
Getting through doctoral fellowship interview was also a challenge, and I was totally surprised that I was successful.
Outside of work I would say that completing the 2021 London Marathon was without a doubt my greatest achievement!
Are there any women, either in your field or outside of it, who you admire and why?
I think it’s really important that we recognise female role models in the workplace, and in any field. Personally, I don’t think I would have got to where I am in my career without the support of female role models.
My greatest role model has been Dr Jan Till, consultant paediatric electrophysiologist, who inspired me to work in electrophysiology in the first place. At the time she was the only female consultant in a male dominated environment and she impressed me so much. She’s internationally recognised and respected and I have learned so much from her, not just in terms of clinical care but also how to present publicly at conferences and educational meetings. I owe her a huge amount and she’s probably the one I admire the most.
What advice would you give a junior colleague who is considering research as part of their career?
I would definitely say don’t put things off. I put off completing my master’s degree and I wished I’d done it sooner. So, if you are thinking of going down an academic pathway, completing a masters or some other research, get going as soon as you can.
Also, it’s really important to seek out support, even if it’s not someone from your immediate working environment if you know it’s something you want to pursue. And definitely find someone who can mentor you and offer you advice.
Make sure to look at the many training and funding opportunities that might help you along the way and when those opportunities do arise make the most of them, even if it pushes you outside of your comfort zone or if it isn’t necessarily part of your immediate plan.
When a door opens, and you didn’t expect that door to open, still go through it. Use the opportunities as they arise rather than waiting for them to come, because sometimes when you wait for them, they don’t come.