Social Care Nurse Research: Leading From the Front

I feel privileged and very proud to have been appointed as the first Social Care Nurse Fellow within the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Nursing and Midwifery Office in 2023. This is a clear indication that the NIHR Nursing and Midwifery Office is committed to improving research opportunities for nurses and midwives across all specialties and settings.

My role is to improve opportunities for social care nurses to become more research active, in order to develop a sustainable workforce of social nurses who can support, deliver, and lead research. Whilst there is a small but active social care nurse research community, there are disparities in research development opportunities compared to nurses working in the NHS. Consequently, there are few visible nurse research role models and mentors in social care nursing.

Whilst there has been a recent increase in research undertaken by academics in social care settings, we need to increase research done by practicing social care nurses. Only then will we be able to change the narrative from research being something ‘done to’ social care as opposed to ‘done with’ social care.

Social Care Nursing

One of the biggest challenges is the lack of understanding about the social care nursing workforce and the vital role they play in delivering care and support to some of the most vulnerable people living in our communities.

Social care nurses are registered nurses across all specialties who practice outside of the NHS, often for independent sector organisations. The majority work in residential care settings and others work in settings such as charitable organisations, local authorities, faith groups and education. Social care nursing focuses on providing care embedded in a biopsychosocial model which is relationship and/or person-centred, and which seeks to meet a person’s health and social care needs together.

Sharing my Research Journey

I qualified as a mental health nurse and worked within older persons services, predominantly in social care settings. This is where I have spent much of my career, and it is where I feel most at home. Although for many years I felt like a square peg in a round hole, not fitting the traditional nurse model. I couldn’t see how I could play a part in research and how research reflected how I practiced as a nurse.

When I finally decided to undertake a Master’s degree, this perception was not challenged. I found that the MSc offer in the School of Nursing didn’t meet my needs, so I undertook an MA in the School of Social Work and Psychology as this was more clearly aligned to my values and practice.

It was here that I started to feel comfortable with my identity as a nurse and instead of trying to conform to the stereotype of a nurse wearing a blue uniform in a hospital setting, I began to recognise my professional self.

I was able to learn about research methods and methodologies that fitted with the way I saw the world. This demystified my view of research. I realised that research is the process of discovering new knowledge and not a ubiquitous one-size-fits-all notion that requires a biomedical approach. However, this route was not planned, nor was I guided towards it – I stumbled across it by chance. Without taking that first step into research I would not be in the role I am in now, nor would I be able to say that I have achieved a PhD.

Increasing Research Capacity

More social care nurses need to have the opportunities I have been afforded and see research as a key part of their role in which they are valued and heard. Social care nursing is diverse, highly skilled and makes a big difference to people and residents’ everyday lives.

Improving opportunities for social care nurses to support, deliver and lead research is critical if we are to produce evidence and ask questions to inform policy and practice; we must ensure the needs and views of those delivering and receiving these critical services are heard.

There has never been a more crucial time to demonstrate the value of social care, and the resources needed to deliver person and relationship-centred care to an increasingly ageing population, many of whom will be living with multiple long-term conditions and have complex needs. I hope that many of you will join me in shining a light on the value of social care nursing and collectively we can ensure that as we go forward, we can begin to redress the inequities that currently exist.

The Community Nursing Research Forum has a wealth of useful Research Career resources to help in developing research-related careers in health and social care.

Join the Community Nursing Research Forum

Dr Zena Aldridge RMHN MA FRSA 

Social Care Nurse Fellow 

Nursing & Midwifery | RDN Coordinating Centre (RDNCC) | NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN)

NICHE – Leeds Research Fellow – University of Leeds

Regional Clinical Lead (dementia) – NHS England

Independent Dementia Nurse Consultant

Consultant Editor – Nursing Older People (RCNi)