National Nursing Research Unit
The National Nursing Research Unit (NNRU) was active between 1977-2015. These pages are an archive of its work.
The National Nursing Research Unit (NNRU) at King’s College London produced research and reviews. This activity informed policy and practice relating to the nursing workforce.
The NNRU's health service research was aimed at policymakers and healthcare leaders. The research has contributed to the improvement of nursing in its social, political, local, national, and global contexts.
Major themes of research
- Care Quality and Outcomes
- Organisations, physical environment, and ways of working
- Nursing and healthcare workforce.
Outputs from the NNRU included reviews on a variety of topics. Briefings on current policy issues, known as Policy+, were published between 2007-2015. The NNRU created networking and hosting opportunities for visiting external academics to increase its collaborative research. There were also internships for specific projects and support for PhD candidates to help grow and develop research in this area.
People involved in NNRU:
- Jill Maben
- Anne Marie Rafferty
- Glenn Robert
- Mary Adams
- Trevor Murrells
- Jane Ball
- Sarah Cowley
- Simon Walne
- Peter Griffiths
Aims
The aim was to produce robust health services research for policymakers and healthcare leaders. It improved the quality and effectiveness of nursing in its social, political, local, national and global contexts.
Impact
Reviews were prepared for a range of topics and for diverse customers including:
- Department of Health
- NIHR
- Royal College of Nursing
- Nursing and Midwifery Council
- European Union
- Health Foundation
- NHS Institute for Innovation.
Effective start/end date: 20/08/1997 - 20/08/2015
Care Quality and outcomes
Projects in this theme included:
Context for successful improvement: Best evidence review for the Health Foundation. This review has the following research question: which contextual factors relate to successful improvement and sustainability of quality in healthcare organisations, and which of these factors are modifiable? (Glenn Robert)
- Duration: September 2011 - March 2012
- Funded By: The Health Foundation
- Project lead: Glenn Robert
Long term conditions in primary care. Effective management of diabetes in primary care: the contribution of nurses to improved outcomes and optimal resource utilisation (Jill Maben / Trevor Murrells)
- Duration: April 2010 - April 2012
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Trevor Murrells
QUASER (Quality and Safety in Europe by Research). Guide for implementing best practice and a framework for assessing performance (Glenn Robert)
- Duration: April 2010 - March 2013
- Funded By: European Union FP7
- Project lead: Glenn Robert
A study of the barriers to early presentation and diagnosis with breast cancer in black African, black Caribbean and white women. Collaboration between NNRU and Professor Emma Ream, Professor of Supportive Cancer Care, and funded by Cancer Research UK (Jill Maben)
- Duration: October 2011 - March 2014
- Funded By: Cancer Research UK
- Project lead: Jill Maben
National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) Quality Standards - National Institute for Health Research Service & Delivery Organisation Programme (Glenn Robert)
- Duration: November 2011 - November 2013
- Funded By: NIHR SDO
- Project lead: Glenn Robert
Organisations, physical environment, and ways of working
This theme involved reviewing the evidence on existing processes in the delivery of care and how these might be improved and understanding the factors facilitating the adoption of new approaches.
Projects in this theme include:
The Culture of Care Barometer: Using a staff survey tool to gauge the culture of care in health care provider organisations (Anne Marie Rafferty / Jane Ball)
- Duration: N/A
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Anne Marie Rafferty
An evaluation of the spread and sustainability of experience-based co-design (Mary Adams)
- Duration: July 2011 - June 2012
- Funded By: Guy's and St Thomas' Charity
- Project lead: Mary Adams
Testing accelerated experience-based co-design: using a national archive of patient experience narrative interviews to promote rapid patient-centred service improvement (Glenn Robert)
- Duration: September 2011 - March 2013
- Funded By: NIHR
- Project lead: Glenn Robert
Enhancing the role of carers in the outpatient chemotherapy setting (Glenn Robert)
- Duration: June 2011 - June 2013
- Funded By: Dimbleby Cancer Care Research Fund
- Project lead: Glenn Robert
The impact of moving to single room hospital accommodation: workforce implications and staff and patients’ experience of care in a new physical environment (Jill Maben)
- Duration: January 2011 - December 2013
- Funded By: NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) programme
- Project lead: Jill Maben
Impact of Releasing Time to Care (in Canada) (Jill Maben)
- Duration: April 2010 - March 2013
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Jill Maben
Understanding nurses’ work environment: Interruptions and distractions to nurses’ work. PhD Studentship (Jill Maben / Simon Walne)
- Duration: September 2010 - September 2014
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Jill Maben
Nursing and healthcare workforce
The theme researched an individual perspective on job satisfaction and choice of career direction. It also focused on the organisational perspective on providing a workforce of appropriate diversity and numbers to meet service delivery commitments
Projects in this theme include:
Programme of work to support the Health Visitor Implementation Plan (Jill Maben / Sarah Cowley)
- Duration: April 2011 - December 2012
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Jill Maben
RN4CAST: Nurse Forecasting for Europe. Exploring the relationship between nursing inputs and patient outcomes in acute hospitals in 15 countries, in order to inform workforce planning (Peter Griffiths / Jane Ball)
- Duration: January 2009 - December 2011
- Funded By: European Union's Seventh Framework Programme
- Project lead: Peter Griffiths
The efficient use of the maternity workforce and the implications for safety & quality in maternity care: An economic perspective (Trevor Murrells)
- Duration: N/A
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Trevor Murrells
Publications
The National Nursing Research Unit produced hundreds of publications including:
- Policy+: a series of briefings on topical policy issues. Published between 2007-2014.
- Reports for policy makers and influencers on a range of topics. Published between 2001-2014.
See below for PDF issues of Policy+ and the NNRU reports.
Reports
- Policy Plus Issue 36 - (pdf) 565 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 37 - (pdf) 610 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 38 - (pdf) 499 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 39 - (pdf) 554 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 40 - (pdf) 1199 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 41 - (pdf) 460 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 42 - (pdf) 184 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 43 - (pdf) 193 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 44 - (pdf) 383 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 1-35 - (pdf) 787 Kb
- Why Health Visiting? - (pdf) 4287 Kb
- Nurses in Society - starting the debate - (pdf) 366 Kb
- Nurses working in Mid Life - (pdf) 1917 Kb
- RN4CAST Nurse Survey in England - (pdf) 832 Kb
- NNRU Report: Adult Branch Diplomates Starting Out - (pdf) 501 Kb
- High Quality Care Metrics for Nursing - (pdf) 2230 Kb
- State of the art metrics for nursing a rapid appraisal - (pdf) 358 Kb
- Start and Stay: The Recruitment and Retention of Health Visitors - (pdf) 1664 Kb
- Nurses in Society: starting the debate: Written Evidence - (pdf) 556 Kb
- Moving forward with healthcare support workforce regulation - (pdf) 556 Kb
- Approaches to specialist training at pre registration level an international comparison - (pdf) 1393 Kb
- Nurses in Society - starting the debate: Oral evidence gathering - (pdf) 341 Kb
- Nurses' experiences four to eight years after qualification - (pdf) 886 Kb
- An Evaluation of the Impact of Nurse, Midwife and Health Visitor Consultants - (pdf) 786 Kb
- Why Health Visiting - NNRU report 12-02-2013 - (pdf) 1406 Kb
- Student staff ratios for pre-registration midwifery programmes of education - (pdf) 802 Kb
- The Productive Ward: Releasing time to care Learning and Impact Review - (pdf) 685 Kb
- The research base for Learning Disability Nursing a rapid scoping review - (pdf) 1029 Kb
- Scoping review: Preceptorship for newly qualified nurses impacts, facilitators and constraints - (pdf) 554 Kb
- The Impact of Organisation and Management Factors on Infection Control in Hospitals - a Scoping Review - (pdf) 388 Kb
- Sustaining and managing the delivery of student nurse mentorship: Roles, resources, standards and debates (Executive Summary) - (pdf) 649 Kb
- Sustaining and managing the delivery of student nurse mentorship: Roles, resources, standards and debates - Report - (pdf) 2233 Kb
- Exploring the relationship between patients' experiences of care and the influence of staff motivation, affect and wellbeing - (pdf) 5180 Kb
- Employee engagement and retention in the nursing workforce A case study of an inner London acute trust - (pdf) 964 Kb
- The Productive Ward: Releasing time to care Learning and Impact Review (Executive summary) - (pdf) 6057 Kb
- Sustaining and managing the delivery of student nurse mentorship: Roles, resources, standards and debates - Short report - (pdf) 782 Kb
- Scoping review: Moving to an all graduate nursing profession assessing potential effects on workforce profile and quality of care - (pdf) 519 Kb
- Why Health Visiting? A review of the literature about key health visitor interventions, processes and outcomes for children and families - (pdf) 1406 Kb
- A tale of two courses comparing careers and competencies of nurses prepared via three year degree and three year diploma courses - (pdf) 1722 Kb
- An assessment of "failure to rescue" derived from routine NHS data as nursing sensitive patient safety indicator for surgical inpatient care - (pdf) 723 Kb
- The association between midwifery staffing and outcomes in maternity services in England observational study using routinely collected data: Preliminary report and feasibility assessment - (pdf) 494 Kb
- MRSA Origins A study to identify and determine the significance of attributional bias in the control and prevention of meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in healthcare settings - (pdf) 1000 Kb
- Health visiting: the voice of service users, Learning from service users' experiences to inform the development of UK health visiting practice and services - (pdf) 1077 Kb
- Improving Patient Centred Care through Experience based Co-design (EBCD) an Evaluation of the Sustainability and Spread of EBCD in a Cancer Centre - (pdf) 517 Kb
- Evaluating a major innovation in hospital design: Workforce implications and impact on patient and staff experiences of all single room hospital accommodation - (pdf) 3974 Kb
Media coverage
- Does intentional rounding mean better patient care?, King’s College London news article, 2019
- Hourly ward rounds may not be the best way for nurses to deliver care, King's College London news article, 2019
- 'Friends and family test' should no longer be compulsory, argue experts, King's College London news article, 2018
- New report shows lasting, but varying legacies from the Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care programme over the last decade, King's College London news article, 2019
- Is it now time to revisit and refresh the Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care programme?: An independent perspective from a study led by King’s College London news article, NHS, 2019
- Lessons from The Productive Ward, King's College London news article, 2010
- Has intentional rounding turned ward nursing into a tick-box exercise?, Nursing Standard, 2019
- Applying research findings to the organisation of nursing care, Nursing Times news article, 2020
Effective start/end date: 20/08/1997 - 20/08/2015
Care Quality and outcomes
Projects in this theme included:
Context for successful improvement: Best evidence review for the Health Foundation. This review has the following research question: which contextual factors relate to successful improvement and sustainability of quality in healthcare organisations, and which of these factors are modifiable? (Glenn Robert)
- Duration: September 2011 - March 2012
- Funded By: The Health Foundation
- Project lead: Glenn Robert
Long term conditions in primary care. Effective management of diabetes in primary care: the contribution of nurses to improved outcomes and optimal resource utilisation (Jill Maben / Trevor Murrells)
- Duration: April 2010 - April 2012
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Trevor Murrells
QUASER (Quality and Safety in Europe by Research). Guide for implementing best practice and a framework for assessing performance (Glenn Robert)
- Duration: April 2010 - March 2013
- Funded By: European Union FP7
- Project lead: Glenn Robert
A study of the barriers to early presentation and diagnosis with breast cancer in black African, black Caribbean and white women. Collaboration between NNRU and Professor Emma Ream, Professor of Supportive Cancer Care, and funded by Cancer Research UK (Jill Maben)
- Duration: October 2011 - March 2014
- Funded By: Cancer Research UK
- Project lead: Jill Maben
National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) Quality Standards - National Institute for Health Research Service & Delivery Organisation Programme (Glenn Robert)
- Duration: November 2011 - November 2013
- Funded By: NIHR SDO
- Project lead: Glenn Robert
Organisations, physical environment, and ways of working
This theme involved reviewing the evidence on existing processes in the delivery of care and how these might be improved and understanding the factors facilitating the adoption of new approaches.
Projects in this theme include:
The Culture of Care Barometer: Using a staff survey tool to gauge the culture of care in health care provider organisations (Anne Marie Rafferty / Jane Ball)
- Duration: N/A
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Anne Marie Rafferty
An evaluation of the spread and sustainability of experience-based co-design (Mary Adams)
- Duration: July 2011 - June 2012
- Funded By: Guy's and St Thomas' Charity
- Project lead: Mary Adams
Testing accelerated experience-based co-design: using a national archive of patient experience narrative interviews to promote rapid patient-centred service improvement (Glenn Robert)
- Duration: September 2011 - March 2013
- Funded By: NIHR
- Project lead: Glenn Robert
Enhancing the role of carers in the outpatient chemotherapy setting (Glenn Robert)
- Duration: June 2011 - June 2013
- Funded By: Dimbleby Cancer Care Research Fund
- Project lead: Glenn Robert
The impact of moving to single room hospital accommodation: workforce implications and staff and patients’ experience of care in a new physical environment (Jill Maben)
- Duration: January 2011 - December 2013
- Funded By: NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) programme
- Project lead: Jill Maben
Impact of Releasing Time to Care (in Canada) (Jill Maben)
- Duration: April 2010 - March 2013
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Jill Maben
Understanding nurses’ work environment: Interruptions and distractions to nurses’ work. PhD Studentship (Jill Maben / Simon Walne)
- Duration: September 2010 - September 2014
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Jill Maben
Nursing and healthcare workforce
The theme researched an individual perspective on job satisfaction and choice of career direction. It also focused on the organisational perspective on providing a workforce of appropriate diversity and numbers to meet service delivery commitments
Projects in this theme include:
Programme of work to support the Health Visitor Implementation Plan (Jill Maben / Sarah Cowley)
- Duration: April 2011 - December 2012
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Jill Maben
RN4CAST: Nurse Forecasting for Europe. Exploring the relationship between nursing inputs and patient outcomes in acute hospitals in 15 countries, in order to inform workforce planning (Peter Griffiths / Jane Ball)
- Duration: January 2009 - December 2011
- Funded By: European Union's Seventh Framework Programme
- Project lead: Peter Griffiths
The efficient use of the maternity workforce and the implications for safety & quality in maternity care: An economic perspective (Trevor Murrells)
- Duration: N/A
- Funded By: N/A
- Project lead: Trevor Murrells
Publications
The National Nursing Research Unit produced hundreds of publications including:
- Policy+: a series of briefings on topical policy issues. Published between 2007-2014.
- Reports for policy makers and influencers on a range of topics. Published between 2001-2014.
See below for PDF issues of Policy+ and the NNRU reports.
Reports
- Policy Plus Issue 36 - (pdf) 565 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 37 - (pdf) 610 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 38 - (pdf) 499 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 39 - (pdf) 554 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 40 - (pdf) 1199 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 41 - (pdf) 460 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 42 - (pdf) 184 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 43 - (pdf) 193 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 44 - (pdf) 383 Kb
- Policy Plus Issue 1-35 - (pdf) 787 Kb
- Why Health Visiting? - (pdf) 4287 Kb
- Nurses in Society - starting the debate - (pdf) 366 Kb
- Nurses working in Mid Life - (pdf) 1917 Kb
- RN4CAST Nurse Survey in England - (pdf) 832 Kb
- NNRU Report: Adult Branch Diplomates Starting Out - (pdf) 501 Kb
- High Quality Care Metrics for Nursing - (pdf) 2230 Kb
- State of the art metrics for nursing a rapid appraisal - (pdf) 358 Kb
- Start and Stay: The Recruitment and Retention of Health Visitors - (pdf) 1664 Kb
- Nurses in Society: starting the debate: Written Evidence - (pdf) 556 Kb
- Moving forward with healthcare support workforce regulation - (pdf) 556 Kb
- Approaches to specialist training at pre registration level an international comparison - (pdf) 1393 Kb
- Nurses in Society - starting the debate: Oral evidence gathering - (pdf) 341 Kb
- Nurses' experiences four to eight years after qualification - (pdf) 886 Kb
- An Evaluation of the Impact of Nurse, Midwife and Health Visitor Consultants - (pdf) 786 Kb
- Why Health Visiting - NNRU report 12-02-2013 - (pdf) 1406 Kb
- Student staff ratios for pre-registration midwifery programmes of education - (pdf) 802 Kb
- The Productive Ward: Releasing time to care Learning and Impact Review - (pdf) 685 Kb
- The research base for Learning Disability Nursing a rapid scoping review - (pdf) 1029 Kb
- Scoping review: Preceptorship for newly qualified nurses impacts, facilitators and constraints - (pdf) 554 Kb
- The Impact of Organisation and Management Factors on Infection Control in Hospitals - a Scoping Review - (pdf) 388 Kb
- Sustaining and managing the delivery of student nurse mentorship: Roles, resources, standards and debates (Executive Summary) - (pdf) 649 Kb
- Sustaining and managing the delivery of student nurse mentorship: Roles, resources, standards and debates - Report - (pdf) 2233 Kb
- Exploring the relationship between patients' experiences of care and the influence of staff motivation, affect and wellbeing - (pdf) 5180 Kb
- Employee engagement and retention in the nursing workforce A case study of an inner London acute trust - (pdf) 964 Kb
- The Productive Ward: Releasing time to care Learning and Impact Review (Executive summary) - (pdf) 6057 Kb
- Sustaining and managing the delivery of student nurse mentorship: Roles, resources, standards and debates - Short report - (pdf) 782 Kb
- Scoping review: Moving to an all graduate nursing profession assessing potential effects on workforce profile and quality of care - (pdf) 519 Kb
- Why Health Visiting? A review of the literature about key health visitor interventions, processes and outcomes for children and families - (pdf) 1406 Kb
- A tale of two courses comparing careers and competencies of nurses prepared via three year degree and three year diploma courses - (pdf) 1722 Kb
- An assessment of "failure to rescue" derived from routine NHS data as nursing sensitive patient safety indicator for surgical inpatient care - (pdf) 723 Kb
- The association between midwifery staffing and outcomes in maternity services in England observational study using routinely collected data: Preliminary report and feasibility assessment - (pdf) 494 Kb
- MRSA Origins A study to identify and determine the significance of attributional bias in the control and prevention of meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in healthcare settings - (pdf) 1000 Kb
- Health visiting: the voice of service users, Learning from service users' experiences to inform the development of UK health visiting practice and services - (pdf) 1077 Kb
- Improving Patient Centred Care through Experience based Co-design (EBCD) an Evaluation of the Sustainability and Spread of EBCD in a Cancer Centre - (pdf) 517 Kb
- Evaluating a major innovation in hospital design: Workforce implications and impact on patient and staff experiences of all single room hospital accommodation - (pdf) 3974 Kb
Media coverage
- Does intentional rounding mean better patient care?, King’s College London news article, 2019
- Hourly ward rounds may not be the best way for nurses to deliver care, King's College London news article, 2019
- 'Friends and family test' should no longer be compulsory, argue experts, King's College London news article, 2018
- New report shows lasting, but varying legacies from the Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care programme over the last decade, King's College London news article, 2019
- Is it now time to revisit and refresh the Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care programme?: An independent perspective from a study led by King’s College London news article, NHS, 2019
- Lessons from The Productive Ward, King's College London news article, 2010
- Has intentional rounding turned ward nursing into a tick-box exercise?, Nursing Standard, 2019
- Applying research findings to the organisation of nursing care, Nursing Times news article, 2020
Our Partners
King's Health Partners
King's College London and Affiliates
NIHR Policy Research Programme (PRP)
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
Guy's and St Thomas' Charity
Affiliations
Funding
Funding Body: NIHR Policy Research Programme (PRP)
Amount: £
Period: August 1977 - August 2015