Globally, nurses and midwives provide direct care to their patients and clients on a daily basis. Thus, they know which approaches work well and which ones need adjusting. One key trait of a caring and competent healthcare provider is questioning standard procedures and determining ways to improve it. This is where the aspect of research comes into play. Research done by nurses and midwives can help to inform clinical practice, influence and shape healthcare policies and contribute to global healthcare.
Truth be told, 5-10 years back, I had zero research publications in any journal even when I was so passionate about research and very eager to generate new evidence. Moreover, I had conducted my own research to attain both undergraduate and Masters’ degrees at Makerere University, which was never published then & I had worked on a research project. In fact, whenever I tried to submit my manuscripts for publication, they always got rejected and this often demotivated me.
Around 2020, just after graduating with a master’s degree, I observed a young Medical Dr friend of mine, who was not only one year above me at medical school- Makerere University but also, we had worked together in a certain research organisation though on different projects. With his team, they were publishing at a terrific speed in only high-impact journals. More queries and concerns came to my mind at the moment. I questioned myself, “How do they do it and how can I tap into such expertise?”. I also noted that this medical doctor friend of mine with his team, almost none of them had a PhD or a professor at that time. This gave me lots of hope that indeed it’s possible to engage in research and contribute to the body of knowledge or generate new evidence even before attaining such a high profile.
Confidently, I reached out to him and requested for his mentorship in research around 2021. He was so excited that I was eager to be part of their team of young healthcare professionals. Talking at the moment, the rest is history. Since 2022 to date, under his mentorship with his team; personally, I have app. 20 research publications in the area of reproductive maternal newborn child and adolescent health and nutrition, all in high-impact journals.
Having been accepted the way I was and mentored into research, through my project of Your Nurse and Midwife on Air where we inspire >10,000 Ugandan Nurses and Midwives to excel in health care & other various aspects of nursing and midwifery including research, I used the platforms to also map out young and innovative nurses and midwives who are very passionate about research.
Here to testify that the rest is also history again because of our research outputs, which have gone ahead to receive both institutional and global recognition. Extraordinarily; the research skills attained have also blessed me with winning a seed grant in Nov 2024 from the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council.
Well, for long, research is one aspect that has consistently been considered to be difficult. Mentorship in research is one key tool that has worked for me, as it provides a way to pass knowledge from one generation to the next, and it encourages innovation.
From the above, remember;
- Aspire to inspire before you expire!
- Never give up!
- Together, we can make it
- Continuous learning is vital
- Yearn to learn from those doing better than you than fighting them
- Multidisciplinary approach/teamwork is paramount
- Embrace research
- Be open-minded
Conclusively, in 2025, I look forward to mapping out and enrolling more young nurses and midwives, who are passionate in research into my research team.
To access some of my research papers with the team; click here:
Wishing you all a happy festive season and a blessed new year 2025
For God and my country Uganda.
The writer, Lilian Nuwabaine, is World’s Best Nurse Finalist 2024; Award Winning Researcher 2023; Heroes in Health Award Winning Midwife 2021 and Outstanding Woman of 2021)
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