Northumbria University set to host the Royal College of Nursing conference

Northumbria University will host the Royal College of Nursing’s International Nursing Research Conference for 2024 at its Newcastle City Campus.

Held over three days between Tuesday 10 and Thursday 12 September the conference will bring together hundreds of individuals with an interest in nursing, health and social care research and aims to improve nursing practice through learning, networking, discussion and debate around the challenges facing the future nursing workforce.

This year the event titled ‘Inclusivity in Nursing Research: Working Together to Make a Difference’, is specifically aimed at showcasing research that addresses the needs of under-served populations and celebrating research that uses innovative designs to facilitate the inclusion of all stakeholders.

The programme will feature research from professionals across the world who are dedicated to developing and informing nursing practice through new knowledge, understanding and collaboration.

The event will see a host of keynote speakers take to the stage to present, including Clinical Academic Professor of Nursing at Northumbria University and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation, Professor Annette Hand, who will present on ‘Informal Carers – the under-represented member of the multidisciplinary team’.

Professor Carl May, Professor of Health Systems Implementation at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK will open the conference with his keynote on ‘Fighting Inequalities Through Better Intervention and Service Design’.

In addition, there will also be keynote presentations from:

• Professor Roxanne Crosby-Nwaobi from the Moorfields Eye Hospital and the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology will be examining key issues of racism and gender inequity as a nurse researcher, her talk will be titled ‘Nursing whilst Black: Trials, Tribulation and Successes in Research’.
• Professor Rhonda Wilson, Professor of Mental Health Nursing from RMIT University, Australia will explore ‘Culturally aligned methods and models for priority populations’.
• And, Dr Linda Tinkler, Trust Lead for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals Research at Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will deliver her keynote on ‘Communicating for success in clinical research regardless of your role’.

Dr Barbara Farquharson, Conference Chair said: “We are delighted to be hosting our annual International Nursing Research Conference in collaboration with Northumbria University, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals this year. Inclusivity needs to be paramount in all that we do – with our communities, patients and nursing workforce.

“Over the three days of the conference we will welcome speakers and delegates to showcase the research that will impact and influence the future of nursing education, research, policy and practice.”

Prof Jane Ball, Director of the RCN Institute of Nursing Excellence said: “I’m looking forward to welcoming nursing academics from around the world to what has always been a key event in my calendar, and to discussing the role that research – and the new Institute – can play in making the value of nursing evident to all.”

Worth 27 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours, the conference will cover topics including; research with under-served populations; research using inclusive methods or achieving true diversity; interdisciplinary research; clinical effectiveness and nursing research, evaluating change; patient experience and the role of research; health and social care policy research and the impact of research on nurse-sensitive outcomes.

The conference will see a whole host of esteemed national and international professionals, including several academics from Northumbria University, deliver presentations on their own areas of research over the three days. A full programme can be downloaded from the RCN event webpages.

For the first time in the conference’s history, day two of the event will also include specific sessions focusing on Clinical Research Nursing showcasing another area of nursing that has a huge impact on the lives and experiences of patients.

Speaking on hosting the event Professor Paul Gill, Professor of Nursing and Deputy Head of the Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health at Northumbria University, said: “We’re delighted to be hosting this year’s RCN International Nursing Research Conference at Northumbria University.

“At Northumbria we are dedicated to continuously driving improvement across the profession, working to enhance education and training in nursing and helping to overcome the workforce challenges currently faced by the sector and research is a major part of how we can achieve those goals.

“The conference will bring together so many brilliant nurses and will provide an excellent platform for some big conversations about how we move the profession forward. We’re really looking forward to the event and showcasing Northumbria University and the region.”

For more information about the event or to book please visit the Royal College of Nursing’s website.

Northumbria University is dedicated to reducing health and social inequalities, contributing to the regional and national workforce and improving social, economic and health outcomes for the most marginalised in society. Through its new Centre for Health and Social Equity, researchers will be delivering world-leading health and social equity research and creating innovative, evidence-based policies and data-driven solutions to bring impactful change across the region, the UK and globally.