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# St Giles Hospice nurses complete national research programme
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/st-giles-hospice-nurses-complete-national-research-programme/
- Published: 2026-10-16T08:53:34.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-16T08:53:34.000Z
- Description: Pair were part of National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Researcher Development Programme for Social Care Nurses cohort.
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: Health, Charity, News, Whittington

TWO nurses at St Giles Hospice have completed a national research programme.

Samantha Doody, clinical nurse specialist in the community team, and Ruth Abell, inpatient unit sister, were among the first cohort of nurses selected for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Researcher Development Programme for Social Care Nurses.

Samantha's application was strong enough that assessors upgraded her from the entry-level champions programme to the more advanced research internship in recognition of her commitment to research in palliative care.

[ ](#) 

The year-long placement gave both nurses one day a week to develop their research skills, with formal training, mentorship and access to learning materials through the University of Liverpool.

It also gave St Giles Hospice two days a week of dedicated research nursing activity, at a time when many locations nationally have had to cut such posts because of financial pressures.

Samantha's project was a service evaluation exploring hospice staff knowledge, confidence and educational needs in caring for patients with motor neurone disease.

She received 22 responses from staff across the hospice, with the findings identifying opportunities for further education and development.

Samantha said:

> "I'm proud to have completed this internship and still can't quite believe I was upgraded to the research internship programme when I applied.  
>  
> "Working with our MND patients, I could see there were gaps in staff confidence and knowledge, so I used my project to explore that properly.  
>  
> "I started the year wanting to understand research and I'm finishing it wanting research to stay part of my career."

Ruth's project looked at the impact of palliative symptom-management education on clinicians' confidence and knowledge in providing comfort and dignity in wound management at the end of life.

She said:

> "This internship has given me the confidence to turn clinical curiosity into research and research into real improvements in patient care.  
>  
> "My project looked at wound management at the end of life, and it reinforced for me that our goal isn't always healing a wound, sometimes it's about comfort, dignity and quality of life.  
>  
> "Presenting my findings as a research poster and hearing from other healthcare professionals was one of the proudest moments of the year."

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