NHS Royal Devon | Improving care with evidence

Improving care with evidence

Using evidence is part of everyday practice. This might involve audit, service evaluation, reviewing guidance, or learning from research to improve care for patients.

You do not need to be a researcher or plan a research career. The Research Academy helps staff by offering clear signposting, practical guidance and connections to people and resources across the Royal Devon.

You can find guidance, learning opportunities and examples of how evidence is being used across the Trust through the links on this page.

Useful resources

The Chief Nurse Research Fellowship

The Chief Nurse Research Fellowship Programme offers nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, pharmacists and health care scientists (bands 5-7) a funded opportunity to learn more about health research.

The Royal Devon has successfully run this programme since 2020. The course runs part-time over 10 months (one day per fortnight).

Learn more on the CNRF pages here.

Top tips

Work with the health library team
Get support with literature searches, systematic search strategies, and accessing full-text papers.
Use trusted evidence sources
Start with summaries (e.g. NICE guidelines https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance, Cochrane reviews https://www.cochranelibrary.com/)
Keep up to date efficiently
Set up alerts (e.g. via PubMed, journals, or professional bodies) so new evidence comes to you.
Set up a journal club

Create a safe, informal space to discuss research
Rotate facilitators
Use a structured critical appraisal tool (e.g. CASP https://casp-uk.net/)
Link discussions to real clinical questions

Goal setting for patients who have aphasia following a stroke

"I would highly recommend this fellowship to any of my colleagues, both those who know they would like to develop their research career and those who are not so sure. I feel that I am a better clinician for taking part in this fellowship."

Learn more