LAUSR

Having spent the majority of my nursing career working within clinical research nursing, this paper is of particular interest to me. The on-going misunderstanding that exists concerning the Clinical Research Nurse (CRN) role and research delivery provides a continuing need for empirical study to enable increased understanding across nursing and the wider healthcare professions as to the importance of this section of the nursing workforce. This paper reviews current literature on the CRN role in order to identify theories concerning de fi ning the role, the required skills and competencies, the barriers and challenges faced and the research perceptions of the CRN and other staff. Although these have previously been documented, this paper has gone a step further to articulate the possible impact of these on CRNs and research delivery. This has been achieved by use of the realist method which seeks to describe not only what is happening but also why. The authors have provided a deeper understanding of the issues faced within research delivery and by CRNs as not only have theories been identi fi ed, but the realist approach enables the re-lationship between context, mechanism and outcome to be explored and analysed through micro, meso and macro levels. Use of this framework has enabled a deeper understanding of some of the known challenges faced, and encouraged me to consider the potential negative consequences of these not being addressed. Therefore, research nurse leaders such as myself will be able to use this information to support and inform our staff to understand the key skills required to support their effectiveness in role and possible consequences if these are not realised. Some of the theories generated offer insight as to how we can overcome some of the current challenges faced when working to embed research as part of standard care and business as usual. The recent NIHR publication Best Research for Best Heath, The Next Chapter (2021) aims for ‘