On International Nurses Day (IND), Senior Clinical Research Nurse at North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH), Rubin Selvarani Gunadass, shares her research journey and pride for the role of nursing in research and innovation.
Being a Senior Clinical Research Nurse in Research and Innovation (R&I), at NMGH, part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), gives me an intense sense of job satisfaction, in delivering promising new technologies and treatments that benefits our patients.
I had strong motivation and a deep desire to become a nurse from childhood as I wanted to help and care for patients and their families.
I qualified in 2012 as a registered nurse in India and worked within the paediatric speciality. I enjoyed the remarkable experience of caring for children of all ages and their families, offering support and reassurance.
I decided to advance my professional qualifications and pursued a master’s degree in nursing. I was excited at the opportunity this would offer to my career prospects and worked as a nursing lecturer in one of the nursing universities in Chennai, India. I also worked as a practice nurse trainer helping nursing colleagues to excel in their knowledge and skills in providing quality nursing care to their patients.
I started my career in the NHS as an overseas nurse in 2020, when I joined NMGH, during COVID-19. I was working as a Registered Nurse in the infectious disease ward where I felt extremely proud to be in the NHS frontline.
During this time, I saw research nurses on the wards carrying out vaccine trials and other research studies. I was fascinated by the remarkable capability and capacity of UK’s health care system in developing new vaccines to end the pandemic. The vibrant activity of various clinical trials involving the evolution of proven and effective lifesaving treatments sparked in my aspirations in the area of clinical research that had led me into my current job role as a Senior Clinical Research Nurse.
I love working in the medical research team at NMGH that involves an excellent multidisciplinary team. Our team is full of compassionate colleagues, who respect each other’s opinions, share knowledge and good practices. I work on various clinical trials that involve CTIMPS (Clinical Trials of Investigational Medicinal Products), medical devices and observational studies. My role as a Senior Clinical Research Nurse is to recruit patients to suitable studies. I will explain the importance of the trials and their potential outcomes, encouraging patients ethically to be a part of research.
It’s great to see our patients’ enthusiasm and readiness to engage in the clinical trials. Our participants tell us they respect us for being open and honest, listening to them in a non-judgemental way and for our compassionate approach in addressing their physical, mental and emotional concerns. It’s also personally rewarding when you can see improvements in our research participants’ health and a reduction in their disease progression.
What International Nurses Day means to me
Being a nurse is a multifaceted, challenging and rewarding career. Nurses play a vital role in delivering health care by using effective communication, performing a range of skills, carrying a sense of empathy, offering support, advocating for patients and families, in sometimes demanding situations.
The theme for International Nurses Day 2025 is “Our Nurses. Our Future. Caring for nurses strengthens economies.”
MFT is a great place to work and to enjoy learning and building a nursing career, embracing the principles of equality diversity and inclusion that allows staff to flourish in their profession.
It was a great pleasure and also humbling, to be a winner in MFT’s “Going the Extra Mile” (GEM) award 2025 in the staff engagement and support category. I’m deeply appreciative of R&I’s commitment to recognising, acknowledging and celebrating staff achievements.
I take pride in being a research nurse and would like to take a moment in appreciating all the nurses with remarkable dedication, professionalism and critical expertise in saving lives of people. Wishing you all a wonderful International Nurses Day and remember to take care of yourselves while strengthening your capacity and expertise in creating a healthy future!