Nurse 'in shock' to receive award for his career

Dr Ben Bowers left school at 16 and is now a postdoctoral associate at Jesus College, Cambridge

A clinical academic community nurse from Cambridgeshire has been honoured as part of the National Health Service's 75th anniversary.

Dr Ben Bowers, from Melbourn, has been named by Nursing Times as one of the top 75 nurses and midwives who have made significant contributions to the NHS.

He left school at 16 without qualifications, but a chance visit to an accident & emergency department inspired him to take up nursing.

"To be named as one of the leading lights in my field, I can't even process it properly," he said.

"I am delighted about this award,;I'm actually still a bit in shock."

Based at the University of Cambridge Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Dr Bowers specialises in palliative and end-of-life care.

He is a Wellcome Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Postdoctoral Associate at Jesus College.

As a clinical academic, he works at Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, while researching ways to improve patient outcomes.

"It’s great to hear that my work is having that impact," said Dr Bowers

Also an interdisciplinary nurse researcher, he collaborates with colleagues across many different healthcare sectors.

Dr Bowers focuses his research on anticipatory prescribing, when "just in case" medicine boxes, containing painkillers and other drugs, are given to patients who are reaching the end of their life at home.

While Dr Bowers supports this practice, his research has shown that better communication with patients and their loved ones is needed.

"It's a critical intervention. We just sometimes need to communicate it better, and put it in place at the right time," he said.

"I've had community services come to me and say 'it's so important what you are doing. You’re making us question... clinical assumptions and helping us to improve end-of-life care'.

"It’s great to hear that my work is having that impact."

Dr Bowers hopes his achievements will inspire others to go into research.

"There's an ambition for at least one in 100 nurses to be clinical academics, when in reality it's probably less than one in 1,000.

"So if this award does anything I hope it encourages nurses to consider clinical academia; it's a brilliant career and can give you the chance to improve patient care on a really wide scale."