Inside the working lives of nurses and midwives

Nursing and midwifery form the backbone of the UK’s healthcare system, but the sector faces significant challenges - impacting both professionals' wellbeing and the quality of care patients receive. Administrative data collected by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) holds the key to understanding these issues, and research using this data offers a path to evidence-based solutions. This episode unpacks the wealth of information the NMC collects, how it’s being made available for public good research, and the ambitions behind linking it with other datasets. From analysing workforce trends to revealing inequalities, this data has the power to drive policies and interventions that better support nurses, midwives, and the communities they care for. Our guests, Caroline Kenny, Head of Research and Evidence at the NMC, and Fiona Gibb, Director of Professional Midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives, share their journeys into the sector and provide insight into the experiences of nurses and midwives. They discuss what’s missing in the current evidence base and the meaningful improvements they hope this research can bring to the field. Wondering what administrative data is? Visit https://www.adruk.org/our-mission/administrative-data/.If we used any terms you're not familiar with, check out ADR UK's glossary at https://www.adruk.org/learning-hub/glossary/.For information about nursing and midwifery data recently made available by ADR Scotland, go to https://www.adruk.org/data-access/flagship-datasets/nursing-and-midwifery-council-register-linked-to-census-2021-england-and-wales/ and https://www.adruk.org/our-work/browse-all-projects/exploring-the-dynamics-of-the-nursing-and-midwifery-workforce-749/. Connecting Society is presented by Shayda Kashef and Mark Green, our producers are Eleanor Collard, Holly Greenland, Laura Mulvey and Shayda Kashef. This podcast is brought to you by ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK), a partnership transforming public sector data into research insights and policy evidence to improve lives. We are an investment by the Economic and Social Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.