GW4 Generator Fund Case Study: Physical, Psychological and Social Factors Influencing Musculoskeletal Injury and Wellbeing in Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional Students

Community Leads:  Carly McKay (University of Bath); Rebecca Hemming (PI) (Cardiff University); Richard Kyle (University of Exeter) 

GW4 Building Communities Generator Award enables researchers to launch research into injury and wellbeing among healthcare professionals 

 Nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals (NMAHPs) are uniquely exposed to physical, psychological and social factors associated with increased risks of developing mental health and work-related musculoskeletal disorders.  

This project gathered a new research community to produce initial data about this issue and to plan for gathering similar data UK-wide. Developing a scalable, high-quality survey protocol that could deliver data on a national scale would be capable of informing policy development and has huge potential real-world impact.  

Led by Dr Rebecca Hemming (Cardiff University), researchers proposed to develop, pilot and validate a survey evaluating physical activity, lifestyle, physical preparedness, musculoskeletal injury, mental health, wellbeing and sickness in pre-registration NMAHP students.  

In 2024, the community were awarded funding to begin their work, as part of GW4’s Building Communities Generator Award. The GW4 Building Communities Generator Fund is an open research call offering up to £20k to support collaborative research and innovation communities across the four GW4 universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter. It supports both the creation of new GW4 communities and the development of the strongest ideas emerging from our existing communities. 

The funding enabled the survey to be designed and piloted with pre-registration students at Exeter University (Nursing and Medical Imaging) and Cardiff University (Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Midwifery, Diagnostic Radiography, Radiotherapy). As part of the pilot, initial responses were reviewed, and some aspects of the survey were adjusted. 

Alongside survey development, the community established a stakeholder network with universities and education organisations across the UK ensure the success of survey roll-out. They have also paved the way for survey delivery by securing ethical approval for the first UK-wide longitudinal survey of healthcare professionals’ health and wellbeing. The project also found international reach, drawing interest from researchers in Japan and Australia.  

Initial work and later developments kept the longer-term goal in mind, aiming to implement the survey nationally and thereby create the UK’s largest NMAHP data set capturing factors influencing staff retention and workforce health. This could ultimately inform intervention development and policy to improve staff wellbeing. 

The team are working on research dissemination via conferences and publications. They continue to make the wider contacts which will strengthen their longer-term funding applications and work. They are currently working on a wider roll-out of the survey and analysis of responses in 2026. 

The team emphasise that this GW4 award enabled new collaboration between researchers who previously did not know each other and who have developed into a strong efficient agile team. Networks have become stronger, wider and more effective. In addition, the PI, as an Early Career Researcher, has developed survey and line management skills which assisted in being awarded a place on the Welsh Universities Research Leadership Programme.  

Dr Rebecca Hemming (Cardiff University), Principal Investigator, Physical, psychological and social factors influencing musculoskeletal injury and wellbeing in Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional students research community, said: “The GW4 Generator Fund has been invaluable, providing our new team with the results needed to expand our research across the UK. It’s also helped team members build strong connections, which has been excellent for networking. For me, as an early career researcher, it’s been a fantastic opportunity for professional development.” 

GW4 Building Communities 

The GW4 Building Communities Programme aims to build research and innovation communities of scale and capability, delivering a step change in world-class research that could not be achieved by one of the institutions alone. The Programme has two funding schemes:  

• The annual Generator Fund which awards GW4 communities up to £20K for 6-month projects.   

• The Development Awards which support new, and advance existing, collaborations across GW4 by funding single activities or resources with up to £5K. This is a rolling scheme, with no closing date.  

More details of both schemes, and how to apply, can be found at the links above.