A NURSE Consultant in Dumfries and Galloway has been honoured with a top award for a world-first project focused on a serious sleep condition.
Phyllis Murphie has been awarded a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Foundation Impact Award for what she has achieved over the last five years around the condition ‘Sleep apnea’, as part of her work towards a PhD in Respiratory Medicine.
Reacting to the award, Phyllis, from Dumfries, said: “I was very excited to learn I was being presented with the Impact Award.
“It’s great that it helps to draw attention to what is a serious medical condition, and it offers a real boost as I near the end of the work I’ve been undertaking in this area.”
Sleep Apnea is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep.
People with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times.
And this means the brain, and the rest of the body, may not get enough oxygen.
Phyllis said: “This is my 22nd year as a respiratory nurse, and I’ve always had an interest in the research side, as well as the clinical side.
“Since 2014 I’ve been taking forward research in the areas of Telemedicine, Teleconsultation, Telemonitoring and the use of structured clinical review templates for people with Sleep Apnoea.
“Until now there wasn’t a sleep medicine template anywhere in the world – this is the first that’s been developed globally.
“The template sets out how to conduct a structured clinical review of a patient with Sleep Apnea, covering key topics including the wishes of the patient, the acceptance of treatment, how willing they are to continue the treatment, side effects and whether symptoms have resolved.”
Phyllis’ template is now set to be tested in real-life clinical settings – at clinics taking place in Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness.
She said: “We’ll be looking at numbers, and quantitative and qualitative data.
“It’ll be a case of seeing what the clinicians think about the template and if it’s something they will want to use beyond the clinical trial.”
Phyllis’ template can be used either in face-to-face consultations or those conducted remotely using technology.
And she believes there is a definite role for technology in helping people with conditions such as Sleep Apnea.
Phyllis said: “Telemedicine really lends itself well to review of Sleep Apnea patients, because you don’t need to be physically handling these patients – you can do a full discussion and consultation without actually seeing them face-to-face.
“If a patient comes to Galloway Community Hospital in Stranraer I can carry out a consultation with them from Dumfries using a secure system.
“And we’re also now exploring the use of the NHS Attend Anywhere system for home use.
“Meanwhile, with Telemonitoring we can actually remotely monitor patients at home.
“I can send a patient home with a machine which will upload the data from the previous night’s treatment and then I can actually analyse that patient data.”
In 2016 Phyllis was awarded a bursary to complete the third year of her PhD in Respiratory Medicine through the RCN Foundation’s Professional Bursary Scheme. The scheme offers career development grants that will enhance patient care and development in nursing practice.
And on March 21 2019, Phyllis attended an awards event held at the RCN headquarters in Cavendish Square, London, where she collected an award presented for papers she published on her research in 2017 and 2018.
RCN Foundation Director Deepa Korea said: “It is vital that nursing staff are supported to develop the skills and expertise to provide the best patient care.
“Access to high quality education and learning opportunities is central to this, and the RCN Foundation is committed to investing in the nursing workforce in this way.
“I am delighted that we can support nursing staff to make an impact on themselves and their patients.”
