A nurse who helped lead early clinical trials of Viagra and later played a key role in the Covid-19 research response has marked her retirement by speaking to Nursing Times about the importance of raising the profile of research nursing.
Ruth Hulbert stepped down earlier this year from her role as lead research nurse at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust but said she remains “very passionate” about the research nursing.
“There’s definitely a drive to get more nurses into research”
Ruth Hulbert
Ms Hulbert, who retired after 40 years in the nursing profession, started her training at the Bromley School of Nursing in January 1984 and, after qualifying, worked in acute medicine and critical care.
She also trained and worked as a midwife, before joining the pharmaceutical industry as a research nurse in 1992.
She was involved in early drug trials, helping to test medications that have since helped millions of people.
Ms Hulbert’s first research post was with the Wellcome Foundation, now known as the Wellcome Trust, where she worked on very early phase trials to see how the human body handled brand new experimental drugs.
She described how she helped with trials of some of the early monoclonal antibodies and immunotherapy drugs, which have since become “standard practice”.
One of the trials she was involved with was for the drug sildenafil, better known under by its brand name of Viagra.
The drug was intended to be a cardiovascular treatment, but trial participants started to experience unexpected side effects.
“I still talk about that now in training – people are used to the idea of adverse effects, but it is important to find out about any effects,” Ms Hulbert explained.
Asked about standout moments from her career, Ms Hulbert said there were “so many”.
“When I first went into research, [I thought] it was always going to be big moments, where we’ve discovered this brand new drug,” she said.
“But actually it’s more about that gradual improvement over the years and, in turn, the positive effects it has.”
Ms Hulbert was later based at a research unit operated by Pfizer at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital, but it closed and she was made redundant in 2003.
At around the same time, the cancer research networks were being set up across the NHS, and she was employed to put in place an oncology research team at the hospital.
Looking back, she reflected on the progress made in cancer research.
“When I started out, we had chemotherapies, cytotoxic drugs… trying various combinations. Now it’s so much more individualised,” she said.
“When you look back, you see how far things have come,” she told Nursing Times.
Ms Hulbert’s most memorable moments came during the Covid-19 pandemic, when research was thrust into the spotlight as the UK searched for effective treatments and then a vaccine.
“As awful as it was, it made many more people, like the general public, actually get what research was [and] why it was so important,” she explained.
Ms Hulbert explained how, when Covid first arrived in the UK, that “we didn’t know anything about the new virus”.
“It literally appeared overnight and, in my organisation, we literally had to drop everything,” she added.
She noted that findings from a trial, including the benefits of dexamethasone, directly informed national guidance and were even referenced by the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, during daily press briefings.
Throughout her career, Ms Hulbert has also worked to raise the profile of research nursing both locally and nationally.
She said she would like to see more nurses follow in her footsteps, whether by supporting or delivering research or by developing and leading their own research.
“There’s definitely a drive to get more nurses into research,” said Ms Hulbert, noting that the organisations that are “research active have better outcomes”.
She welcomed the national strategy launched in 2021 by England’s former chief nursing officer Dame Ruth May, alongside a £30m investment to expand access and opportunities.
Ms Hulbert said the plan recognised that research nurses were “largely underrepresented” and it was about supporting them to be in a position to “really influence [and] really drive change”.
One of the biggest barriers had been simply giving nurses “permission” to get involved and lead, she explained.
With greater visibility, funding and career pathways now in place, Ms Hulbert said she was optimistic about the future, noting that some of the junior nurses she once hired are now leading research teams of their own.
