Trust bids farewell to Clinical Research Nurses who retire after 40 years of service

After years spent helping those around them, three kind hearted Clinical Research Nurses (CRNs) have said their final goodbyes as they retire from MFT each with nearly 40 years of nursing experience.

Jane Taylor, Lilian Tames and Stephanie Johnson all began their nursing training at 17 years old, initially working as staff nurses before deciding to make a move into clinical research at MFT later in their careers.

Jane cared for premature babies on the Neonate Unit at Saint Marys Hospital for 16 years before taking a position as a CRN within the gastroenterology research team. She feels research has helped her grow, and the career change exceeded all expectations. Jane said;

It has been a pleasure to be able to give patients alternative options for their care and I’ve enjoyed helping people through the screening process and seeing how new medicines and treatments can transform lives.

Lilian has worked at the Kellgren Centre in the Rheumatology research team for 8 years and prior to that she spent 10 years of her career working within interventional radiology at Wythenshawe Hospital. She feels that research helped to develop her clinical experiences in ways she have not realised were possible.  Lilian said; “I am both excited and saddened to be leaving. I have worked with an amazing team at the Kellgren Centre with patient care being our top priority.  I’ve especially enjoyed caring for patients throughout the research trials process and their feedback and desire to be part of subsequent studies is an absolute credit to the team.”

Stephanie first started working in the Trust in 1978 and moved into research 20 years later. She worked on her first trial in 1997 and has more recently been working in the field of endocrinology research alongside Neil Hanley, Clinical Head of Research and Innovation at MFT. Stephanie said: “I have enjoyed the variety of working on different projects within the Division. It has been a very humbling and enriching experience working with the great teams in Saint Marys and our partners at the University of Manchester”.

Janette Dunkerley, Lead Nurse for Research and Innovation, said:

I would like to thank Jane, Lilian and Stephanie for their service to nursing.  They are a credit to the R&I Division and the dedication they have shown to their patients is heart-warming. We are extremely sad to lose such wonderful clinical research nurses who have been a fantastic asset and inspiration to the R&I Division and to the Trust as a whole. Happy retirement ladies!