Bronagh Blackwood

My overarching programme is to improve the conduct of clinical trials as well as to undertake clinical trials in critical care. My primary area of interest is the impact and long-term effects of mechanical ventilation and weaning. My work includes projects involving clinical trials of protocolised weaning; process evaluations of complex critical care interventions involving mechanically ventilated patients; development of core outcome sets for clinical trials of interventions in ventilation, rehabilitation, delirium, and COVID-19; Cochrane systematic reviews and meta-analyses of trials; development of new interventions to minimise delirium and improve rehabilitation for intensive care survivors.

I have an active interest in pursuing research translation to practitioners and the public. My methodological expertise includes systematic reviews and meta-analyses of effectiveness trials; diagnostic test accuracy reviews; qualitative synthesis reviews; and scoping reviews. Additionally, I have expertise in clinical trials (single and multi-centre) that are accompanied by process evaluation involving qualitative methods such as interviewing (patients, relatives and clinical staff), survey (national and international) and documentary analysis (clinical charts, audits). My PhD was framed around the MRC Framework for Developing and Evaluating Complex Healthcare Interventions.

I am a highly regarded leader in European Critical Care Nursing. I established and Chair the Critical Care Doctoral European Nurses group and I am the elected President for the European federation of Critical Care Nursing associations. The federation includes membership of 31 national associations representing approximately 25,000 critical care nurses across Europe.