Dr Suzanne Bench

I am Professor of Critical Care Nursing at LSBU and Director of Nursing (Research) at Guys and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.
Completed PhD at King’s College London in 2014, and a post-doctoral fellowship in Improvement Science; joined School of Health and Social Care in 2017.
Research interests centre on critical illness recovery and critical care nursing workforce

I am a clinical-academic nurse combining practice, education and research. In my role as Director of Nursing for research at Guys & St Thomas' NHS Trust, I am responsible for leading A Centre Of Research for Nurses and Midwives(ACORN)set up to support nurses and midwives' engagement in research across the Trust. At LSBU I co-lead the NIHE/HEE-London psot doctoral bridging scheme
I completed my PhD in Nursing at King’s College London in 2014, and my post-doctoral fellowship in Improvement Science with the NIHR CLAHRC South London in 2015. I joined the School of Health and Social Care at LSBU from King’s College, London in 2017, teaching intensive care and research methods, and supporting students on PhD and Professional Doctorate programmes. I am co-editor of a critical care nursing textbook, associate editor for Intensive and Critical Care Nursing (Elsevier) and have published widely on nursing issues related to critical care.
My research interests centre on the care and management of patients and families following critical illness, with a focus on information provision and shared decision making. Improvement science methods and patient and public involvement and engagement are integral to my research. I have co-designed and evaluated critical care discharge information resources with former ICU patients and have published research on how best to involve former ICU patients in research and quality improvement. I am currently involved in two collaborative NIHR funded programmes of work; one focused on assessing and managing fatigue after critical illness (F-ACT) and the second exploring future critical care nursing workforce models (SEISMIC-R).
My National roles include: Chair of the United Kingdom Critical Care Nursing Alliance (UKCCNA) 2020-22; executive board member of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN) and nursing representative on the UK Critical Care Research Group (UKCCRG).
In 2019-2022, I was part of the first NIHR 70@70 senior nurse research leader programme, which helped shape the National strategy for developing future clinical academic nurses. I am currently a member of the NHSE transformation steering group for this work.

Co-lead NIHR/HEE-London Post doctoral bridging scheme for healthcare professionals outside of medicine

Research methods Critical care MSc, PhD and Professional Doctorate programmes