Institut de Recerca Sant Pau - Centre CERCA
The Auditorium of Hospital de Sant Pau hosted today the Nursing Research Conference “Research in Care: The Necessary Boost for Better Health”, organized by the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau). The event brought together professionals from across Catalonia to share experiences and reflections on how research in care can help improve care quality, patient safety, and the sustainability of the healthcare system.
The opening ceremony was chaired by Dr. Jordi Surrallés, Scientific Director of IR Sant Pau, and Maria Lacueva Abad, Nursing Director at Hospital de Sant Pau, who highlighted the strategic role of nursing research in generating applied knowledge. “Research in care helps us better understand patients’ real needs and improve their care experience,” said Dr. Surrallés. “At Sant Pau, the scientific vocation and humanistic outlook of nursing professionals come together to move toward more comprehensive care,” he added.
For her part, Maria Lacueva emphasized that “nurses not only care for people; we also generate knowledge that improves care and the health of society as a whole. Nursing research is, undoubtedly, another way of caring.”
The first panel, focused on promoting nursing research in management, was moderated by Laia Lacueva Pérez, Coordinator of the Care Process Management Service of the Nursing Directorate at Hospital del Mar, and included Maria Lacueva Abad, Nursing Director at Hospital de Sant Pau; Saray Alen Gobernado, Nursing Director at Hospital Clínic; Isabel Andrés Martínez, Nursing Director at Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol; and Mariona Peiró Robert, Head of Nursing for the Mountain-Right Area of Barcelona at the Catalan Health Institute. The participants shared their experience on the value of research as a tool to improve management, promote nursing leadership, and drive innovation from within the field of care.
In the session dedicated to the contribution of nursing research, projects were presented that showcased the diversity and vitality of this field. The presentations included work on the therapeutic relationship in acute mental health units, the influence of social determinants in advanced heart failure, the relationship between care intensity and clinical outcomes, the impact of advanced practice nursing roles in immunotherapy. They also included a training program for the detection of acute myocardial infarction with a gender- and age-based perspective.
The Head of Nursing Research at Hospital de Sant Pau, Dr. Jordi Torralbas Ortega, stressed that “these kinds of meetings are essential for sharing knowledge and raising awareness of the contributions and impact of nursing research.” He noted that nurses play a key role in generating scientific evidence that can transform clinical practice and improve people’s health.
After the break, the panel on challenges to boost nursing research, moderated by Ester Risco Vilarasau, Head of Research and Innovation in Care and Home Care at the Parc Taulí Foundation, brought together Antonio R. Moreno Poyato, Associate Professor and Vice Dean for Research and International Relations at the School of Nursing, University of Barcelona; Begoña Martí Cañiz, Director of Nursing Care for the Catalan Health System at the Department of Health of the Government of Catalonia; Ramón Mir Abellán, Head of Nursing Knowledge Management at Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu; and Jordi Torralbas Ortega. The speakers shared insights on how to strengthen the visibility, funding, and institutional recognition of research in care, as well as the need to foster collaboration between centers and consolidate support structures for nursing research.
The conference concluded with the lecture “Funding and Visibility of Research in Care: Ideas to Move Forward”, delivered by Mayte Moreno Casbas, Director of the Research Unit on Nursing and Health Services (Investén-ISCIII) and Co-coordinator of the Health Care Committee of the Spanish Ministry of Health. She offered her perspective on the importance of continuing to advance recognition and support for research in care. In the closing segment, Adrià Comella, CEO of Hospital de Sant Pau, and Xavier Prats Monné, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Hospital and IR Sant Pau, also spoke, expressing their gratitude and recognition for the work of the nursing teams.
With this conference, IR Sant Pau reaffirms its commitment to research in care and to recognizing the scientific work of nurses, which represents one of its key strategies to promote a healthcare system based on evidence, innovation, and excellence in patient care. The Institute considers nursing research a key tool to transform clinical practice, create new person-centered models of care, and strengthen coordination between the clinical and scientific fields.
Through initiatives such as this conference, IR Sant Pau aims to promote a research culture that acknowledges the value of knowledge generated from within care practice. It encourages the participation of nursing teams in competitive projects and facilitates the transfer of research results into everyday clinical practice. This commitment to research in care consolidates the role of IR Sant Pau as a driving force for innovation and continuous improvement in health.
A multicenter study led by the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and the Hospital de Sant Pau, published in Neurology, demonstrates that the early and coordinated implementation of a comprehensive care protocol significantly improves functional recovery in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. This is one of the most severe forms of stroke.
On Thursday, November 13 at 6 p.m., join us for ImproScience: Ageing with a Sense (of Humour) — an initiative by the Biomedical Research Networking Centre (CIBER) and the Sant Pau Research Institute. This activity combines science and theatre to talk about everyday health topics — such as memory, cholesterol, diabetes, or rare diseases — with warmth and humour.
The Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau), a health research institute (IIS) accredited by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), continues its commitment to primary care research with the incorporation of the Dreta de l’Eixample Primary Care Team (EAP). This is a new member of the consortium, in addition to the EAP Sardenya, which has been part of IR Sant Pau since its foundation. Together, the two institutions provide healthcare coverage for a population of 74,207 people.
An international team of researchers has demonstrated that the tetravalent dengue vaccine Qdenga provides significant protection against the disease under real-world conditions during the major 2024 epidemic in São Paulo, Brazil. The study, published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases and led by Dr. Otavio Ranzani, head of the DataHealth Lab group at the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau). Together with Dr. Julio Croda, Fiocruz, Brazil, provides the first evidence of the vaccine’s effectiveness following its approval.
