The Marqués de Valdecilla Health Research Institute (IDIVAL) has awarded one of the projects from its INNVAL program to researcher Paula Paras, a nurse, physiotherapist, and PhD in Health Sciences, to create and validate the first comprehensive tool designed to consistently assess elimination ostomies and their complications. The initiative aims to address a widely recognized clinical need: the absence of a standardized instrument that enables comparison of outcomes, early detection of problems, and the generation of robust evidence.
The INNVAL program, focused on fostering innovation and intrapreneurship within Cantabria’s public healthcare system, funds projects with high potential for transfer to the Spanish National Health System. With up to €25,000 per initiative and a two-year implementation period, the call promotes the development of healthcare technologies, organizational innovations, and solutions that improve patient care. For the researcher, this funding is decisive: “Research without funding is very difficult. This support allows us to develop the project with the level of quality we were aiming for,” she explains.
A Researcher at the Service of Innovation in Care
Paula Paras brings together clinical experience, university leadership, and competitive research activity. A nurse, physiotherapist, and PhD since 2016, she is Director of the Department of Nursing, has more than a decade of teaching experience with outstanding evaluations, and maintains a well-established research profile. In 2024, she founded the QMix Salud group, focused on qualitative and mixed-methods research methodology, training new researchers, and securing research funding.
The awarded project emerged from collaboration with a PhD candidate specializing in ostomies and a researcher from Rey Juan Carlos University. The team’s initial work confirmed that no comprehensive scale existed to assess the stoma, the mucocutaneous junction, and the peristomal skin. “We want any professional, wherever they are, to be able to use a common tool and speak the same clinical language,” Paras notes.
The research will be carried out in several phases: a systematic review; tool design following the De VET and COSMIN guidelines; content validation through focus groups and the Delphi technique; inter- and intra-observer reliability analysis; and, finally, adaptation into English to facilitate international use.
Opportunities for Nursing-Led Research
The team hopes the new tool will become a reference instrument that systematizes ostomy assessment, improves early detection of complications, and facilitates comparison across centers. “If we achieve a strong instrument, it can be used anywhere in Spain and later validated in English with the English-speaking centers we collaborate with,” the researcher states.
Paras also highlights INNVAL’s role as a driver of nursing innovation, an area that is less visible in large-scale competitive funding calls. “These grants allow us to develop projects with a direct impact on clinical practice. Without this initial boost, it would be very difficult to move forward.” Finally, she encourages other professionals within the IDIVAL environment to apply: “It is an accessible and very valuable call. I applied several times before succeeding, but it is worth it because it promotes projects that can truly transform healthcare delivery.”
