UCC SONM 25 Year Book

UCC / School of Nursing and Midwifery

Research priorities Nationally as well as locally research priorities were investigated. In 2006 a group from the School identified research priorities for nursing and midwifery in the Southern Health Board area for the immediate and long term (McCarthy, Savage and Lehane, 2006), Focus groups were conducted with 70 nurses or midwives working in clinical, managerial and educational roles. Research priorities identified were: staff shortages and retention; quality of life for chronically ill patients, stress and bullying in the workplace, pain assessment and management; coordination of care between hospital and primary care settings. Issues which were considered to warrant immediate attention were: pain control, ethical issues relating to resuscitation and the context within which care is given. Of interest is that the national study on Nursing and Midwifery Research Priorities for Ireland (Meehan, et al 2005) had similar results. However up to 2006 research published by nurses in Ireland had not been synthesised. A review published by McCarthy, Hegarty and O’Sullivan (2006) presented 85 studies relating to general nursing (n=31), mental health (n=13), intellectual disability (n=10), maternal and child (n=31) and the majority were published within the previous 5 years. Findings were: nurses conducted research mostly alone with a smaller number working in collaboration with other health care professionals; studies were published in 60 journals, 4 books and 8 research reports. Research focused mainly on clinical issues (56%), education (25%) and management (19%). The authors concluded that while significant progress had been made over time, research endeavours were disparate. Recommendation were that: researchers concentrate research in specific areas, build on research conducted to date, build collaborations and relate research to evidence based practice. A Review of Nursing and Midwifery Education Research in the Republic of Ireland was published in 2008 (Hegarty, McCarthy, Sullivan, Lehane). The integrated review of 61 studies conducted between 1982-2006 found diversity in the aims, methods and results highlighted a need to formulate a collaborative research agenda in nurse and midwifery education and research.

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