UCC SONM 25 Year Book

UCC / School of Nursing and Midwifery

NURSING, MIDWIFERY AND HEALTHCARE ETHICS

This group under the direction of Dr. Joan McCarthy seeks to develop excellence in research related to the ethical challenges that arise in clinical practice, for example, in relation to the treatment and care of dying patients and their families. Team interests include: ethical decision- making frameworks; end-of-life care and its impact on vulnerable individuals; nursing and midwifery ethics; feminist ethics; moral distress of health professionals. Examples of outputs include: • Improving advance care planning for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: The CONCORDAT (inCOrporatiNg ACP intO Routine COPD mAnagemenT) research group led by Dr. Nicola Cornally is designing an evidence based education to facilitate Advanced Care Planning in patients with COPD in partnership with Mercy University Hospital (MUH), Marymount University Hospital and Hospice, COPD Support Ireland, Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF), All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) and Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme St. James’ Hospital Dublin. • Evaluation of the Irish Hospice Foundation Design and Dignity Programme. The Evaluation of the Design and Dignity Programme Report was commissioned by All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care in collaboration with the Irish Hospice Foundation led by Dr. Nicola Cornally (PI), Dr. Serena FitzGerald (CoPI). • The Ethical Framework for End-of-life Care is part of a national programme, the Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme (HfH) of the Irish Hospice Foundation, which is intended to improve the culture of care and organization regarding dying, death and bereavement in Irish hospitals. The Framework is an educational resource that consists of eight Modules of Learning for health professionals, patients, families and the general public. The Framework is the outcome of a unique collaboration between University College Cork, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Irish Hospice Foundation, with contributions from ethicists, legal experts, theologians, sociologists and clinicians. It draws on a range of values and principles that have been identified as important considerations in end-of life decision making by international experts in bioethics and by professional codes of conduct, policy documents and laws. • Informed contributions (by Dr. Joan McCarthy) to public/healthcare professional discourse and debates about conscientious objection. Dr. McCarthy has also published a number of texts relating to Nursing Ethics and End of Life HealthCare Ethics.

150