UCC SONM 25 Year Book

UCC / School of Nursing and Midwifery

Conclusion Irish nursing and midwifery have been transformed in recent years as a result of the Commission on Nursing (1998) with development of nursing and midwifery Schools within the University and other third level colleges, change to an all graduate profession, increasing number of graduates taking higher degrees and new structures and responsibilities for clinical nurses/ midwives, nurse/midwife managers, clinical nurse/midwife specialists and advanced nurse/ midwife practitioners. The evidence that having a graduate workforce leads to better patient outcomes and reduced patient mortality is compelling reaffirming the link between nursing and midwifery education and the quality of service provision. The period 1994-2005 saw many academic programmes and research capacity building commence. From 2005-2010 courses consolidated and recruitment of staff continuing with most now recruited with doctoral level education and research portfolios. In the period 2010- 2019 there was an exponential growth in research and publications. Successive visits form An Bord Altranais (latterly the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland), quality improvement panel assessments and indeed external examiner reports have shown and acknowledged the quality of the work completed to date. Being in the top 100 QS subject rankings for four consecutive years provides external validation of the work completed in UCC’s School of Nursing and Midwifery. The School has a tradition of attracting research funding from a wide variety of research funders at both National and European levels and this research income has grown exponentially over the last decade. The School also has a history of collaboration at both University, National, European, and International levels and this is set to continue into the future. The results from these research funding and collaborations have seen major impacts on patient care and healthcare policy. Future research in the School will seek to translate innovation and evidence for health and optimise healthcare experience through engagement and reform. Academic Programmes and Research are linked to the Health services and changes in the provision of health services which have implications for nursing and midwifery.

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