UCC SONM 25 Year Book

UCC / School of Nursing and Midwifery

Sr. Margaret Healy played a major role in this evolution and was, with Professor Denis O’Sullivan, instrumental in the establishment of the regional specialty unit for diabetes and endocrinology at St. Finbarr’s Hospital, of which she became the first Sister in Charge. Academically, Sr. Margaret also pursued further study, despite dedicating herself full time to the wards. She achieved all that could be achieved academically in the nursing field during that time. She successfully sat the first Fellowship in Nursing examination in 1981 at the Faculty of Nursing, Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI), and later became the first Diabetes Clinical Nurse Specialist, outside of Dublin working with Professor Denis O’Sullivan at Cork University Hospital. On the occasion of her conferring, Professor Eamonn Quigley, then Head of the Medicine School praised Sr. Margaret saying: “Through her vast and caring experience, supplemented by periodic post-graduate studies in Irelandandabroad,shebecameatrueexpertin[diabetes]andwasfundamentaltothegrowing reputation of Cork as an international centre of excellence in diabetes and endocrinology. Every nursing and medical student came under the influence of “John Mary” , as we knew her then, and will always remember her incredible devotion to the unit, its patients and its staff”. (Introductory text delivered by Professor Eamonn Quigley at the Conferring). Sr. Margaret Healy maintained close contact with her former students and nurses; who in turn remember her, not only for the central role that she played in their education and professional development but also with much personal affection. Though highly proficient and qualified in nursing management, she resisted all pressures to join the echelons of administration, always believing that her real place was “at the cold face”, with her patients and clinical colleagues. What administration lost, clinical nursing and medicine gained. Sr. Margaret “retired” to use her own phrase, in 1992; others would scarcely see anything remotely resembling “early retirement” in her next commitment, as a manager of Cara House (a joint venture of the Mercy Order, the Daughters of Charity and the Southern Health Board, which provides a residential and respite home for older adults). The achievements and pioneering work of Sr. Margaret Healy reflect the commitment and contribution of the Mercy Order to the development of nursing in Cork and across the country. In Sr. Margaret’s own words:

“Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. I give God thanks for the many ways he enriched my life through his people and life”.

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