Research
The School actively undertakes research in a number of areas including adult nursing, mental health nursing, public health nursing and midwifery. Links with other Higher Education Institutions promote developments and research activity within the field of palliative care.
Adult Nursing
To date, research activity predominantly has related to areas of academic study. However, small-scale research studies have been undertaken and external funding for larger projects obtained. Such research activity includes nurse education and assessment; attrition in student nurses; reflective practice; ventilation of respiratory compromised patients; tracheotomy management; cardiac rehabilitation; older people care; carer involvement in patient care; homelessness and patient care pathways. The Division seeks to develop further its research portfolio in education and clinical practice and believes that this can be enhanced by working with others with a prime purpose of enhancing nursing practice through quality research.
Mental Health Nursing
Nursing education is the area of research activity evidenced at present. Staff are however well-motivated to and capable of clinically focused research in partnership with others within the Mental Health field. Early intervention therapies and stress reduction measures are key interests.
Midwifery
Breast-feeding, exercise in pregnancy and midwifery education are the key areas of research activity. The Division seeks to extend its research portfolio and will actively seek partners to so do within the broader field of midwifery education and practice. Midwifery education and midwifery supervision are also key areas.
Professional and Community Education
Cardiac Rehabilitation and Pulse Oximetry are areas of expertise evidenced within this Division. Such research encompasses care in both Acute and Primary Care Settings. Two new areas of development are Palliative Care and Gerontological Nursing. In collaboration with our local Hospices, we have established a Palliative Care Development Unit that seeks to enhance our research profile. One exciting initiative that we hope to see realized is a joint venture with Glasgow University to determine the needs of patients and their carers and then followed by a bid for central funding to undertake a large-scale project on how professional staff can respond to this need. The Gerontological Nursing Unit has close links with the Centre for Gerontology and we hope to collaborate with them to increase our profile in research in this field. We are establishing Centres of Excellence with local providers of older people care and we anticipate that these will become research active over time.
Family Health Nursing Project
The project aims to develop shared academic and practice based programmes to prepare Family Health Nurses in Europe based on an inclusive conceptualisation of the FHN including scope of practice, essential knowledge base, and clinical competence across partner countries.
Gerontology Interest Group
The Group provides a research focus for health care professionals who work with older people.