Research News
Posted 23 October 2009
First Nursing Postgrad Researchers Graduate at AIT
The first two postgraduate researchers in nursing in an Irish institute of technology graduated in Athlone today (Friday 23 October).
Brendan Reddy and Elizabeth Fitzgerald were conferred with MSc degrees on the second day of graduation ceremonies at AIT. Mr Reddy’s research explored the infection control practices in Irish dialysis units employed to prevent the transmission of blood borne viruses. Ms Fitzgerald’s research investigated staff nurses’ perceptions of clinical incident reporting in acute hospital settings in the Midlands.
Mr Reddy’s research was the first undertaken into control policies and practice in Ireland into the contraction by patients of blood borne viruses. Haemodialysis patients are at a higher risk of contracting these viruses than the general population. The Department of Health and Children issued comprehensive guidelines in 2005 on how this should be managed.
His findings showed that the practice of individual nurses varied, in particular when commencing and terminating patient treatments. There was also considerable variation in knowledge, in part due to the ongoing assimilation of the new guidelines, and further educational needs were identified by participants. The units surveyed as part of the research were still in the process of implementing the new guidelines, updating policies, revising documentation and developing processes to ensure that the guidelines were adhered to.
The research undertaken by Ms Fitzgerald highlights the need for staff to receive prompt and appropriate feedback and to receive training in clinical incident reporting. Clinical incident reporting identifies actual and potential risks to patient safety and then eliminates those risks through a system of procedural changes, policy enactment or changes and staff education. This research highlighted that it is insufficient to rely on the best efforts of staff to provide high quality safe care. The organisation itself must modify management and associated reporting systems they operate in order to support staff in their work, she discovered.
Head of the Department of Nursing and Health Science, Dr Pearse Murphy, commented that “the development of a research culture in nursing studies was an important step-forward for the institutes of technology. AIT has significantly expanded its research capacity and capability in recent years across the science domain, and the growth in nursing and health science research clusters is crucial for enhancing the quality in the Irish healthcare sector.”
Over 80 people were conferred with undergraduate and postgraduate awards in nursing and health science at AIT. Conferral ceremonies concluded today with some 1,700 graduates receiving their parchments.
