Welcome message from Dean and Head of School, Dr Martin McNamara. The UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems is Ireland's premier nursing school and the only one to host two national research centres. Our mission is to prepare nurses, midwives and other professionals to promote and protect health, wellbeing and dignity across the lifespan through skilled, ethical and careful practice, based on best evidence and prudent judgement, and to develop and disseminate disciplinary knowledge through research and scholarship. Nursing and midwifery scholarship both demonstrates and enhances the critical contribution that nurses and midwives make to quality, compassionate care, patient safety and outcomes. Our curriculum is based on the core values of caring, compassionate service; equity and social justice; patient-centred, patient-sensitive care; and respect for diversity. Read more... 

UCD names lecture theatres in honour of Catherine McAuley and Mary Aikenhead

 Two lecture theatres at the UCD Health Sciences Centre have been named in honour of the founders of religious orders established to care for the sick poor in Dublin during the 1800s.

One is named in honour of Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, a religious order that provided a nursing service in the temporary hospitals that were set up in Dublin to cope with the Asiatic cholera epidemic of 1832. Later, they founded the Mercy Hospital in Cork (1857) and the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin (1861).

The second is named in honour of Mary Aikenhead, founder of the Religious Sisters of Charity. As early as 1816, the Religious Sisters of Charity were visiting the sick poor in their own homes in Dublin. In 1833 they founded St Vincent’s Hospital for the care of the sick poor.

“UCD is proud to honour two incredibly inspiring caregivers of the sick poor through the naming of these theatres today,” said Dr Hugh Brady, President of UCD.

Social history of nursing highlighted through digitisation of INMO journals

 Historical back editions of early nursing journals belonging to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation have been digitised by UCD as part of a research project co-funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) and the INMO.

The Irish Nursing Journals Collection consists of almost 400 issues of the INMO’s journals, spanning the period 1925 to 1971.

The Collection is replete with articles and reports on important healthcare and professional issues as well as union news and updates, photographs and relevant product advertisements. The digitised journal is publicly accessible now on: www.digital.ucd.ie

These historical resources will now become more readily available online to researchers and scholars interested in nursing, midwifery, labour, social, print, advertising and women’s history.

The project represents a unique collaboration between the UCD Irish Centre for Nursing and Midwifery History, UCD Library and Archives, and the INMO.

In June 2012 Emma travelled to Uganda to volunteer as a nurse on behalf of the charity Nurture Africa to work with children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. She spent three weeks in Nansana, a small village 7 miles outside the capital city Kampala. During her three weeks there she was involved in testing adults and children in the community for HIV. She provided educational sessions for staff and clients on basic life support and minor injuries such as seizures, choking, burns and hand hygiene. She got to work in the community with a member of the Uganda staff to assess some of the clients living conditions, provide food and refer them to the health clinic if needed. She also got to visit a babies home twice a week to help out, whether it was washing and dressing the babies or spending some quality time with them.
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Simply going out for a coffee or chatting to a friend can reduce the symptoms of depression experienced by people with mental health problems, according to a new study by UCD researchers funded by the Health Research Board.
''By the end of the study, all of the participants reported feeling better about themselves, having more confidence to socialise in their community, and experiencing fewer symptoms of depression,'' said Dr Ann Sheridan, University College Dublin, the lead author of the study. Read more...

Minister for Disability, Equality, Mental Health & Older People, Ms Kathleen Lynch officially launched the report findings at UCD. Read more...

Full copy of report is avaiable for download:Socialising helps to alleviate symptoms of depression