News

Applications are open today for our degree/diploma programme in Nursing Sciences, for entry in 2009/10.  Queen’s is the only University in Northern Ireland to offer all four branches of nursing: Adult, Children’s, Mental Health and Learning Disability.  For more information on each branch please click here  

The advertisement appears here and in the Belfast Telegraph from today, and applications will close on 15^th January 2009 at 4.00pm.  You can download an application form from here

Congratulations go to Tommy Omorod who raised £730 (with more donations coming in) for children in need with his annual skipathon.

Belfast will host the British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN) 3^rd International Conference at the Waterfront Hall from 14^th – 16^th September 2009. The conference is supported by the School of Nursing & Midwifery. The Joint Chairs of the Scientific Committee, Dr Bronagh Blackwood (Nursing & Midwifery Research Unit, QUB) & Dr John Albarran (University of West of England) would like to encourage you to submit an abstract for either an oral or poster presentation. The deadline for submission is Friday 24^th April 2009. For further information, email Dr Blackwood (b.blackwood@qub.ac.uk) or the conference office (info@baccnconference.org.uk). Further details will be available shortly on the conference website (www.baccnconference.org.uk).

Two New Core texts for Nurses written by School of Nursing And Midwifery Staff

LWW publishers have released two new core texts for nurses, written by QUB School of Nursing and Midwifery staff, Dr. Bill Scott and Deirdre McGrath.

The first of these, ‘Dosage Calculations Made Incredibly Easy (1^st  UK Edition), positively addresses the challenges faced by both students and established nursing professionals in today’s modern healthcare setting in relation to drug administration.

Dosage Calculations MIE is written specifically for a UK readership and includes:

• Clear explanations of all types of dosage calculations from simple to complex, with examples in real world cases

• Thorough reviews of basic maths, including fractions, decimals, percentages and ratios, illustrated with hundreds of examples

• Emphasis on preventing error and promoting patient safety

• Memory joggers, quick quizzes, chapter summaries and other features designed to take the tedium out of learning

The second text ‘Nursing Pharmacology Made Incredibly Easy (1^st UK Edition) looks at important concepts of medication from a nursing standpoint and includes:

• Pharmacology facts, including where drugs come from, and how they are classified and administered

• Drugs by pharmacologic class for all body systems plus pain medications, anti-infective drugs and more

• ‘Before you give that drug’ alerts – important drug warnings to be considered before administration

• Memory joggers, charts and quick quizzes to simplify difficult concepts

Both texts are currently available in the University Bookshop.

Details for both books are as follows

Dosage Calculations Made Incredibly Easy  LWW| Sept 2008 | ISBN 978-1-901831-03-0 | 336 pages

Nursing Pharmacology Made Incredibly Easy  LWW| Sept 2008 | ISBN 978-1-901831-04-7| 696 pages

Congratulations to Doris Corkin, Sonya Clarke, Phil Morrow, Patricia McNeilly, Sharon Nurse, Jayne Price and Olga Richardson for their chapters in a new book: Clinical Skills in Child Health Practice, Ed by Janet Kelsey and Gillian McEwing, Pub by Churchill Livingstone 2008.

Continuing Professional and Academic Development Prospectus

The Continuing Professional and Academic Development Prospectus 2009-2010 is available for download here

Certificate, Diploma and BSc(Hons) in Trauma Studies programmes available with WAVE and the School of Nursing & Midwifery.

Trauma Studies Programme

Wave Trauma Centre

For more details on the DNP please click here

To apply for this course click here

Interested in conducting a Cochrane systematic review? Contact The Cochrane Development Group.

If you are interested in applying for a Cochrane Fellowship please submit a CV, title and abstract of the review to The Cochrane Development Group, Nursing & Midwifery Research Unit no later than the 11^th of April. The purpose of this process is to ensure you secure support from the School of Nursing and Midwifery to undertake the fellowship, to identify a supervisor for your review and provide support to expedite the application process.  Informal enquiries to Mrs Jenny McGaughey (ext 6553) or Dr Fiona Alderdice (ext 6569). For more information please click here

Do you need to learn and develop Health - Physical Assessment skills ? 

Need a flexible teaching programme ?

Problem Solved -

Now you can access our audio-visual Queen's on-line Health Assessment module at a time that suits you, from your home or from your workplace !!

For more information please contact Wesley Sterling on Mobile No:- 07725099770 or via email w.sterling@qub.ac.uk

A team of researchers, led by Dr Valerie Holmes from the Nursing and Midwifery Research Unit have secured £200,000 in grant funding from Diabetes UK to carry out a project entitled: “An interactive DVD to increase awareness of reproductive health issues and preconception care in women with diabetes: Design, Development, Pilot and Evaluation”. Other researchers involved in this project are Dr Fiona Alderdice, Nursing and Midwifery Research Unit, Dr Roy Harper, Ulster Hospital , Dundonald and Dr David McCance, Royal Group of Hospitals.

Almost all women with diabetes can have healthy babies if good pre-pregnancy blood glucose control is achieved.  Therefore, all women with diabetes need to be aware of the importance of planning their pregnancy. Currently, only one third of women are receiving optimal preconception care. Lack of awareness about reproductive health and pregnancy planning may be one reason why women are not seeking pre-pregnancy counselling.

There is tremendous potential to use technology, such as an interactive DVD, designed to be used by women in their own living room, to target all women with diabetes in the UK , to raise awareness of reproductive health issues and the importance of pregnancy planning and preconception care, thus breaking down one of the barriers to preconception care.

The project team will design, develop, pilot and evaluate an interactive DVD which raises awareness of the importance of reproductive health issues for all women with diabetes, and provides guidance about preconception care for those women planning a pregnancy. The DVD will be developed with input from women with diabetes.  The effect of the educational tool on pregnancy planning, management and outcome will subsequently be evaluated in a cluster randomised trial.

For more information please contact Dr Valerie Holmes. v.holmes@qub.ac.uk