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Nursing and Midwifery

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In This Section
  • PhD Students

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  • Postgraduate Research

Postgraduate Research

PhD students are members of a dynamic doctoral research environment and will study alongside students undertaking research in key healthcare areas including our three core innovative research themes, which encapsulate lifespan health research from conception to end-of-life: Maternal and Child Health; Chronic Illness and Palliative Care and Education and Practice. Each student has the opportunity to develop their research potential in a vibrant research community that prioritises the cross-fertilization of ideas and innovation in the advancement of knowledge. Within the School of Nursing and Midwifery our area of strength is health innovation through co-design and rigorous evaluation of healthcare interventions with policymakers, practice partners, patients and carers.

Our active Student Voice Committee is chaired by student representatives and ensures that the School receives evaluation and feedback from students on the quality of their academic provision and associated activities. It provides a mechanism whereby the Director of Postgraduate Research can seek the views of students on matters of policy related to course development and review. Ongoing support includes regular coffee mornings with academic staff, mindfulness programmes and a peer-buddy scheme.

Students can avail of training opportunities offered by the School and the University's Graduate School which provide a programme of events that facilitate high levels of interdisciplinary engagement relevant to issues pertaining to health and social care. Regular masterclasses such as writing workshops covering ‘Motivation & Time Management’, ‘Making Mistakes and Being Perfect’, are offered.  A Qualitative Skills workshop is provided twice a year to postgraduate students/researchers to develop their qualitative skills prior to data collection and ensure they are confident in carrying out their research projects. This workshop is a joint Queen's University Belfast/Ulster University initiative. 

PhD students can apply for paid teaching experience from their second year and all PhD students have access to office accommodation within the School to facilitate effective communication, teamwork and support from the wider interdisciplinary School network.

Find out more about our three research themes:

  • Chronic Illness and Palliative Care
  • Education and Practice
  • Maternal and Child Health

STUDY OPTIONS

  • Postgraduate Research
    Postgraduate Research Courses
    Course Qualification Duration
    Nursing & Midwifery PhD 3 Calendar Years (Full-time) / 5 Calendar Years (Part-time)
    Duration 3 Calendar Years (Full-time) / 5 Calendar Years (Part-time)
    Description

    Within the School of Nursing and Midwifery our area of strength is health innovation through co-design and rigorous evaluation of health promoting and healthcare interventions with policymakers, practice partners, patients and carers. We have two core (Maternal and Child Health; Chronic Illness and Palliative Care) and one emerging (Education and Practice) innovative research themes, which encapsulate....

    Nursing & Midwifery PhD 3 Calendar Years (Full-time) / 5 Calendar Years (Part-time)
    Duration 3 Calendar Years (Full-time) / 5 Calendar Years (Part-time)
    Description

    Within the School of Nursing and Midwifery our area of strength is health innovation through co-design and rigorous evaluation of health promoting and healthcare interventions with policymakers, practice partners, patients and carers. We have two core (Maternal and Child Health; Chronic Illness and Palliative Care) and one emerging (Education and Practice) innovative research themes, which encapsulate....

  • PhD Opportunities
    PhD Opportunities
    Course Qualification Duration
    Exploring the role of community-based support in palliative care PHD Full-time: 3 years
    Eating Together: Exploring the social eating experiences and family dynamics for patients living with a chronic illness PHD Full-time: 3 years
    Early learning support interventions for caregivers of children with Cerebral Palsy: A feasibility study PHD Full-time: 3 years
    Supporting cognitive development of preterm infants through caregivers’ interventions. PHD Full-time: 3 years
    An Evaluation on the use of video and reflection to support simulated learning from both the learner and facilitator perspective PHD Full-time: 3 years
    Supporting older people including those with cognitive impairment to live well in their communities. PHD Full-time: 3 Years
    A post-surgery hospital discharge intervention for caregivers of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) PHD Full-time: 3 years

PhD studies may be undertaken on a full (3 years) or part-time (6 years) basis.

HEAR FROM OUR PHD RESEARCHERS
Claire Cooper

PhD Title: Social Participation and Quality of Life in Adults with Cerebral Palsy

Azam David Saifullah
Azam Saifulla

PhD Title: An Educational Intervention for Adult Child Carer of People Living with Dementia in Indonesia

Ernest Asante
Ernest Asante

PhD Title: Nurse-led mobile phone intervention to promote self-management in type 2 diabetes in Ghana: a randomised controlled trial

View all PhD Projects and Researchers →

HEAR FROM OUR ALUMNI

Dr Claire Carswell
Development & feasibility of an arts-based intervention for patients with end-stage kidney disease whilst receiving haemodialysis

"To say I enjoyed the three years of my PhD at the School of Nursing and Midwifery is a huge understatement and doesn’t do the experience justice. During my PhD I had the opportunity to do research that was exciting and fulfilling, and I got to see how my research could have a real world impact on the lives of patients. The support I received from the school, both from my supervisors and wider academic community, was invaluable. While my PhD project itself was rewarding, I was also given numerous opportunities to develop my skills outside of the project, meet new people, travel to different countries, and create professional networks."

Current post

Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of York, Department of Health Sciences working on the National Institute for Health Research,  Programme Grant for Applied Research funded DIAMONDS (Diabetes and Mental Illness Improving Services and Outcomes) project.

Awards

  • 2020 Vitae 3 Minute Thesis Competition, UK Finalist.
  • 2020 Queen’s University Belfast Vitae 3 Minute Thesis Competition, First place.
  • 2020 RCN Foundation Impact Award
  • 2018: Outstanding Doctoral Student Award – Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Nursing and Midwifery Research Showcase, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland.
  • 2018: Best Manuscript Scholarship Award, First place – EDTNA/ERCA Conference, Genoa, Italy

Papers

Carswell, C., Reid, J., Walsh, I., Johnston, W., McAneney, H., Mullan, R., ... & Noble, H. (2020). A mixed-methods feasibility study of an arts-based intervention for patients receiving maintenance haemodialysis. BMC nephrology, 21(1), 1-16.

Carswell, C., Reid, J., Walsh, I., McAneney, H., Baxley Lee, J., & Noble, H. (2020) Complex arts-based interventions for patients receiving haemodialysis: A realist review,  Arts & Health, DOI: 10.1080/17533015.2020.1744173

Carswell, C., (2020) Claire Carswell: Visceral and aesthetic imagery, Journal of visual communication in medicine, 43 (1) 57-59

Ancliffe, L., Carswell, C. and Rayner, H. (2019) Art on Dialysis, OT News, 29-31

Carswell, C., Reid, J., Walsh, I., McAneney, H. and Noble, H. (2019) Implementing an arts-based intervention for patients with end-stage kidney disease whilst receiving haemodialysis: a feasibility study protocol. Pilot and feasibility studies, 5 (1), https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-018-0389-y

Carswell, C., Reid, J., Walsh, I. and Noble, H. (2018) Arts-based interventions for hospitalised patients with cancer: a systematic literature review. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 24 (12), 611-616

Conferences

Invited Speaker: (2021) Using Art to Promote Psychosocial Wellbeing in Haemodialysis Patients, EDTNA/ERCA Webinar, Online.

Invited Speaker: (2020) Implementing an arts-based intervention for patients receiving haemodialysis, Kidney Care UK Virtual advocacy meeting, Online.

Invited Speaker: (2019) The PhD experience QUB School of Nursing and Midwifery Research Showcase, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Invited Speaker: (2019) Implementing an arts-based intervention for patients receiving haemodialysis, Northern Ireland Regional Renal Audit, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Carswell, C., Noble, H., Reid, J., and Walsh, I. (2019) Feasibility of a randomised controlled trial of an arts-based intervention for patients receiving haemodialysis, Oral presentation at EDTNA/ERCA, Prague, The Czech Republic

Carswell, C., Noble, H., Reid, J., and Walsh, I. (2019) Feasibility of recruitment to a pilot randomized control trial of an arts-based intervention for patients with end-stage kidney disease whilst receiving haemodialysis, Poster presentation at UK Kidney Week 2019, Brighton, England.

Carswell, C., Noble, H., Reid, J., and Walsh, I. (2018) Arts-Based Interventions for Patients with End-Stage Kidney Disease receiving Haemodialysis: An integrative literature review, Oral presentation at EDTNA/ERCA, Genoa, Italy.

Carswell, C., Noble, H., Reid, J., and Walsh, I. (2018) Developing an Arts-Based Intervention for Patients who have End-Stage Kidney Disease whilst receiving Haemodialysis: A feasibility study protocol, Poster presentation at UK Kidney Week 2018, Harrogate, England.

Carswell, C., (2018) Art and Kidney disease: Using the Arts to Promote Wellbeing, Symposium presentation, University of Florida Arts in Health Research Symposium, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Carswell, C., and  Noble, H. (2018) Art and Kidney disease: Using the Arts to Promote Wellbeing, Seminar, Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation (CESI) Seminar Series, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Invited speaker: Patient and public involvement in research at the workshop ‘Trails from concept to conclusion’, Trails and Methodology Research Network, 2017.

Carswell, C., Noble, H., Reid, J., and Walsh, I. (2017) Developing an Arts-Based Intervention for Patients who have End-Stage Kidney Disease whilst receiving Haemodialysis: A study protocol, Oral presentation at the ENRICh 2: Beyond Competence, Cultivating Capability, Dublin, Ireland.

Carswell, C., Noble, H., and Reid, J. (2017) Developing an Arts Based Intervention for Patients who have End Stage Kidney Disease and are receiving Haemodialysis: A Study Protocol, Poster presentation at QUB School of Nursing and Midwifery Research Showcase, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

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Dr Gary Mitchell

An ethnography of communication processes involving the management of oral chemotherapeutic agents by patients with a primary diagnosis of colorectal cancer

"Undertaking a PhD at the School of Nursing and Midwifery was an enriching experience and one that supported me to develop several skills to support people in practice.  The skills I learned on this journey initially supported my role in clinical practice.  As a nurse consultant in care homes, I was able to use skills from my PhD to work with others to critically review nursing care and co-develop appropriate supportive interventions."  

In particular, I was able to lead a programme of work that supported the optimisation of palliative care for people living with dementia and this culminated in my award of nurse of the year in 2016 from the British Journal of Nursing.  These improvements in care led my organisation to appointing me to a research position within the company, the first such post in the care home sector.  In 2018, I took on my current role as Lecturer (Education) at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen's University Belfast.  In this role, I have the privilege of supporting undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students to learn how to support and improve the care of their patients.  

Papers:

Mitchell G, Porter S & Manias E (2021) Enabling sustained communication with patients for safe and effective management of oral chemotherapy: A longitudinal ethnography.  Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77, (2), 899-909.

Mitchell G, Porter S & Manias E (2019) From telling to sharing to silence: A longitudinal ethnography of professional-patient communication about oral chemotherapy for colorectal cancer.  Psychooncology, 28(2), 336-342. 

Mitchell G, Porter S & Manias E.  (2015) A critical ethnography of communication processes involving the management of oral chemotherapeutic agents by patients with a primary diagnosis of colorectal cancer: study protocol.  Journal of Advanced Nursing, 71, (4), 922-932.

Mitchell G, Porter S & Manias E. (2014) Adherence to oral chemotherapy: a review of the literature.  Cancer Nursing Practice, 13, (4), 25-28.

Mitchell G (2014) Adherence to medications: Towards a shared understanding.  Nurse Prescribing, 12, (11), 564-568.

Awards:

Student of the Year (2017) from Queen's University Belfast

Nurse Researcher of the Year Runner-Up (2017) from Royal College of Nursing Northern Ireland Awards

Nurse of the Year (2016) from the British Journal of Nursing

Marcia Mackie Award (2014) from Queen's University Belfast to facilitate collaborative fieldwork in Melbourne, Australia.

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RESEARCH SUPPORT
SUPPORT AND FACILITIES

Research in our School is supported by the outstanding resources of our Library with its Subject Librarian and subject-specific journals and databases.

Our close links and partnerships with local and international health and social care agenices, government departments, post-primary schools and many vocational organisations and NGOs make Queen's University the ideal place for postgraduate study in Nursing and Midwifery.


group shot the graduate school 800x533
POSTGRADUATE SPACE

The Graduate School provides an exclusive postgraduate hub that values the needs of our postgraduate students. Based in the beautifully restored and remodelled Victorian Lynn library, this fully-accessible space has modern, hi-tech meeting and group study rooms, a silent study area and social spaces creating a vibrant hub for intellectual exchange and collaboration.

Visit The Graduate School


THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

Student innovation
Research programmes and training
Postgraduate Research
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