The Health Service Executive (HSE) along with South East Technological University (SETU) and the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) have launched a new collaborative research project, providing an opportunity to enhance lives and improve the provision of safe care.
Launched on Wednesday, 27 September in the Department of Nursing and Health Care at SETU, this collaborative project will explore the topic of restrictive practice, and in doing so will utilise HIQA's national electronic Database of Statutory Notifications received from social care services since 2013.
The CARE Collaboration Scholarship programme was founded in 2008 and is a partnership between the HSE’s Nursing and Midwifery Planning Development Unit (NMPDU) South East Office and the Department of Nursing and Health Care at SETU. The Care Collaboration provides funding for postgraduate nurses and midwives to further their education in the attainment of MSc in Nursing by research. A total of four MSc students and one PhD student from the Department of Nursing and Health Care will work on the project.
Unique collaboration
Dr Sara Kennedy, Head of Department Nursing and Health Care, SETU, explains, “This unique collaboration provides an opportunity to examine practice and explore learning opportunities in order to enhance the lives of people living in our communities, hospitals, and care facilities. The Department of Nursing and Healthcare is excited to collaborate with HIQA and the HSE on this worthwhile project.”
Also delighted to support the research collaboration, Ms Judy Ryan, HSE, Director of NMPDU says, “It provides an opportunity for nurses conducting the research to examine the data collated on this national repository and inform developments in practice.”
According to Dr Laura Keyes, Research Manager, HIQA, “As a country, we have an ambition to move to a restraint-free environment in residential care. However, there is as of yet a mismatch between policy and practice. This collaboration aims to deepen understanding of what is happening in practice to improve knowledge and support practitioners in reducing the use of restrictive practices. HIQA is delighted that our Database of Statutory Notifications is to be used as the basis of this project. We look forward to the coming years of collaboration and the results of the research that will improve the provision of quality and safe care for people in residential services.”