Whilst working as a staff nurse on an infant medical-surgical ward, Theresa completed her Masters in Nursing Education in UCD, graduating with a first class honours. During her Masters, she regularly delivered guest lectures in UCD and UCC on the Children's Nursing programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. She went on to complete her Nurse Tutor registration in 2019.
In 2020, she began working as a Clinical Nurse Education Facilitator (CNEF) in CHI at Crumlin on an infant ward and participated in clinical audit, research and clinical teaching. During this time as CNEF, she applied and was awarded a place on the Nightingale Challenge Programme - an international mentorship programme for young nurse leaders. This allowed her the opportunity to shadow Chief Nursing Officer in the Department of Health and to participate in national and international nursing conferences and webinars with Nursing Now, the Department of Health and the ECHO hospital groups.
Theresa is currently undertaking her PhD with SPHeRE in population health and health services research, and aims to explore families experiences of home nursing supports for children with medical complexity.
The focus of my PhD research is complex and chronic health conditions in children, with an interest in community care provisions for children with medical complexities and their families. This research aims to look at the level of support available for these families and any geographical variances in care provision and allocation of resources.
As part of my MSc in Nursing Education, I carried out research that explored staff nurses' experiences of completing postgraduate children's nursing programmes which have a requirement of the staff nurse undertaking the programme to become a student nurse for the duration of the 12 month programme. This research informed ward-level workforce planning in terms of allocation and roster of experienced staff to support the students and identified the level of support required for qualified nurses undertaking postgraduate nursing programmes.
As part of my role as Clinical Nurse Education Facilitator, I sought areas of quality improvement, one of which being the promotion of the Safe Sleep environment in the acute hospital setting. This involved researching nurses' knowledge and practices of safe sleep techniques as well as exploring how influential nurses are in terms of parental practices and habits. The outputs of this research resulted in a hospital-wide awareness and educational campaign and the development of a clinical guideline and information sheet requiring ongoing review and audit.
Currently, I am on a multi-site research project exploring the psychological impact of the cyber attack on Intensive Care Nurses in 3 large intensive care units across Ireland. This study has PPI and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Neonatal and Infant Nursing
Children's Health Policy
Biography
Theresa graduated from UCC in 2015 from the Children's and General Integrated Nursing Programme with a first class honours degree before going on to work as a Staff Nurse in CHI at Crumlin, Dublin.Whilst working as a staff nurse on an infant medical-surgical ward, Theresa completed her Masters in Nursing Education in UCD, graduating with a first class honours. During her Masters, she regularly delivered guest lectures in UCD and UCC on the Children's Nursing programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. She went on to complete her Nurse Tutor registration in 2019.
In 2020, she began working as a Clinical Nurse Education Facilitator (CNEF) in CHI at Crumlin on an infant ward and participated in clinical audit, research and clinical teaching. During this time as CNEF, she applied and was awarded a place on the Nightingale Challenge Programme - an international mentorship programme for young nurse leaders. This allowed her the opportunity to shadow Chief Nursing Officer in the Department of Health and to participate in national and international nursing conferences and webinars with Nursing Now, the Department of Health and the ECHO hospital groups.
Theresa is currently undertaking her PhD with SPHeRE in population health and health services research, and aims to explore families experiences of home nursing supports for children with medical complexity.
Research Interests
My research interests largely focus on child health, particularly neonatal and infant health, with a particular focus on gastrointestinal, neurological and respiratory systems.The focus of my PhD research is complex and chronic health conditions in children, with an interest in community care provisions for children with medical complexities and their families. This research aims to look at the level of support available for these families and any geographical variances in care provision and allocation of resources.
As part of my MSc in Nursing Education, I carried out research that explored staff nurses' experiences of completing postgraduate children's nursing programmes which have a requirement of the staff nurse undertaking the programme to become a student nurse for the duration of the 12 month programme. This research informed ward-level workforce planning in terms of allocation and roster of experienced staff to support the students and identified the level of support required for qualified nurses undertaking postgraduate nursing programmes.
As part of my role as Clinical Nurse Education Facilitator, I sought areas of quality improvement, one of which being the promotion of the Safe Sleep environment in the acute hospital setting. This involved researching nurses' knowledge and practices of safe sleep techniques as well as exploring how influential nurses are in terms of parental practices and habits. The outputs of this research resulted in a hospital-wide awareness and educational campaign and the development of a clinical guideline and information sheet requiring ongoing review and audit.
Currently, I am on a multi-site research project exploring the psychological impact of the cyber attack on Intensive Care Nurses in 3 large intensive care units across Ireland. This study has PPI and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2021) | 'From registered nurse to nursing student - Exploring registered nurses' transition to nursing student during a post-registration children's nurse programme: A qualitative descriptive research study' Nyhan, T;Howlin, F (2021) 'From registered nurse to nursing student - Exploring registered nurses' transition to nursing student during a post-registration children's nurse programme: A qualitative descriptive research study'. Nurse Education Today, 105 [DOI] [Details] |
Professional Activities
Honours and Awards
| Year | Title | Awarding Body | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Special Commendation | Irish Healthcare Awards | |
| 2020 | Nightingale Challenge Participant | Department of Health |
Teaching Activities
Teaching Interests
Children's NursingNeonatal and Infant Nursing
Children's Health Policy
