Dr Helen Mulcahy DN, MSc (Nursing), BSc (Nursing), H Dip. PHN, RGN, RM, RPHN. Helen is Senior Lecturer in Community Health and in the Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork, Ireland. She teaches public health nursing, child health and development as well as nursing research. Her area of teaching and research expertise includes Public Health Nurse/client relationships; working with vulnerable families; elder abuse and self-neglect in the context of public health nursing practice; and breastfeeding support.

My research interests include Nurse/client relationships; working with vulnerable families; breastfeeding support; child health; parental concern and Public Health Nursing. The importance of linking research with practice is a key aspect in the development of course material and the development of excellence in nursing practice. To ensure public health nurses are educated to provide high quality care and to foster the development of evidence based practice all my lectures are research based and supported with relevant references. My experience of supervising Masters Students and supporting them to disseminate the findings of their studies has been strongly illustrative of the relationship of teaching to research and subsequently to practice. My role as co-ordinator of the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Nursing has enhanced my profile within the Public Health Nursing discipline generally. It is my plan to build on my existing research profile by disseminating my research findings through education, conference presentations and publications. My top three research outputs are: a) Parental concern in relation to child growth and developmentb) Nurse-client relationships c) Vulnerable families I conducted a quantitative study to measure Participation as experienced by Public Health nurses and mothers of vulnerable families within the nurse/client relationship. This research was supported by an award from An Bord Altranais and a Health Research Board Fellowship. It was submitted in 2002 in fulfilment for the award of Masters in Science in Nursing by Research. a) I registered on the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in July 2010 and completed in Jan 2014. My area of study is an exploration of the process by which parents of children referred to second tier child developmental services assess and respond to uncertainty in relation to child growth and development concerns. b)The nurse-client relationship is f

Background in relation to teaching and Learning Programme co-coordinator of Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Nursing (PGDPHN) 2008-2016. Module leader for modules: NU6041, NU6042, NU6047, NU6170. These are level 9, 5 and 10 credit postgraduate modulesLongstanding contribution to PHN preceptors by delivering 16 hours of education to assist them to support PHN students for 18 weeks of clinical placement. Additionally, I teach across other programmes and modules relating ot community nursing practice, education and professional issuesI am link lecturer for the undergraduate programme for public health nursing and community hospital sites in Cork North Lee, South Lee, West Cork and North Cork.My clinical practice in public health nursing and care of the older adult ensures that I have the knowledge and networks in these clinical areas, to support undergraduate students effectively as they navigate these clinical placement sites. Selected research interests that inform teaching and ensure it is research led. Public health nursing practce, education and professional issuesParental concern and uncertainty in the context of child growth and developmentBreastfedding curricula and breastfeding skills trainingCommunity nursing practice across the lifespan