DCU has just been awarded the largest single grant for nursing research by the Health Research Board. The grant of £95,000 will be used to investigate the empowerment of nurses and midwives, and was welcomed by the Professor of Nursing at DCU, Dr Anne Scott.

"This grant will allow us to grow our research culture more rapidly than might have been the case. It also addresses a number of the significant recommendations of the Commission on Nursing Report (1998), which states that: "the nursing profession take greater responsibility for the regulation and practice of the profession and for ensuring professional leadership in nursing and midwifery, ... and should take greater control over its own destiny. It also begins to explore how nurses and midwives feel and think about the issue of increased professional autonomy that is also recommended by the Commission's report" she said.

DCU will use the grant specifically to carry out research into the experiences and understanding of empowerment among Irish nurses and midwives. This is an issue for which there is little empirical evidence currently available. Empowerment is directly linked to increased professional autonomy and thus increased professional responsibility and accountability. "The health system, patients and nurses alike, can only benefit from this" states Professor Scott.

In general terms, the award is seen as a genuine acknowledgement of the role that DCU can play in developing the culture of research and scholarship necessary to grow the evidence base for clinical nursing practice.

With a total of just under 600 students on its diploma and degree programmes, DCU collaborates with 6 health services / institutions in North County Dublin. This collaborative approach is an acknowledgement of the dual roots of the profession of nursing: its clinical practice combined with its research, scholarship and education. Programmes currently offered by the School of Nursing , DCU includes areas of speciality such as Nephrology Nursing, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, and soon to become available is the Graduate Diploma/Masters in Nursing of Older People with Mental Health Difficulties. In general terms, the award is seen as a genuine acknowledgement of the important role DCU can play in the higher education of nurses in Ireland. MSc and PhD by research are also offered by the School of Nursing.

ENDS