Dr. Patricia Cronin
Assistant Professor, School of Nursing & Midwifery

Projects

• Title
  • Education and Training for recruiters to trials
• Summary
  • An embedded methodological research project which will develop and pilot test an education and training intervention for recruiters to trials, aimed at improving recruitment rates to randomised trials
• Funding Agency
  • Health Research Board Ireland
• Date From
  • June 2018
• Date To
  • May 2021

• Title
  • Assessing the level of depression in patients with chronic illness
• Summary
  • The aim of this descriptive and exploratory quantitative study is to assess the level of depression in patients with chronic illness. This will provide data for planning and developing services to meet the psychological needs of these patients. The research involves a one off survey of patients with a chronic illness who are attending outpatients clinics in a General Hospital. Patients attending clinics for rheumolotogy, diabetes, stroke, tissue viability, cardiac rehabilitation and respiratory departments will be included The survey consists of: (a) demographic and health questions (b) illness-specific questions (e.g. illness type, disease severity/stage/duration, adherence and pain) and (c) the Patient Health Questionnaire. All of the data will be entered into SPSS for descriptive and multivariate analysis. The Patient Health Questionnaire will be tested for reliability (using Cronbach's Alpha). Inferential statistics will be performed to test for association between variables.
• Funding Agency
  • N/A
• Date From
  • June 2018
• Date To
  • March 2020

• Title
  • Evaluation of podcasts as a learning activity
• Summary
  • The aim of this research is to evaluate the use of podcasts as a learning activity in a final year undergraduate module. . To explore student's perspectives on the usefulness of podcasts for their learning . To investigate staff perspectives on the usefulness of podcasts in the 'flipped classroom' . To reflect on the process of producing podcasts for the module . Based on the findings, make recommendations on the efficacy of implementing podcasts. A descriptive mixed-methods approach is being adopted using the 4Q model of evaluation (Smith 2008) as a conceptual framework. A sample has been drawn from the target population of Senior Sophister Nursing students (205) who completed the module in Hilary term 2017-2018, academic staff who facilitate tutorials on the module (8) and the 2 module leaders who designed and produced the podcasts. Data collection includes an online questionnaire adapted from Merhi (2012, a focus group and reflective analysis. Students were recruited through an announcement on Blackboard and the link to an online, anonymous questionnaire. Staff who facilitated tutorials in 2017-2018 academic year were invited through email to participate in an audio-recorded, focus group discussion following completion of the tutorials. The 2 module leaders will engage in reflective analysis utilising Boud et al's (1985) reflective framework to examine the process of designing and producing the podcasts. Descriptive analysis of the findings of the questionnaire will be undertaken. The focus group data and the outcome of the reflective analysis will be transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis framework of Braun & Clarke (2006).
• Date From
  • May 2018
• Date To
  • March 2020

• Title
  • Nutrition/Hydration Project.
• Summary
  • As part of the work of the Centre for Practice & Healthcare Innovation, a nutrition & hydration group undertook a project focusing on observation of mealtime assistance at breakfast across three partner hospitals.
• Date From
  • 2016
• Date To
  • 2017

• Title
  • Systemic antibiotics for malignant wounds: A Cochrane Review
• Summary
  • The purpose of this Cochrane review is to assess the effects of systemic antibiotics in the treatment of malignant wounds, including their safety, and their impact upon quality of life and related symptoms.
• Funding Agency
  • None
• Date From
  • February 2014
• Date To
  • February 2016

• Title
  • The Experience and Needs of Former Family Carers
• Summary
  • Between Worlds: The Experiences and Needs of Former Family Carers The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the experiences and needs of Irish former family carers in the post-caring/care transitions period. Former family carers were defined as family members who provided physical and/or social care to a family member with an illness or disability in the home for at least 6 months prior to nursing home/hospice placement or death. A total of 40 family carers were recruited from members of or known to voluntary care groups/associations in Ireland. Fourteen participants took part in a focus group discussion and 26 participated in one-to-one, semi-structured interviews, all of which were undertaken in 2010. For the participants in this study, post-caring was a transition that comprised three, interrelated, non-linear, iterative themes that were represented as 'loss of the caring world', 'living in loss' and 'moving on' and symbolised as being 'between worlds'. Transition was a complex interplay of emotions overlaid with economic and social concerns that had implications for their sense of health and well-being. This exploratory study begins to address the dearth of data on post-caring/care experiences, but further research is needed to inform support interventions to enable former family carers to 'move on'.
• Funding Agency
  • IRCHSS/Care Alliance Ireland
• Date From
  • Feb 2010
• Date To
  • Dec 2010

• Title
  • An analysis of practice-based critical incidents identified by student nurses and midwives.
• Summary
  • The aim of this study was to undertake an analysis of the practice-based critical incidents identified by student nurses and midwives as part of their reflective learning with the overall purpose of gaining insight into areas of clinical practice that address or challenge them. The study is a qualitative descriptive analysis of the students' chosen topics. All nursing (General, Intellectual Disability, Mental Health, Children's) and midwifery students in their final year (n=235) were invited to participate. Data was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Analysis indicated that the student experiences can be categorised under three main themes; Managing unexpected events, Scope of Practice and Interpersonal Communication.
• Funding Agency
  • None
• Date From
  • September 2012
• Date To
  • September 2013

• Title
  • Living with Chronic Pancreatitis
• Summary
  • Abstract Living with chronic pancreatitis: a hermeneutic inquiry The purpose of this hermeneutic inquiry was to develop an understanding and construct a meaning of living with chronic pancreatitis. Recent international literature acknowledges the impact of this progressive and debilitating disease on psychological and social well-being and efforts have been directed at assessing health-related quality of life. However, in Ireland no comparable work could be located and it was proposed that the plight of those with a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis remains unknown and hidden. Philosophical hermeneutics after Gadamer was chosen to guide and direct the study. A purposeful sample was drawn from a population who had been diagnosed, and were living, with chronic pancreatitis. Family members who were willing to be included were identified by the primary participants. Fourteen primary participants and five family members were recruited to the study. Multiple, unstructured, formal interviews were the primary means of collecting data. The meaning of living with chronic pancreatitis is 'enduring disruption'. Enduring, as it is represented has a two-fold meaning and symbolises the perpetual or permanent nature of disruption that occurs at physiological, social and psychological levels and determined as 'suffering'. Enduring, also means 'to cope with' and/or 'to tolerate' and encompasses how the participants and their families cope with the perceived restrictions arising from the condition, their capacity to tolerate them and the strategies developed to manage them, within the overall transition from well person to a person with chronic pancreatitis. Transition to being a person with chronic pancreatitis is a process of assimilation and acceptance of a life permanently altered and a realisation that a return to their 'old' normal is no longer possible. Together, suffering and transition form the whole of 'enduring disruption'. This is the first study in Ireland that has included those who live with chronic pancreatitis and offers an alternative perspective to the previous quality of life research in chronic pancreatitis.
• Date From
  • April 2005
• Date To
  • April 2009

• Title
  • IDS-TILDA Wave 4
• Summary
  • IDS-TILDA is a longitudinal study researching ageing in Ireland among people with an intellectual disability aged 40 and over. This study is the first of its kind in Europe, and the only study able to directly compare the ageing of people with intellectual disability with the general ageing population.
• Funding Agency
  • Health Research Board Ireland
• Date From
  • 2018
• Date To
  • 2022