Our aim is to strengthen and build research capacity within the area of women’s and children's health and to enhance the health & wellbeing of women, children and their families through the conduct of ethical research.

We will undertake research in partnership with key stakeholders which has a positive impact on women and children’s’ health and contribute to the knowledge development which informs practice.

Group Lead: Dr Sandra Atkinson

Group Members: Dr Sylvia Murphy Tighe, Dr Maria Noonan, Jan McCarthy, Annmarie Grealish, Carmel Bradshaw, Barbara Lloyd

Principal Investigator Research Income

Title Funder Research Team
An educational video intervention to foster and promote positive attitudes to mental health among health care professionals.

Nursing and Midwifery Practice Development Unit, Mid-West Region.

Maria Noonan, Maria Gibbons HSE lead. Teresa Tuohy, AnnMarie Grealish, Louise Murphy, Sylvia Murphy, Carmel Bradshaw, Sandra Atkinson, Kevin Johnson. 
Public Health Nurse (PHN) led identification and response to domestic abuse in the postnatal period – A Pilot Study to assess PHN training to recognise and respond to domestic violence,

Nursing and Midwifery Practice Development Unit, Mid-West Region

Sylvia Tighe Murphy, Maria Noonan and Carmel Bradshaw in collaboration with Mary Shanahan, Marie Boyle and Brenda Mellett
Co-design, development and evaluation of a care pathway to promote, maintain and enhance breastfeeding experience in the Neonatal Unit.

Nursing and Midwifery Practice Development Unit. Mid-West Region

Maria Noonan and Una Dee HSE lead.

Sylvia Tighe Murphy, Carmel Bradshaw and Jan McCarthy.

Co-Applicant Research Activities

Title Funder Research Team
COST application: The DEVoTiON (DEliVery-related Trauma Outcomes Network) is a COST Action designed to bring together researchers and clinicians from diverse fields. The goal is to maximise the impact of research in birth trauma and PTSD in childbirth in

COST application

PI Prof Joan Lalor, TCD. Dr Sylvia Tighe Murphy
Quality Care-Metrics: An independent evaluation study to determine the impact of measuring nursing and midwifery-sensitive process metrics and indicators using Quality Care-Metrics (HSE10990)

HSE

PI Professor Laserina O’Connor UCD. Cluster members: Maria Noonan, Carmel Bradshaw, Sylvia Murphy, Sandra Atkinson
Inter-disciplinary and inter-agency group, involving seven academic disciplines, a leading NGO for migrants, the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the WHO to draw on the tradition of participatory health research to disrupt this pattern of exclusion.

HRI emerging Cluster Capacity Building Award

Helen Phelan, Anne MacFarlane,  Sylvia Murphy Tighe, Tríona McCaffrey,  Hilary Moss, Susann Huschke, Maebh Barry and Leonie Kerins.

Past Projects

Title Amount Funder Research Team
Identifying research questions to identify local interventions in the Mid-West Region to support breastfeeding initiation and duration. €9,574.25

Nursing & Midwifery Practice Development Unit, Mid-West Region

Una Dee, Margaret Hynes, Maria O'Dwyer, Sinéad O'Doherty, Audrey Lyons, Deirdre Monroe, Fiona Murphy, Maria Noonan, Janet Calvert
ESTHER Common Grant application €7,814

ESTHER

K. Elmusharaf, P. Finucane, K. Hadfield, D. Leddin, Fiona Murphy, C. Sheehan
UL International Activity Challenge Fund €3,200

University of Limerick. International activity challenge.

Sylvia Murphy-Tighe
Positive social & economic ageing. €5,000

University of Limerick. International activity challenge.

Jill Murphy, Pauline O'Reilly, Fiona Murphy, Donna Wilson, Gail Low
QCM Nursing & Midwifery Quality Care-Metrics Project (Older Person and Intellectual Disability Services) €92,172.26

HSE/ONMSD 

Fiona Murphy, Owen Doody, Rosemary Lyons