Advances in school mental health promotion, Feb 2, 2017
Abstract Schools are a key setting for mental health promotion and the provision of emotional sup... more Abstract Schools are a key setting for mental health promotion and the provision of emotional support to students. As teachers and school counsellors are adults with whom adolescents have regular contact, it is likely they would be used as a help source by distressed students however there are few studies on this from an Irish context. A mixed methods design was used to identify the extent of adolescent help-seeking in addition to exploring what influences a young person’s decision to seek help in school. Findings generated through surveys (N = 856) and four focus group interviews (N = 35) with adolescents indicate that young people do not regard teachers and school counsellors as a potential help source. Barriers to seeking help include dislike of the dual role of counsellor/teacher and concerns about confidentiality. The provision of independent school counselling and increased mental health education were identified as factors that might increase help-seeking in school.
Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies, 2015
Partnering in research across disciplines and across countries can be challenging due to differin... more Partnering in research across disciplines and across countries can be challenging due to differing contexts of practice and culture. This study sought to demonstrate how central constructs that have application across disciplines and countries can be studied while concurrently considering context. Groups of nurses from Botswana, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, and Spain partnered to identify how to measure the constructs of caring for self, burnout, and compassion fatigue, replicating a study by Johnson (2012), who found that caring for self had a moderately strong negative relationship with both compassion fatigue and burnout. While these constructs were of interest to all five groups, the conversation of contextual influences varied. All five groups used the same instruments to measure the central constructs. Levels of burnout and compassion fatigue varied by country but were moderated by caring for self. Partnering across countries made it possible to understand that caring for sel...
Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 2017
Accessible summaryWhat is known on the subject? Self‐harm is a relatively common occurrence in ad... more Accessible summaryWhat is known on the subject? Self‐harm is a relatively common occurrence in adolescents; however, there remains a lack of understanding about the motivations behind adolescent self‐harm, and this poor understanding can have a negative impact on how mental health professionals respond to young people who self‐harm. What does this paper add to existing knowledge? This paper identifies the reasons for self‐harm in a community sample of young people and finds that the functions of self‐harm differ for different people and that there may be multiple reasons for self‐harm. Findings provide support for the affect‐regulation model of self‐harm which states that young people self‐harm to regulate how they are feeling, but provides little support for the interpersonal influence model which proposes that self‐harm is an attempt to influence how other people respond to them. What are the implications for practice? Self‐harm for most young people serves at least one specific f...
National Independent Evaluation of the Nurse and ... Dr. Jonathan Drennan Dr. Corina Naughton Ms.... more National Independent Evaluation of the Nurse and ... Dr. Jonathan Drennan Dr. Corina Naughton Ms. Deirdre Allen Dr. Abbey Hyde Dr. Patrick Felle Dr. Kathy O'Boyle Professor Pearl Treacy Dr. Michelle Butler ... This study was commissioned and funded by the Health Service ...
International journal of mental health nursing, Jan 28, 2015
Adolescent self-harm is recognized as a serious public health problem; however, there is little r... more Adolescent self-harm is recognized as a serious public health problem; however, there is little reliable comparative data on its prevalence or characteristics, or on the extent of help-seeking for self-harm. The aims of the present study were to determine the prevalence and associated factors of adolescent self-harm in an urban region in Ireland, and to investigate help-seeking behaviours for self-harm. This was a cross-sectional study of 856 school-going adolescents, employing an anonymous self-report questionnaire. A lifetime history of self-harm was reported by 12.1% of adolescents. Factors independently associated with self-harm included exposure to self-harm of a friend/family member. Professional help-seeking was uncommon prior to (9%) and after (12%) self-harm. Furthermore, only 6.9% of adolescents presented to hospital as a result of their last self-harm act. These findings indicate that self-harm is common in adolescents; however, seeking professional help is not a common p...
Prescriptive authority for nurses and midwives was introduced in Ireland in 2007. This allows nur... more Prescriptive authority for nurses and midwives was introduced in Ireland in 2007. This allows nurses and midwives who have completed a prescribing preparation programme to independently prescribe a wide-range of medications. To date little is known of patient outcomes such as satisfaction with the consultation process and intention to comply as a consequence of the introduction of nurse and midwife prescribing.
Background: Medicine is recognised as a dominant source of governmentality and social regulation,... more Background: Medicine is recognised as a dominant source of governmentality and social regulation, and although nursing has been implicated in the same process, analytical work in this area has been sparse. Objectives: The article aims to present an analysis of nursing records in order to understand the structural and social processes that mediate the texts. Methods: 45 sets of nursing records drawn from four clinical sites in Ireland were subjected to a discourse analysis. Results: This article focuses on two main themes that were derived from data: (i) the manner in which nurses controlled, regulated and invigilated patients\u27 activities of daily living and (ii) the way in which activities of daily living were mediated by a biomedical worldview in the clinical settings. Through the organising framework of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), normative social practices relating to hygiene, eating and drinking, sleeping and so forth were surveyed and monitored within clinical settings. We construct qualitative categories around a range of ways that nurses assessed and judged patients\u27 capacities at ADLs. Furthermore, it is argued that the framework of ADLs epitomises the medicalisation of normative social practices, whereupon the most mundane of normal functions become redefined as an actual or potential clinical pathology, legitimating nursing interventions. According to the nursing documentation, biochemical interventions in the form of various medications were the most dominant means through which nurses attempted to restore or improve the functional capacity of an ADL. Conclusion: We conclude by proposing that nurses\u27 invigilation of patients\u27 ADLs is not necessarily a repressive feature of nursing practice, but rather has the potential to be used to advocate on patients\u27 behalf in certain circumstances.kpw13/3/1
The aim of this paper is to inform the development of social work practice and policy by applying... more The aim of this paper is to inform the development of social work practice and policy by applying a practice-based evidence perspective to the experiential knowledge of social workers responsible for managing cases of elder abuse in Ireland. The study adopted a qualitative descriptive research design. Semi-structured interview data were collected from a purposive sample of eighteen senior case workers and inductive thematic analysis was undertaken. The findings are presented according to three themes: elder abuse case management, practice strategies for overcoming challenges and augmenting protective practice. By examining practice in the context of wider socio-political and legislative contexts,thepaperprovideslearninginkeyareasfortheprotectionofolderpeople.Thechallenges to case management practice and the strategies employed to respond to these challengesarediscussedintermsofadultprotectiveservicepolicydevelopmentanditsrelationship to practice. While recognising the imperative to respect a client’s right to selfdetermination, increased statutory authority for the duty of the state to protect older peoplefromabuseaswellastheroleofthecaseworkertoactonbehalfofthestatetoimplement protective interventions is important for the future development of the service.
To provide a synthesis of literature on international policy concerning professional regulation i... more To provide a synthesis of literature on international policy concerning professional regulation in nursing and midwifery, with reference to routes of entry into training and pathways to licensure. Internationally, there is evidence of multiple points of entry into initial training, multiple divisions of the professional register and multiple pathways to licensure. Policy documents and commentary articles concerned with models of initial training and pathways to licensure were reviewed. Item selection, quality appraisal and data extraction were undertaken and documentary analysis was performed on all retrieved texts. Case studies of five Western countries indicate no single uniform system of routes of entry into initial training and no overall consensus regarding the optimal model of initial training. Multiple regulatory systems, with multiple routes of entry into initial training and multiple pathways to licensure pose challenges, in terms of achieving commonly-agreed understandings of practice competence. The variety of models of initial training present nursing managers with challenges in the recruitment and deployment of personnel trained in many different jurisdictions. Nursing managers need to consider the potential for considerable variation in competency repertoires among nurses trained in generic and specialist initial training models.
Advances in school mental health promotion, Feb 2, 2017
Abstract Schools are a key setting for mental health promotion and the provision of emotional sup... more Abstract Schools are a key setting for mental health promotion and the provision of emotional support to students. As teachers and school counsellors are adults with whom adolescents have regular contact, it is likely they would be used as a help source by distressed students however there are few studies on this from an Irish context. A mixed methods design was used to identify the extent of adolescent help-seeking in addition to exploring what influences a young person’s decision to seek help in school. Findings generated through surveys (N = 856) and four focus group interviews (N = 35) with adolescents indicate that young people do not regard teachers and school counsellors as a potential help source. Barriers to seeking help include dislike of the dual role of counsellor/teacher and concerns about confidentiality. The provision of independent school counselling and increased mental health education were identified as factors that might increase help-seeking in school.
Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies, 2015
Partnering in research across disciplines and across countries can be challenging due to differin... more Partnering in research across disciplines and across countries can be challenging due to differing contexts of practice and culture. This study sought to demonstrate how central constructs that have application across disciplines and countries can be studied while concurrently considering context. Groups of nurses from Botswana, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, and Spain partnered to identify how to measure the constructs of caring for self, burnout, and compassion fatigue, replicating a study by Johnson (2012), who found that caring for self had a moderately strong negative relationship with both compassion fatigue and burnout. While these constructs were of interest to all five groups, the conversation of contextual influences varied. All five groups used the same instruments to measure the central constructs. Levels of burnout and compassion fatigue varied by country but were moderated by caring for self. Partnering across countries made it possible to understand that caring for sel...
Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 2017
Accessible summaryWhat is known on the subject? Self‐harm is a relatively common occurrence in ad... more Accessible summaryWhat is known on the subject? Self‐harm is a relatively common occurrence in adolescents; however, there remains a lack of understanding about the motivations behind adolescent self‐harm, and this poor understanding can have a negative impact on how mental health professionals respond to young people who self‐harm. What does this paper add to existing knowledge? This paper identifies the reasons for self‐harm in a community sample of young people and finds that the functions of self‐harm differ for different people and that there may be multiple reasons for self‐harm. Findings provide support for the affect‐regulation model of self‐harm which states that young people self‐harm to regulate how they are feeling, but provides little support for the interpersonal influence model which proposes that self‐harm is an attempt to influence how other people respond to them. What are the implications for practice? Self‐harm for most young people serves at least one specific f...
National Independent Evaluation of the Nurse and ... Dr. Jonathan Drennan Dr. Corina Naughton Ms.... more National Independent Evaluation of the Nurse and ... Dr. Jonathan Drennan Dr. Corina Naughton Ms. Deirdre Allen Dr. Abbey Hyde Dr. Patrick Felle Dr. Kathy O'Boyle Professor Pearl Treacy Dr. Michelle Butler ... This study was commissioned and funded by the Health Service ...
International journal of mental health nursing, Jan 28, 2015
Adolescent self-harm is recognized as a serious public health problem; however, there is little r... more Adolescent self-harm is recognized as a serious public health problem; however, there is little reliable comparative data on its prevalence or characteristics, or on the extent of help-seeking for self-harm. The aims of the present study were to determine the prevalence and associated factors of adolescent self-harm in an urban region in Ireland, and to investigate help-seeking behaviours for self-harm. This was a cross-sectional study of 856 school-going adolescents, employing an anonymous self-report questionnaire. A lifetime history of self-harm was reported by 12.1% of adolescents. Factors independently associated with self-harm included exposure to self-harm of a friend/family member. Professional help-seeking was uncommon prior to (9%) and after (12%) self-harm. Furthermore, only 6.9% of adolescents presented to hospital as a result of their last self-harm act. These findings indicate that self-harm is common in adolescents; however, seeking professional help is not a common p...
Prescriptive authority for nurses and midwives was introduced in Ireland in 2007. This allows nur... more Prescriptive authority for nurses and midwives was introduced in Ireland in 2007. This allows nurses and midwives who have completed a prescribing preparation programme to independently prescribe a wide-range of medications. To date little is known of patient outcomes such as satisfaction with the consultation process and intention to comply as a consequence of the introduction of nurse and midwife prescribing.
Background: Medicine is recognised as a dominant source of governmentality and social regulation,... more Background: Medicine is recognised as a dominant source of governmentality and social regulation, and although nursing has been implicated in the same process, analytical work in this area has been sparse. Objectives: The article aims to present an analysis of nursing records in order to understand the structural and social processes that mediate the texts. Methods: 45 sets of nursing records drawn from four clinical sites in Ireland were subjected to a discourse analysis. Results: This article focuses on two main themes that were derived from data: (i) the manner in which nurses controlled, regulated and invigilated patients\u27 activities of daily living and (ii) the way in which activities of daily living were mediated by a biomedical worldview in the clinical settings. Through the organising framework of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), normative social practices relating to hygiene, eating and drinking, sleeping and so forth were surveyed and monitored within clinical settings. We construct qualitative categories around a range of ways that nurses assessed and judged patients\u27 capacities at ADLs. Furthermore, it is argued that the framework of ADLs epitomises the medicalisation of normative social practices, whereupon the most mundane of normal functions become redefined as an actual or potential clinical pathology, legitimating nursing interventions. According to the nursing documentation, biochemical interventions in the form of various medications were the most dominant means through which nurses attempted to restore or improve the functional capacity of an ADL. Conclusion: We conclude by proposing that nurses\u27 invigilation of patients\u27 ADLs is not necessarily a repressive feature of nursing practice, but rather has the potential to be used to advocate on patients\u27 behalf in certain circumstances.kpw13/3/1
The aim of this paper is to inform the development of social work practice and policy by applying... more The aim of this paper is to inform the development of social work practice and policy by applying a practice-based evidence perspective to the experiential knowledge of social workers responsible for managing cases of elder abuse in Ireland. The study adopted a qualitative descriptive research design. Semi-structured interview data were collected from a purposive sample of eighteen senior case workers and inductive thematic analysis was undertaken. The findings are presented according to three themes: elder abuse case management, practice strategies for overcoming challenges and augmenting protective practice. By examining practice in the context of wider socio-political and legislative contexts,thepaperprovideslearninginkeyareasfortheprotectionofolderpeople.Thechallenges to case management practice and the strategies employed to respond to these challengesarediscussedintermsofadultprotectiveservicepolicydevelopmentanditsrelationship to practice. While recognising the imperative to respect a client’s right to selfdetermination, increased statutory authority for the duty of the state to protect older peoplefromabuseaswellastheroleofthecaseworkertoactonbehalfofthestatetoimplement protective interventions is important for the future development of the service.
To provide a synthesis of literature on international policy concerning professional regulation i... more To provide a synthesis of literature on international policy concerning professional regulation in nursing and midwifery, with reference to routes of entry into training and pathways to licensure. Internationally, there is evidence of multiple points of entry into initial training, multiple divisions of the professional register and multiple pathways to licensure. Policy documents and commentary articles concerned with models of initial training and pathways to licensure were reviewed. Item selection, quality appraisal and data extraction were undertaken and documentary analysis was performed on all retrieved texts. Case studies of five Western countries indicate no single uniform system of routes of entry into initial training and no overall consensus regarding the optimal model of initial training. Multiple regulatory systems, with multiple routes of entry into initial training and multiple pathways to licensure pose challenges, in terms of achieving commonly-agreed understandings of practice competence. The variety of models of initial training present nursing managers with challenges in the recruitment and deployment of personnel trained in many different jurisdictions. Nursing managers need to consider the potential for considerable variation in competency repertoires among nurses trained in generic and specialist initial training models.
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Papers by Pearl Treacy