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This Scholarship honours the leadership and vision of Judith Chavasse (1933-1918), formally the Head of Nursing in UCD. Judith Chevasse was a leader in the development of nursing scholarship and education toward recognition of the profession as an academic discipline in Ireland.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your background.
I returned to education as an R.G.N. and graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing Studies in 2002 at Trinity College Dublin. In 2003, I completed the European Certificate in Essential Palliative Care. This prompted me to undertake and complete an MSc in Gerontological Nursing in 2015. I now work with the Irish Cancer Society (part-time) as a night nurse in the community, providing end-of-life care. This work provides me with a deep sense of purpose and privilege.
What are you hoping to achieve with your research?
As a result of my clinical work and experience, I began to think about the need to investigate informal caregivers’ experiences during end-of-life care. How these caregivers respond to the overall deterioration in health of their care recipient is known as transitioning. It is the transitions that informal caregivers experience that I find inspiring and deeply wish to research further in order that we can learn more and make some impactful changes to provide more support for them in the future. Without these caregivers, the desire of the person who is ill, to die at home, cannot be fulfilled.
In May 2021 I registered at UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems as a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Professor Fiona Timmins and Assoc. Professor Michael Connolly. The focus of my Ph.D. is how informal caregivers transition during this difficult time. My doctoral research aligns with my clinical work.
To date, I have completed and published a concept analysis on this topic (McCarthy et al., 2021). In addition, an abstract I have written relating to a scoping review on this subject has been accepted for inclusion in the IAPC Conference early next year.
Who will you be collecting data from, what kind of data, what questions will you answer with this data?
To capture the lived experiences of informal caregivers as they transition in this study, a hermeneutic phenomenological approach will be taken. I chose this methodology to elucidate the experiences of these caregivers and sieve through data collected as they transition during this time. I will conduct semi-structured interviews with participants in their home environments, as this will add context to data gathered during these meetings.
Why is this research important?
Knowing when these transitions occur and identifying different stages of the process will give critical insight into how they can be supported. Recognising triggers and the challenges they face will provide a framework through which assistance can be given to these vulnerable people. Few studies have sought to examine the experiences of informal caregivers as they transition in this context.
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