Patricia Gillen

Southern Health and Social Care Trust/ Ulster University

Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a transdiagnostic, comprehensive, integrative, evidence‐based treatment intervention for post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex PTSD, and perinatal PTSD. PTSD can arise from an experience of pregnancy or birth related trauma. Despite this, there is limited availability and acce...

Aim: To synthesise findings from published studies, which reported on women's experiences of planning a home birth in consultation with maternity care providers. Design: Systematic Review DATA SOURCES: We searched seven bibliographic databases, (Ovid Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL plus, Scopus, ProQuest and Cochrane (Central and Library), fro...

Background: Where a woman gives birth impacts both her postnatal outcomes and experiences. However, for women who plan home birth in Northern Ireland, their experiences and that of their maternity care providers are rarely sought. Aim: This study examined women's and maternity care providers' experiences and perceptions of home birth service pro...

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, social work and social care practitioners had some the worst working conditions of any sector in the UK. During the pandemic, data revealed that social care occupations had higher COVID infection and mortality rates than the general population. The article reports the changing working conditions (measured via the Wor...

This paper shared the compared results on the psychological wellbeing and work-related quality of life amongst health and social care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Health and social care professionals within nursing, midwifery, allied health professions, social care and social work occupations working in the United Kingdom (UK) du...

This study explored and compared the psychological wellbeing, burnout, coping strategies and work-related quality of life amongst health and social care workers in older adults’ care homes and community settings during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom (UK) and Japan. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in the UK (May–July 2021)...

Maternity services cannot be postponed due to the nature of this service, however, the pandemic resulted in wide-ranging and significant changes to working practices and services. This paper aims to describe UK midwives’ experiences of working during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study forms part of a larger multiple phase research project using a cr...

Nurse, Midwives and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), along with other health and social care colleagues are the backbone of healthcare services. They have played a key role in responding to the increased demands on healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper compares cross-sectional data on quality of working life, wellbeing, coping and...

Stress and mental health are among the biggest causes of sickness absence in the UK, with the Social Work and Social Care sectors having among the highest levels of stress and mental health sickness absence of all professions in the UK. Chronically poor working conditions are known to impact employees' psychological and physiological health. The sp...

Background The main defining attribute that delineates focus groups from other methods of collecting data is that data are generated through participants communicating with each other rather than solely with the group moderator. The way in which interactions take place across group interviews and focus groups varies, yet both are referred to as foc...

Many health and social care (HSC) professionals have faced overwhelming pressures throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As the current situation is constantly changing, and some restrictions across the UK countries such as social distancing and mask wearing in this period (May-July 2021) began to ease, it is important to examine how this workforce has...

Background Pre-term or full-term childbirth can be experienced as physically or psychologically traumatic. Cumulative and trans-generational effects of traumatic stress on both psychological and physical health indicate the ethical requirement to investigate appropriate preventative treatment for stress symptoms in women following a routine traumat...

During the COVID-19 pandemic interest into its potential impact on mental well-being has intensified. Within the social care sector, the pandemic has increased job demands and prolonged stress taking a disproportionate toll on the workforce, particularly social workers. This article compares the mental well-being and quality of working life of soci...

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve around the world, it is important to examine its effect on societies and individuals, including health and social care (HSC) professionals. The aim of this study was to compare cross-sectional data collected from HSC staff in the UK at two time points during the COVID-19 pandemic: Phase 1 (May–July 2020)...

This paper reports and discusses the weekly Clapping for Carers – described as ‘front‐line heroes’ that took place across the United Kingdom during the first national lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic. Data are drawn from a UK‐wide online survey of health and social care workers, completed in May to July 2020. The survey received 3,425 responses...

The engagement of frontline practitioners in the production of research-derived knowledge is often advocated. Doing so can address perceived gaps between what is known from research and what happens in clinical practice. Engagement practices span a continuum, from co-production approaches underpinned by principles of equality and power sharing to t...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a global pandemic in early 2020. Due to the rapid spread of the virus and limited availability of effective treatments, health and social care systems worldwide quickly became overwhelmed. Such stressful circumstances are likely to have negative impacts on health and social care workers’ wellbein...

Caesarean section (CS) rates throughout Europe have risen significantly over the last two decades. As well as being an important clinical issue, these changes in mode of birth may have substantial resource implications. Policy initiatives to curb this rise have had to contend with the multiplier effect of women who had a CS for their first birth ha...

Background: A woman’s choice of birth place does not only influence her birth experience, but also impacts on maternal and neonatal outcomes. For healthy women who have had a straightforward pregnancy, a planned home birth supported by midwives and other maternity care providers, is now a recognised choice within their individual country’s health c...

Planning for future health and social services (HSS) workforces must be informed by an understanding of how workers view their work within the context of their life and the challenges they will face across the course of life. There is a range of policies and provisions that states and organisations can adopt to create sustainable careers, support w...

Background: Engagement of frontline practitioners by academic researchers in the research process is believed to afford benefits toward closing the research practice gap. However, little is known about if and how academic researchers engage nurses, midwives, or therapists in research activities or if evidence supports these claims of positive impac...

Background Engagement of frontline practitioners by academic researchers in the research process is believed to afford benefits toward closing the research practice gap. However, little is known about if and how academic researchers engage nurses, midwives, or therapists in research activities or if evidence supports these claims of positive impact...

Social work, like many other human service professions, is ageing. This article reports and discusses the findings of a UK social work survey undertaken in 2018 (1,397 responses). It investigated how organisational policies and individual factors were affecting individual social workers’ decisions about working in later life. The survey measured (i...

Introduction Throughout Europe midwives called for increasing professionalisation of midwifery during the 1980s and 1990s. While the Bologna Declaration, in 1999, supported this development in education and research, it remains unclear how other fields, such as practice, have fared so far. This study therefore aimed to explore the current state of...

Technological advancements and ease of Internet accessibility have made using Internet-based audiovisual software a viable option for researchers conducting focus groups. Online platforms overcome any geographical limitations placed on sampling by the location of potential participants and so enhance opportunities for real-time discussions and data...

This paper seeks to deconstruct the place of midwives as professionals using the novel interdisciplinary lens of the Place Model—an innovative analytical device which originated in education and has been previously applied to both teachers and teacher educators. The Place Model allows us to map the metaphorical professional landscape of the midwife...

Background and objectives The need to provide an empathic response to the care of people with dementia has long been advocated. Virtual reality‐based programmes continue to gain momentum across health sectors, becoming an innovative tool that provides staff with the opportunity to experience a dementia‐like experience within a relatively short time...

There is an increasing emphasis on the need to support women in planning their place of birth. In order to make a truly informed choice, women and midwives can benefit fro evidence-based guidelines that provide them with easy-to-access information that will support their decision-making. In Northern Ireland there are currently eight midwife-led uni...

Background: The publication of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on antenatal care in 2016 introduced the perspective of women as a necessary component of clinical guidelines in maternity care. WHO highlights the crucial role played by evidence-based recommendations in promoting and supporting normal birth processes and a positiv...

To examine the Concept of bullying in the workplace

Introduction There are growing concerns about the increase in rates of commonly used childbirth interventions. When indicated, childbirth interventions are crucial for preventing maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality, but their routine use in healthy women and children leads to avoidable maternal and neonatal harm. Establishing ideal rates...

Purpose: Bullying occurs frequently-and with significant negative outcomes-in workplace settings. Once established, bullying endures in the workplace, requiring the interaction of a bully perpetrator and an intended target who takes on the role of victim. Not every target becomes a victim, however. The purpose of this study is to investigate the p...

Background: Bullying has been identified as one of the leading workplace stressors, with adverse consequences for the individual employee, groups of employees, and whole organisations. Employees who have been bullied have lower levels of job satisfaction, higher levels of anxiety and depression, and are more likely to leave their place of work. Or...

Background. Women with a straightforward pregnancy are encouraged to plan their birth in any of the following birth settings: home, freestanding midwifery unit, alongside midwifery unit or an obstetric unit (NICE, 2014). Most recently published maternity strategies internationally, within the UK, and in particular, the Strategy for maternity care i...

http://www.rhm-elsevier.com/article/S0968-8080%2816%2930002-7/abstract During recent decades, a growing and preoccupying excess of medical interventions during childbirth, even in physiological and uncomplicated births, together with a concerning spread of abusive and disrespectful practices towards women during childbirth across the world, have be...

Background. Legislation, policy and practices have been developed to tackle the problem of domestic abuse (DA) across the world. Perpetrator programmes have been introduced in Northern Ireland (NI) and serious intervention research is underway. Regardless of these policies and interventions, DA is still reported as being statistically significant d...

As part of our series on the UK and Ireland's midwifery policy, Breedagh Hughes and Patricia Gillen discuss the strengths and challenges of maternity care in Northern Ireland.

The appropriate use of the cardiotocograph (CTG) machine in the clinical setting is an issue of concern for midwives and doctors. To examine midwives and doctors attitudes towards the use of the CTG machine in labour ward practice. this small study provides new insight into the attitudes of doctor and midwives towards the use of CTG. An exploratory...

This article describes how registered nurses in the United Kingdom (UK) delegate some nursing activities to support workers who assist them in providing nursing care. The global shortage of qualified nurses and the ageing nursing population has resulted in a growing dependency on non-qualified personnel to provide certain aspects of patient care wi...

Aim and objectives. To explore patients’ experience of a pulmonary rehabilitation and maintenance programme. Background. Pulmonary rehabilitation has established efficacy, but people often require follow-up care or maintenance. There are few studies that explore the patients’ experience of pulmonary rehabilitation and maintenance. In addition, ther...

Aim. To define and examine the nature and manifestations of bullying in midwifery as experienced by a cohort of student midwives in the UK. Method. A self-administered survey questionnaire developed from the literature review and the findings of the concept analysis and administered to 400 student midwives. Findings. The findings report the existen...

Most patients who are admitted to intensive care in need of ventilator support may also require sedation. It is a part of the nurses' role to manage sedation therapy according to patients' needs, avoiding complications of over and under sedation. The purpose of the study was to explore nurses' perceptions of their role in sedation management. A con...

This paper reports on part of a larger study and outlines Registered Nurses' and Midwives' perceptions of, and satisfaction with, trained health care assistants in a regional hospital setting in the Republic of Ireland. An increased reliance upon health care assistants in the clinical setting has highlighted the need to consider how staff and patie...

There has been relatively little discussion in the literature regarding the role of the healthcare assistant (HCA) in midwifery. The study examines and contrasts HCA duties in one maternity department in the Republic of Ireland. Observations of six trained HCAs were undertaken to evaluate if they have the relevant repertoire of skills as taught in...

This paper is the second in a series exploring the issues in midwife-led care. It provides details of a small-scale survey of midwife led units in England, Scotland and Wales, which was designed to obtain essential information on the process of establishing midwife-led units.

This short paper aims to provide case evidence of some of the behaviours evident in midwives' memories of workplace bullying.