IV Post

Belfast, Ireland - One of Australia’s top nurses, who has taken over as Head of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University, says she intends to extend her research into neonatal intensive care units in Northern Ireland.

Professor Linda Johnston has joined Queen’s from the University of Melbourne and worked for many years in neonatal intensive care in the USA, Australia and the Middle East.

She wants to raise the university’s profile as a world leader in nursing education and research.

Her latest research has focused on how to assess and manage pain in babies in intensive care, finding that a sugar solution can block pain.

Professor Johnston is also studying the emotional and social impact on families of babies which have complex health needs.

She said: “Both projects have important implications for babies and families in Northern Ireland and I plan to extend the findings of my research into neonatal intensive care units in the region.

 “Doing research work makes a difference to patients and clients and their families and I want to see our school raise its profile as a world leader in patient-related research.

“It’s not about navel gazing - we want to improve patients’ outcomes, using a multi-disciplinary approach with health trusts.

“There is a growing research focus here on themes including maternal and child health and the evaluation of complex healthcare interventions.”

One of the reasons she gives for being keen to take up the position at Queen’s is the cutting-edge work being done in patient care by the School of Nursing and Midwifery along with students from other university schools.

“I’m pleased to come to Queen’s, which offers internationally-recognised high quality programmes.

“Projects like those run through the Centre for Excellence in Interprofessional Education including the use of Sim babies (highly realistic manikins) show real innovation across disciplines. The University’s approach to teamwork has huge implications for how healthcare professionals relate to each other in their future careers.

“Excellent teaching is also taking place through the clinical skills lab and there is a lot of support from personal tutors helping students through their educational pathway.”

Professor James McElnay, Queen’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Postgraduates, said: “I am absolutely delighted that we have been able to attract Linda to lead this very important School within the University.  She brings a wealth of experience in academic management and nursing education, while her research fits in very well with the University’s programme of research on Improving Children’s Lives.”