Doctoral applications are invited from candidates interested in pursuing a three-year Health Research Board (HRB) funded PhD studentship with the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation (CGR) and School of Nursing and Midwifery UCC. The studentship will be based at the CGR on the St. Finbarr’s Hospital campus, Douglas Road, Cork and the successful candidate will be supervised by Professor William Molloy and Dr Nicola Cornally.
Project Title: Evaluating the Impact of the Systematic Implementation of Advance Care Directives and Palliative Care Education on Quality of Care at End of Life in Long Term Care Settings
Last Date for Applications: 28 May 2015
Department: Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation
College: College of Medicine and Health
Contract Type: Fixed Term Whole-Time
Job Type: Research
Salary: See below for details
Project Overview:
It is essential that nursing home staff are equipped to provide high-quality end-of-life care. It is also essential that the wishes of the older person with respect to their care are taken into account. Many nursing home residents develop dementia, which can interfere with their ability to make healthcare decisions and to communicate their wishes. Advance care planning is the process of planning ahead for one’s future healthcare while one still has the ability to make and communicate these decisions.
It is important that we understand the value and impact of advance care directives and advance planning in long-term care settings prior to supporting a national policy on standard implementation.
This study will seek to examine the impact of implementing anadvance care planning programme and a palliative care educational programme for staff on the quality of care at end-of-life. Both the staff and the family will be asked for their views on the quality of the dying and death experience, while measures will also be sought from residents on their level of comfort and control. The primary focus of the PhD studentship will be on (i) the development of a patient measurement of quality of end-of-life care including pain and symptom management and (ii) the psychometric evaluation of the use of this instrument amongst older adults at end-of-life with various levels of cognition.
How To Apply:
Candidates applying for this studentship must have at least a 2.1 undergraduate degree in a relevant clinical discipline e.g. nursing, medicine, psychology etc. and be available to commence this studentship on the start date: 1 July 2015.
A HRB stipend of €16,000 per annum and UCC registration fees will be available for the successful applicant. This studentship includes access to training programmes as required within the University and financial support for travel to national and international conferences to facilitate dissemination of findings.
Interested candidates should submit
(i) a covering letter detailing their interest and reasons for applying for this position and
(ii) a CV (including the name and contact details of 2 referees) outlining their relevant research experience to date to
Dr Carol FitzGerald,
Research Support Officer,
Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation:
Email Address: carol.fitzgerald@ucc.ie ; Tel: (021) 492 3163
by 12:00, Thursday, 28 May 2015.