Research
Within the School of Nursing and Midwifery our area of strength is health innovation through co-design and rigorous evaluation of health promoting and healthcare interventions with policymakers, practice partners, patients and carers. Within the School we have two core (Maternal and Child Health; Chronic Illness and Palliative Care) and one emerging (Education and Practice) innovative research themes, which encapsulate lifespan health research from conception to end-of-life.
RESEARCH AREAS
in the UK for organisation and management (Children's Nursing)
NSS 2023in the UK for Career Prospects for Midwifery
Guardian University Guide 2024in the UK for research quality in Nursing
Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024- Our research is funded from the European Commission under Interreg and Horizon 2020, large charities such as Alzheimer’s Society, Dunhill Trust, Marie Curie, Movember Cancer Research United Kingdom, Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke as well as the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Medical Research Council (MRC), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Newton Fund, the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), and the Health and Social Care, Research and Development Division, Public Health Agency (PHA) of Northern Ireland.
- The success of our research depends on the meaningful and long-term partnerships we have developed with a range of key stakeholders, including practice and patient public involvement. In continuing to work with our key stakeholders at all stages of the research process we aim to ensure that the research conducted within the School is relevant and will lead to changes that improve healthcare outcomes for our society.
Professor Joanne Reid, Director of Research

“Visualising the Voices of Nursing: A Co-Designed Video's Impact on Understanding Nurses' COVID-19 Experiences
A collaborative project between QUB, KCL and RCN NI
Nurses were at the forefront of managing the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, Royal College of Nursing in Northern Ireland commissioned a longitudinal qualitative survey using the Cognitive Edge SenseMaker® tool to capture nurses' experiences of delivering care from April 2020 to March 2021. The aim of this work was to explore the impact of a co-designed video based on verbatim narrative of the lived experience of nurses in Northern Ireland during the 2020/2021 global pandemic. Results will be posted soon. For further info contact Professor Joanne Reid j.reid@qub.ac.uk
This work has been kindly supported by QUB Engaged Research Seed Fund”

The School of Nursing and Midwifery has worked in close collaboration with Marie Curie and the School hosts one of four Marie Curie senior research fellows throughout the United Kingdom. This is a joint post between the School of Nursing and Midwifery and Marie Curie Hospice Belfast which aims to address important issues in palliative and end-of-life care. It also supports capacity building in palliative care and end-of-life research.

In 2020 the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University Belfast and Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) in Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) formed a novel college of Nursing and Midwifery. The college currently offers MSc programs in Cardiovascular and Paediatric nursing - Read more here: College of Nursing and Midwifery - MBRU
We have an expanding group of postdoctoral researchers from a variety of applied health discipline backgrounds who contribute to a diversity of multidisciplinary research across our School. Meet our Postdoctoral Research Fellows.

We have a vibrant and growing community of postgraduate research students from a number of countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kurdistan, Indonesia, Oman, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Kuwait.
The School of Nursing and Midwifery has a regular program of local, national and international seminar events which invite participation from a range of audiences including service users, charity representatives, healthcare staff, academic staff and post-graduate research students. Additionally, staff within the School lead the International Network of Doctoral Education in Nursing (INDEN) global classrooms, bringing together doctoral nursing students from across the globe.
Latest Publications
Loneliness in advanced life-threatening illness: an integrative review
- Carolyn Blair
- Tracey McConnell
- Natasha Bradley
- Anne Finucane
- Briony Hudson
- Angela McCullagh
- Austin Orr
- Sharon Paradine
- Katarzyna Patynowska
- Joanne Reid
Supporting nurses to understand and address stigma towards people with learning disabilities
August 2025Delirium education priorities for healthcare professional students: a modified Delphi study
- Tara Anderson
- Alice Coffey
- James McMahon
- Steph Craig
- Heather Barry
- Margaret Graham
- Jill Murphy
- Christine Brown Wilson
- Pauline Boland
- Dympna Tuohy
- Matt Birch
- Audrey Tierney
- Patrick Stark
- Arlene McCurtin
- Laura Creighton
- Elizabeth Henderson
- Lana Cook
- Emma Cunningham
- Geoffrey M. Curran
- Gary Mitchell
The distinction between the definition and description of cerebral palsy
- Ingeborg Krägeloh-Mann
- Javier de la Cruz
- Malika Delobel-Ayoub
- Antigone Papavasiliou
- Oliver Perra
- Gija Rackauskaite
- Elodie Sellier
- Daniel Virella
- Catherine Arnaud
- Veronka Horber
The DELHPIRE Study 2025: health profession students to improve the prevention, recognition and management of delirium in Ireland
- Alice Coffey
- Christine Brown Wilson
- Dympna Tuohy
- Patrick Stark
- Margaret Graham
- Steph Craig
- Pauline Boland
- Lana Cook
- Jill Murphy
- Matt Birch
- Audrey Tierney
- Heather Barry
- James McMahon
- Arlene McCurtin
- Emma Cunningham
- Tara Anderson
- Gary Mitchell
Future research direction in Nursing and Midwifery
- Collaboratively developing and evaluating healthcare innovations together with practice, public and policy partners to deliver transformational improvements in health and healthcare locally and internationally that address major health challenges ensuring our research contributes towards attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is impactful to both policy and practice.
- Developing transdisciplinary health innovations driven through external and university partnerships through the Life and Health Science sectoral strength within the Institute of Research Excellence for Advanced Clinical Healthcare (iREACH).
- Building on our strengths of leading rigorous and policy relevant evidence syntheses in partnership with both Cochrane and Campbell Collaborations and through funded NIHR evidence syntheses.
- Delivering evidence informed innovations and clinical guidelines with local partners, such as the Health Trusts of Northern Ireland, charities such as Marie Curie, as well as international partners, notably the World Health Organization and the European Society of Cardiology.