Inaugural Professorial Lecture - Professor Jonathan Drennan

22 Mar 2019

On the 21st March 2019, the College of Medicine and Health, UCC hosted the first inaugural Professorial Lecture which was delivered by Professor Jonathan Drennan

The night was a great success; Prof Drennan provided an overview of his personal and professional journey to his current role as a Chair of Nursing and Health Services Research. What was clear from the presentation was the scale of Jonathan’s research profile and the impact of his research on health policy.

Jonathan Drennan was born in London and undertook training in learning disability, mental health and general nursing. He worked in the UK, the Middle East and Ireland currently holds the Chair of Nursing and Health Services Research at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork. Prior to that he was Professor of Healthcare Research at the University of Southampton. He has undertaken research in Ireland and the UK in a number of areas including non-medical prescribing, emergency care, the abuse and neglect of older people in community and residential settings, cancer information services, the development of priorities for nursing and midwifery research and safe nurse staffing. He presented to and advised the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Safe Staffing Advisory Committees on safe nurse staffing in medical and surgical wards and accident and emergency departments in the UK. This was part of the development process of the NICE guidelines on safe staffing. Professor Drennan is also a member of the Irish Department of Health advisory team involved in the development of guidelines for safe nurse staffing and skill mix in the healthcare sector. He is currently leading a Health Research Board and Department of Health funded study on safe nurse staffing in medical, surgical and emergency settings. In his spare time he enjoys travelling, football and cycling.

In his inaugural lecture, Professor Drennan spoke about his career to date and how his journey has impacted on his current work. His research has spanned a number of areas, the majority of which relate to changing roles and developments in nursing. He drew upon his research experience to show how nursing has been transformed over the last decade and how healthcare policy is becoming increasingly influenced by an evidence base. Professor Drennan  discussed how his research has informed practice and policy related to the protection of older people, advanced roles in nursing and midwifery and the nursing workforce.