Prof. Ruth Northway visits the School of Nursing and Midwifery

27 Feb 2023

International Leader in Intellectual Disability Nursing and Research visits the School of Nursing and Midwifery

The School of Nursing and Midwifery was delighted to welcome Professor Ruth Northway for a week long visit. Prof. Northway is Professor of Learning Disability Nursing at the University of South Wales, Pontypridd. Since 2019 she has also been an Adjunct Professor at University College Cork. A learning (intellectual) disability nurse by background she worked in a variety of residential and community settings prior to moving to work in nurse education. Her research and teaching interests relate to the health and well-being of people with intellectual disabilities and ethical aspects of care and support. She also has a particular interest in working alongside people with intellectual disabilities to support their active involvement in all stages of the research process. During her visit, Prof. Northway spoke to students across the four years of the BSc Nursing (Intellectual Disability) programme as well as intellectual disability nurses working in various setting and roles in the region. Her presentation was titled: Intellectual Disability Nursing: Looking back, looking forward’. It was an inspirational and insightful presentation of the policy and practice changes Prof. Northway has seen through her career and her hopes for the future. Prof. Northway also delivered a seminar titled ‘Participatory Research: What, Why and How’ sharing her experience, knowledge and expertise of participatory research. It was attended by students and researchers from across disciplines. Prof. Northway used examples from her own research to demonstrate how research can be enhanced by adopting participatory research with some innovation and an open-mind. We are grateful to Prof. Northway for her contribution and look forward to working with her into the future