School of Nursing & Midwifery Annual Report 2018

Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC

Omega Epsilon at-Large Chapter becomes Sigma Theta Tau’s first in Ireland and seventh in the European region

The Story: Five years on after two lecturers from UCC met nurse leaders Drs. Patricia Yoder-Wise, Karren Kowalski at an International Conference and agreed that Sigma Theta Tau International (Sigma) should have an Irish Chapter, the Omega Epsilon at-Large Chapter was officially chartered on Thursday, 29 November 2018. The chapter became Sigma’s first in Ireland and its seventh in the European region. The chartering ceremony was livestreamed across the globe and more than 40 nurses and midwives were inducted. Sigma is an International Society that has Chapters in over 90 countries and is a long established global organisation with 135, 000 nursing and midwifery members. In February 2014, Nicola Cornally, and Elizabeth Weathers first discussed the benefits of establishing a Sigma chapter in Ireland, a steering committee was formed and the process set in motion. One year later, members of the steering committee were elected to the future chapter’s first board of directors, and the developing HONOR SOCIETY, known as the SIA Honor Society of Nursing and Midwifery Ireland (SIA Society), began completing requisite steps for achieving Sigma chapter status. One of those steps—the SIA Society’s first member induction—took place in November 2016. Another important step was securing financial backing. That support came from three universities—University College Cork, Ireland (UCC); Institute of Technology, Tralee (ITT); and

Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT)—and the Nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development Unit Cork/Kerry (NMPDU). Further progress was made when leaders of the new society presented at the Nursing and Midwifery Values in Practice Conference in Dublin, Ireland, in May 2017 and Sigma’s biennial convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, in October of that year. At the latter event, SIA Society President Elizabeth Weathers, PhD, RGN, and Vice-President Nicola Cornally, PhD, RGN, informed Sigma members about the development of the SIA Society and its goal to become an official Sigma at-large chapter by the end of 2018. That goal became a reality on Thursday, 29 November. Members of the board, recognizing that no chapter of Sigma existed in Ireland, were keen to establish one as it would provide a forum for recognizing and celebrating Irish nursing and midwifery achievements across clinical practice, policy, and academic settings. By nurturing a culture of support and solidarity within the nursing and midwifery professions, the chapter would encourage preservation of staff morale, promote leadership development, and advance health research and policy in the Irish Health Service. Such a culture would build a strong foundation for forging links between clinical practice, policy, and academic organizations, thereby promoting future development of the profession.

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