Donal O'Mathuna

O'Mathuna grew up in Ireland and graduated from an undergraduate pharmacy program at Trinity College, Dublin. He then earned a PhD in medicinal chemistry at Ohio State University, and then a MA in theology with an ethics focus from Ashland Theological Seminary. He taught chemistry and theology at Mount Carmel College of Nursing in Columbus. Returning to Ireland in 2003. he teaches ethics, decision-making and evidence at Dublin City University in the School of Nursing and Human Sciences.[2]

With family physician Walt Larimore, O'Mathuna wrote the 2001 book Alternative Medicine: The Christian Handbook. It was described by Publishers Weekly as a book targeted toward Christians who do not have significant experience with alternative therapies.[3] In a review for the Christian Medical Fellowship, physician George Smith called the book "an honest attempt to evaluate alternative medicine, bringing together both faith and science."[4]

O'Mathuna co-edited Commitment and Responsibility in Nursing: A Faith-Based Approach (2004). It was reviewed by Ethics & Medicine: An International Journal of Bioethics[5] and by Nursing Ethics.[6]

In 2009, O'Mathuna wrote Nanoethics: Big Ethical Issues with Small Technology. It was reviewed in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "[7] and Times Higher Education.[8] According to WorldCat, the book is held in 1221 libraries.[9]

Dr. O'Mathuna co-edited Disaster Bioethics: Normative Issues When Nothing is Normal (2014). A report by the Enhancing Learning and Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA): R2HC Programme identified the book as a new resource in disaster ethics.[10]

In 2017, he presented to the Citizens' Assembly which as of April 2017 is current discussing Ireland's abortion laws, from an anti-abortion ethical perspective.[11][12]

Books by Donal O'Mathuna include:

• Nanoethics: big ethical issues with small technology, Continuum, 2009.
• (with Walt Larimore), Alternative medicine: the Christian handbook, 2001; updated and expanded edition, Zondervan, 2007.
  • Croatian translation, 2010.
  • Hungarian translation, 2009.
  • Spanish translation of 2001 edition.
• Basic questions on healthcare: what should good care include? (BioBasics Series), Kregel, 2004.
• Commitment and responsibility in nursing: a faith-based approach, Dordt College Press, 2003.
• Basic questions on alternative medicine: what is good and what is not? (BioBasics Series), Kregel, 1998.
• Basic questions on suicide and euthanasia: are they ever right? (BioBasics Series), Kregel, 1998.
• Basic questions on end-of-life decisions: how do we know what's right? (BioBasics Series), Kregel, 1998.
• Basic questions on reproductive technology: when is it right to intervene? (BioBasics Series), Kregel, 1998.

Publications by Donal O'Mathuna include:

• O’Mathúna D, Smith J, Zadvinskis I, Monturo C, Kelley MM, Tucker S, Miller PS, Norful AA, Zellefrow C, Chipps E. Ethics and frontline nursing during COVID-19: a qualitative analysis. Nursing Ethics. Epub 27 March 2023. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330221143150
• Norful A, Tucker S, Miller PS, Roberts H, Kelley MM, Monturo C, O’Mathúna D, Smith J, Zadvinskis I, Zellefrow C, Chipps E. Nursing perspectives about the critical gaps in public health emergency response during the COVID-19 pandemic: recommendations for future preparedness. Journal of Nursing Scholarship. 2023;55(1):22-28. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12795
• O’Mathúna D, Upadhaya N. Should children be enrolled in clinical research in conflict zones? AMA Journal of Ethics. 2022;24(6):e463-e471. https://doi.org/10.1001/amajethics.2022.463
• O’Mathúna DP. Ivermectin and the integrity of healthcare evidence during COVID-19. Frontiers in Public Health. 2022;10:788972. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.788972
• Cleary-Holdforth J, O’Mathúna D, Fineout-Overholt E. Evidence‐based practice beliefs, implementation, and organizational culture and readiness for EBP among nurses, midwives, educators, and students in the Republic of Ireland. Worldviews on Evidence-based Nursing. 2021;18(6):379-388. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12543
• Kelley MM, Zadvinskis I, Miller PS, Monturo C, Norful AA, O’Mathúna D, Roberts H, Smith J, Tucker S, Zellefrow C, Chipps E. United States nurses' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: A grounded theory. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2021 Sep 15. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16032. Online ahead of print.
• Borges do Nascimento IJB, O'Mathúna DP, von Groote TC, Abdulazeem HM, Weerasekara I, Marusic A, Puljak L, Civile VT, Zakarija-Grkovic I, Pericic TP, Atallah AN, Filoso S, Bragazzi NL, Marcolino MS. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic: an overview of systematic reviews. BMC Infectious Diseases. 2021;21:525. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06214-4
• Yimer G, Gebreyes W, Havelaar A, Yousuf J, McKune S, Mohammad A, O’Mathúna D. Community engagement and building trust to resolve ethical challenges during humanitarian crises: experience from the CAGED Study. Conflict and Health. 2020;14:68. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-020-00313-w
• Borges do Nascimento IJB, von Groote TC, O'Mathúna DP, Abdulazeem HM, Henderson C, Jayarajah U, Weerasekara I, Pericic TP, Klapproth HEG, Puljak L, Cacic N, Zakarija-Grkovic I, Guimarães SMM, Atallah AN, Bragazzi NL, Marcolino MS, Marusic A, Jeroncic A. Clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics and outcomes of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection in humans: a systematic review and series of meta-analyses. PLoS ONE. 2020;15(9): e0239235. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239235
• Romney D, Fox H, Carlson S, Bachmann D, O’Mathúna D, Kman N. Allocation of scarce resources in a pandemic: a systematic review of U.S. State Crisis Standards of Care documents. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 2020;14(5):677-683. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2020.101
• Borges do Nascimento IJB, Cacic N, Abdulazeem HM, von Groote TC, Jayarajah U, Weerasekara I, Esfahani MA, Civile VT, Marusic A, Jeroncic A, Junior NC, Pericic TP, Zakarija-Grkovic I, Guimarães SMM, Bragazzi NL, Bjorklund M, Sofi-Mahmudi A, Altujjar M, Tian M, Arcani DMC, O'Mathúna DP, Marcolino MS. Novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in humans: a scoping review and meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2020;9(4): 941. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9040941
• O’Mathúna DP, Escartín CP, Roche P, Marlowe J. Engaging citizen translators in disasters: virtue ethics in response to ethical challenges. Translation and Interpreting Studies. 2020;15(1):57-79. http://doi.org/10.1075/tis.20003.oma
• O’Mathúna DP, Hunt M. Ethics and crisis translation: insights from the work of Paul Ricoeur. Disaster Prevention and Management. 2020;29(2):175-186. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-01-2019-0006
• Dawson A, Lignou S, Siriwardhana C, O’Mathúna DP. Why research ethics should add retrospective review. BMC Medical Ethics. 2019;20(68):1-8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-019-0399-1
• Mitrović VL, O’Mathúna DP, Nola IA. Ethics and floods: a systematic review. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13(4):817-828. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2018.154. Open access: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30626460
• O’Mathúna DP. La enseñanza de la ética a través de canciones populares: afecto y pensamiento. International Journal on Subjectivity, Politics and the Arts. 2018;14(1):61-75. Open access: http://www.aesthethika.org/La-ensenanza-de-la-etica-a-traves-de-canciones-populares-Afecto-y-pensamiento. Translation of O’Mathúna DP. Teaching ethics using popular songs: feeling and thinking. Monash Bioethics Review. 2008;27(1-2):42-55. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03351295
• Mezinska S, Kakuk P, Mijaljica G, Waligóra M, O’Mathúna D. Research in disaster settings: a systematic qualitative review of ethical guidelines. BMC Medical Ethics. 2016;17(1):1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-016-0148-7
• O’Mathúna D. Ideal and nonideal moral theory for disaster bioethics. Human Affairs. 2016;26(1):8-17. https://doi.org/10.1515/humaff-2016-0002
• Matthews A, Haas DM, O’Mathúna DP, Dowswell T. Interventions for nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015;9. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd007575.pub4
• O’Mathúna DP. Research ethics in the context of humanitarian emergencies. Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine. 2015;8(1):31-35. https://doi.org/10.1111/jebm.12136
• Hunt M, Schwartz L, Pringle J, Boulanger R, Nouvet E, O'Mathúna E, & participants of the Humanitarian Healthcare Ethics Forum. A research agenda for humanitarian health ethics. PLOS Currents Disasters. 2014;1. https://doi.org/10.1371/currents.dis.8b3c24217d80f3975618fc9d9228a144
• O’Mathúna DP. Christian bioethics and the Bible. Christian Bioethics. 2014;20(2):246-259. https://doi.org/10.1093/cb/cbu017
• Greaney A-M, O’Mathúna DP, Scott PA. Autonomy and choice in healthcare: self-testing devices as a case in point. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. 2012;15(4):383-395. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-011-9356-6

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