Nursing and public health officials meet in GMIT to review nursing education

Nursing lecturers and HSE employees gathered in GMIT Mayo on Thursday last (29 May) to take part in a formal consultation on nursing education in Ireland.

Co-ordinated by An Bord Altranais agus Cnáimhseachais na hÉireann - Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI), the meeting was hosted by GMIT’s Department of Nursing & Health Sciences which has been delivering degree programmes in General Nursing and Psychiatric Nursing since 2002 and Applied Social Studies since 2008.

The NMBI were seeking the views of key stakeholders on the draft Review of the Requirements and Standards for Nurse Registration Education Programmes. The organisation has been holding focus groups in each of the Higher Education Institutes (HEI) in Ireland, involving lecturers, members of local Joint Working Groups, Allocations Personnel, Clinical Placement Co-ordinators and students.

In attendance in GMIT Mayo in Castlebar were senior officials from the HSE, managers from Mayo General Hospital, Roscommon Hospital, Mayo Mental Health Services and other local agencies.

Kathleen Taheny, Acting Head of the Dept of Nursing, Health Sciences and Social Studies, GMIT Mayo, says “The voices of the key stakeholders involved in undergraduate nursing training in the GMIT Mayo campus were heard and will become part of the revised requirements and standards for nurse education in the future.”

Dr Anne-Marie Ryan, Chief Education Officer, NMBI, says:  The consultation meetings and focus groups with key stakeholders in the revision of the Standards and Requirements for Nurse Registration Education Programmes form an important part of the NMBI’s role in drafting new standards for nursing education in the light of recent European and national legislative changes.”

“The Board has statutory responsibility for introducing these in response to a recommendation of the Report of the Review of Undergraduate Nursing and Midwifery Degree Programmes (Department of Health, 2012).  

“The new standards will guide the higher education institutions and their associated health services over the next decade in the development of new curricula to prepare nurses for registration in the light of a changing population profile, with a greater emphasis on safety of people using health services, a clear person-centred approach to caring, and a more inclusive and collaborative approach to the delivery of nursing services.”

“The Board welcomes the opportunity to engage with key stakeholders in developing the revised standards and thanks Dr Taheny and representatives from GMIT and the health services for hosting the consultation.”

For more information on GMIT Nursing, Health Sciences and Social Care programmes,

www.gmit.ie/nursing-and-social-care/bachelor-science-honours-general-nu…

Read more about the Mayo campus, student life and programmes: http://www.gmit.ie/mayo/mayo-campus