Working on the Frontline - Nurses

This week we continue our focus on the careers of those working on the front line in Ireland due to the COVID-19 Outbreak, taking a look at what working on the front line involves and how a career like this can really make a difference in your community. Today we’re focusing on one of the most important positions in the front line, that of the Nurse.  Nurses in Ireland are putting their own health in danger to help the fight against the spread of this virus, they are central to the campaign supporting those who have the disease while also supporting others who are in the health system at this time.

Nurses will be under tremendous pressures as will all of those working in the healthcare system over the next few months trying to battle with the consequences from the outbreak of COVID19.  Nurses provide care and assistance for patients 24/7 and despite the unprecedented additional work load that this virus will add to the system all other elements of nursing will still need to continue; acute cardiac, cancer, urgent surgeries, mental health, disability and fractures and breaks will all need to be seen to not to mention the babies that will be born every day! 

The HSE has recent recruitment drive has attracted over 50,000 applicants many of whom are either retired or part time nurses or those willing to come back from working abroad to lend their support. See recent story below.

Another welcome boost to the sector will be through the HSE’s recent recruitment drive which has attracted over 50,000 applications from healthcare workers.

Staff in hospitals and medical centres around the country will see also see a boost in their numbers as student nurses will be undertaking their annual placements which are required as part of their college courses throughout the months of March and April.  While student nurses are required to complete a set number of working hours as part of their placement, this years’ intake will be facing the most challenging start to their nursing careers in living memory.  However, student nurses being thrust into this hectic environment will provide an invaluable wealth of help and support to patients and existing medical staff alike.

Careers in Nursing

Nurses are the frontline clinicians of the healthcare world. They help patients reach the best quality of life possible while going through an illness and assist them in making a full recovery. They also support people to live as independently as possible with a disability, while they are sick or when they are dying.

Midwives care for mother and child from pregnancy up until 6 weeks after birth.

Nurses and midwives can work in all settings, for example, hospitals, hospices, older people’s homes, businesses, defence forces, prisons, GP practices and people’s homes. Nurses educated in Ireland are welcome in most countries and often volunteer to work with aid agencies abroad.

Nursing and Midwifery is a rewarding job and a popular career choice - one that is hugely in demand. Both nurses and midwives must undertake a Level 8 degree and register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board in order to practice.

Colleges of Higher Education around the country offer a number of Level 8 degrees and the CAO Points required for these courses in 2019 ranging from from 297 – 499 depending on the college or University and the demand for the course.

You can see the full range of CAO Nursing Courses using our CourseFinder by clicking here.

It is also possible to study a pre-nursing course in a number of colleges of Further Education and Training (FET).

 FET Colleges all over Ireland host 1-Year Nursing Studies courses which can be used as a direct entry route to a Higher Education degree course in nursing for those who may not have met the CAO points requirement or those unsure if they would like to fully embark on a career in nursing.  Please note that the number of progression places from these course is small at the moment and students competing for these limited places would need to have achieved high scores on their 5 Nursing Studies course to be in with a chance of progression.

 You can see the PLC Nursing Course options all over Ireland through CourseFinder here. 

There are 4 main disciplines of Nursing: Mental Health, General, Intellectual Disability and Children’s and General Nursing.  Within these disciplines there are a number of different nursing occupations, some examples of which are outlined below.  To see a list of other occupations in the Medical and Healthcare sector go to the dedicated sector page here. 

Career progression in Nursing and Midwifery can take many forms. There are choices which lead to a dual registration. These are Nurse/Midwifery Tutor, Nurse/Midwifery Prescribing, Advanced Nurse/Midwifery Practice, Public Health Nursing and a shortened course in any of the disciplines of nursing other than the one you are already qualified in.

There are also choices within midwifery and nursing which lead to different specialisms; that is having expert nursing or midwifery knowledge and clinical ability in a particular area of patient need. The education required in these cases is usually at certificate, higher diploma or master’s level. In this way you might become a neonatal (new-born baby) intensive care nurse, a cardiac nurse, an ultrasound specialist midwife and many other types of specialist nurse or midwife.

There are opportunities for nurses and midwives in management also and these can include managing clinical practice with the treatment and care of patients as your main focus, leading project teams in research or professional development, leading the clinical education of student nurses or midwives or managing nursing or midwifery for whole communities, hospital units, hospitals, regions of the country or the whole country.

Nurses and midwives can become tutors in Centres of Nurse and Midwifery Education attached to hospitals or communities and they can become lecturers / professors in university.

It is worth noting that a nursing or midwifery qualification is recognised in many other countries, and so is also a passport to opportunities to travel and work abroad.

As you can see a nursing career can be very varied in its delivery and provides such a positive and worthwhile contributions to society at large.   At the moment our Nurses and healthcare staff are on the front line of this pandemic, theirs is the heaviest load and as a society we need to acknowledge and support their enormous contribution in whatever way we can.