Nursing

Nursing is an interesting area of postgraduate study, as the nature of its training and instruction in Ireland has changed drastically in recent times. Prior to the late 1990s, there were very few opportunities for specialisation and career development within this sphere. This state of affairs changed in 1999 when the Commission on Nursing proposed new career paths within the profession. According to Dr. Fintan Sheerin, Director of Postgraduate Teaching and Learning in Trinity College Dublin’s School of Nursing and Midwifery, this move signalled a major sea change, with regard to the range of nursing-related possibilities available to Irish postgraduate students.

‘These (proposed career paths) recognised possibilities for career development within clinical and educational areas of nursing, and within the realms of management and research,’ Dr. Sheerin explains. ‘This was a radical change, as it heralded a new perspective on post-registration nursing. These moves have led to a proliferation of nursing-related postgraduate courses in third level institutes.’

Trinity College Dublin, for instance, now provides a wide range of courses for registered nurses (i.e. those who have completed an undergraduate nursing qualification, though most postgraduate programmes also require a certain amount of practical nursing experience, prior to admittance).

TCD offers MSc options in Nursing, Gerontological Nursing, Midwifery, Mental Health and Palliative Care. In addition, these programmes all give students an option to exit the course with a postgraduate diploma, following their successful completion of year one. There are also a handful of Postgraduate Diploma-only options available in TCD; students can pursue PG Dips in Oncological Nursing, Clinical Health Sciences Education and Specialist Nursing.

But which of the options for specialisation, within nursing-related postgraduate programmes, are the most popular? According to Dr. Eileen Savage PhD, Senior Lecturer at the Catherine McAuley School of Nursing & Midwifery in University College Cork, there is a fairly even spread of students  across the range of available courses.

‘Because of the diversity of courses available, it is difficult to say which are the most popular,’ she muses. ‘Newly qualified nurses/graduates can pursue specialisation specific to a range of health care contexts – like palliative care nursing, public health nursing and theatre nursing – but they can also pursue specialisation specific to health problems: like oncology care, diabetes care and respiratory care. On the whole, there is generally a good uptake on most postgraduate courses currently available.’

Dr. Savage’s school, at UCC, offers a wide range of options to registered nurses. The suite of available programmes includes PG Dips in areas such as Emergency Nursing, Cardiac and Intensive Care Nursing, Gerontological Nursing, Perioperative Nursing and Neonatology.

But, what are the benefits of pursuing an area of specialisation, rather than going straight from 3rd level education into general nursing work? Dr. Fintan Sheerin has some opinions on this matter; principally, he feels that specialisation allows students to develop skills that are not taught in undergraduate programmes, and can lead to work in a specialised field.

‘Specialisation may be undertaken to obtain or develop skills and knowledge, to work in a specialised area,’ he explains. ‘Many nurses see these specialities as the “sexy” or exciting areas of nursing. To some degree, specialisation in a nurse with entrepreneurial skills can provide a basis for the development of niche roles. Many of the original nurse specialists created their own roles through initiative, and identification of unmet patient need.’

Of course, there are numerous colleges and universities throughout Ireland offering top-quality, nursing-related postgraduate courses. The Waterford Institute Of Technology, for instance, offers postgraduate diplomas and MScs in a range of subjects, including High Dependency Nursing, Medical Surgical Nursing, Maternal and Child Health Nursing and Community Health Nursing (to name just a few). All available options can be pursued as either a PG Dip or MSc, though the manner of instruction for the two different qualifications will not be identical: MSc Programmes will entail less class time than the PG Dip equivalents, as they focus more on research supervision and peer group sessions.

Also, the Institute of Technology Tralee offers an MSc in Nursing, which is pursued as a part-time, two-year option. Graduates who undertake this course must be in either part-time or full-time employment for its duration, as the programme’s aim is to build upon its attendees’ nursing experience. Modules within this course include Holistic Care for the Acutely Ill, Promoting Mental Health, Contextualising Health and Social Care, and Developing Practice in Primary Health Care (among several others).

Nursing remains an extremely sought-after postgraduate option within Ireland, though it has undergone a small popularity slump in recent times. However, as Dr. Fintan Sheerin explains, this should be a short-term state of affairs.

‘Postgraduate nursing courses have always been popular,’ he states. ‘They are, however, part-time courses that place a large amount of pressure on students who are, usually, in full-time employment. The requirement for attendance at lectures and clinical placements has led to a reduced number of persons being able to partake in such courses, especially in light of recent health service cutbacks and embargos. Some are estimating, however, that there will be an increased uptake of courses in the next year or two, as the first graduates from direct-entry undergraduate programmes will have the experience required to meet the entry criteria.’

So, postgraduate education in nursing has undergone a striking re-invention in recent times, and its popularity peak may be just around the corner. The range of opportunities for specialisation, combined with the variety of interesting subsequent career options, make it a very attractive option for registered nurses.