The Centre of Nurse Education facilitates the continuing education and professional development of the registered nursing staff of:
- Cork University Hospital
- St. Finbarr’s Hospital
- St. Mary’s Orthopaedic Hospital
- Mallow General Hospital
- North Cork Mental Health Services
- North Lee Mental Health Services
- South Lee Mental Health Services
- West Cork Mental Health Services
The programmes provided vary from induction programmes of a week long duration for new appointees to short two to three hour sessions on a diverse range of clinical updates and policy changes. The management of the centre occurs at a number of levels. The day to day operations are administered by a director and two secretaries. The Board of Management comprising of the Directors of Nursing from the nominated sites meet quarterly to review the services provided and to offer the strategic progression of the centre. The Director of the centre reports to the Director of Nursing & Midwifery Planning & Development Unit (NMPDU). Many of the requests for educational development are delegated to the Centre through the NMPDU from the Nursing Policy Division of the HSE.
Each member of the teaching team has an expertise on a different aspect of nursing practice. This allows them to teach this across a variety of programmes as well as working alongside clinical staff to progress policies, guidelines and services.
Developments in this area include; an expansion in modes of delivery of analgesia to include, i.v. bolus morphine, patient controlled analgesia and ward based epidural.Progress can also be reported in Intravenous Therapy, I.V. Cannulation, Peripherally inserted central venous lines and an extravasation policy to accompany those. Work is now at an advanced level to initiate a hospital wide revision of practice in relation to pressure sore prevention.
A schedule of educational programmes is developed on a six monthly basis this schedule includes an itinerary of:
1. Mandatory Training:
Manual Handling
Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation – this is a combined programme with the Resuscitation Training Officer. As the hospital has only one RTO the trained instructors within the CNE deliver courses with the RTO to ensure sufficient training opportunities are available for staff to keep their skills current. Fire Training organised with the Safety Training Officer.
2. Regular Clinical Training:
- Haemovigilance
- Infection Control/Handwashing
- P.C.A.
- Epidural
- Tracheostomy Care
- Scope of Nursing Practice Framework
- I.V. Inservice Education
- Volumetric Pump Training
3. Induction Programmes:
- Regular Induction Programmes
- Induction to Staffing for Newly Registered Nurses
- Adaptation Programmes for Non EU Nurses
- Return to Nursing Programmes
4. The centre has established links with a number of higher level educational institutions to include:
(a)School of Nursing University College Cork:
To provide the wound care and leg ulcer education for Higher Diploma in Public Health Nursing students. To provide educational input in the Higher Diploma in Critical Care Nursing.
(b)School of Nursing Tralee Institute of Technology:
To provide input on the stand alone module on Wound Care for post graduate nurses.
(c) School of Nursing, Dublin City University:
To provide stand alone modules on (a) Diabetes and (b) Respiratory nursing. These modules are academically accredited; diabetes 5 credits and Respiratory 10 credits at level 8.
(d) School of Nursing, Queen’s University, Belfast:
Work is progressing to link CUH with this University to facilitate a higher diploma in renal nursing.
FETAC
The centre is also and accredited site with Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC) for the provision of the Health Care Assistants programme. Annually approximately forty five participants register for this course at this centre. A menu of modules are offered to facilitate the different service sites as well as meeting the mandatory criteria required by FETAC.
The staff of the centre collaborate with the multi disciplinary team, the nurse managers and the clinical governance department to provide education and skills training that reflects service needs and the service developments.