NMBI has issued final reminder renewal notices for 2021 in the past few days. The 2021 renewal facility will close for the year at 23:59 on 16 April 2021 and the Board will consider removals on 20 April 2021.

If you are one of the 73,000 registrants who have already renewed, NMBI would like to thank you for doing so and you can ignore the reminder letter if you receive one.

All nurses and midwives who practise in Ireland must, by law, be listed on the Register of Nurses and Midwives. Practice includes clinical practice, nursing or midwifery management, education, and research.

If registrants do not renew or voluntarily remove their registration, NMBI will need to remove them from the Register. The Board considers removals from the Register for failure to pay the Annual Retention Fee (Section77 (1) of the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011). Please note that notifications of removals are sent to known employers, the Minister for Health and the Health Service Executive (Section 82 of the Act).

A registrant can voluntarily remove his/her name from the Nurses and Midwives Register on MyNMBI. This service is free of charge and the deadline is 16 April 2021.

Registrants can renew through MyNMBI, our new online self-serve registration system which was launched in September 2020. If you need guidance, we encourage you to visit our website which has a video showing each step of the renewal process and a step-by-step guide.

Registrants can also talk to our customer care team on 1890 200 116 (open Monday – Friday from 9am until 5.30pm.). Please note you can no longer renew by phone. Renewal in 2021 must be done through the MyNMBI portal using a laptop or desktop computer. If you need any assistance, you can also email us on regservices@nmbi.ie. 

Once you renew your registration, a digital Certificate of Annual Retention will be saved in the ‘My Documents’ section of MyNMBI.

If your name is removed from the Register for non-payment of your Annual Renewal and you subsequently wish to restore your name to the Register, a restoration fee of €250 in addition to your Annual Renewal of €100 will apply. You will also need to comply with the restoration requirements at the time of application.

Please note that if your annual renewal is not received by the deadline, we will be legally obliged to include your name on the list of registrants that will be considered by the Board for removal. The NMBI Registration Committee will recommend to the Board of NMBI at its next meeting on 24 March that the board proceeds with the removal of nurses/midwives for non-payment of fees on April 20.

Seven years have passed since the NMBI published guidance about the use of social media for registered nurses and midwives but that guidance remains equally relevant and important today.

Social media applications have also evolved since 2013 moving from the big screen (computer) to the small screen (mobile). Access is instant from the moment you pick up your phone. Your social media apps will have loaded the latest content and all you need is a few seconds to post, ‘like’, forward, retweet or enter a response. Your speedy post or response is instantly delivered, but readers can take their time however to carefully consider what you have said.

The NMBI has noted cases in other countries where nurses and midwives have found themselves in difficulty with their professional regulator following one or more ill-judged social media posts. This article is intended to highlight the issues and guide registrants away from the common posting pitfalls which could lead to a complaint being considered by the Preliminary Proceedings Committee that may subsequently be referred to a Fitness to Practise Inquiry.

The NMBI Social Media Guidance focuses on ‘6 Ps’ to help registrants focus on the important guidelines when posting on social media.

The 6 Ps are included in the Guidance Document on Social Media and are worth reconsidering: 

• Keep it Professional

Use social media to enhance the role of nursing and midwifery in the community. You’ve worked so hard to be a member of your profession which is held in high esteem.        

• Be Positive

Constructively critical posts may be written with good intentions but may not be interpreted as such.           

• It must be Patient-Free     

Never use photos, names or details of current or past patients. Comments about your workplace or the workplaces of your colleagues may not serve you well.

• Protect yourself

Your professionalism and reputation can hinge on one (misinterpreted) post and you may spend months explaining yourself. Remember that your profile may show that you are a registered nurse or midwife. If you have not read an entire article, do not re-post it. Re-posts are considered as your endorsement of the whole article – even if you have not read it all.

• Safeguard your Privacy

Your posts may be visible more widely than you think and may have been re-posted on other platforms. Deletion is never straightforward nor absolute.

• Pause before posting

Think before you post something that could be offensive. This includes comments made when debating current or topical events via social media. Don’t respond to a post when you’re angry or in a hurry or in the early hours after a drink.

Pandemic Posts: There is plenty of evidence to suggest that usage of social media (and time online) has increased significantly during our periods of lockdown. It is also clear that many social media posts are related to the pandemic. The posts of healthcare personnel to include those of nurses and midwives however are receiving greater scrutiny in recent times. This is because many nurses and midwives are on the frontline dealing with the pandemic every day and therefore a post from a nurse or midwife will be considered by a reader to be well informed.

It is also noted that nurses’ and midwives’ posts about the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccination matters have attracted considerable attention in the media in recent months. This is not surprising given that the public profile of nurses and midwives is at an all-time high and with that comes increased visibility and heightened responsibility.

Every nurse and midwife is entitled to express his/her opinions about any matter. Please be mindful however of the ‘6 Ps’ and remember that your posts or tweets as professional nurse or midwife may be seen by your patients, colleagues and your future employers.

The Board of the NMBI has 23 members with a lay majority of 12. Of the remaining 11 members, eight are registered nurses and midwives elected by the professions. A further three nurses and midwives are appointed by the Minister for Health.

In order to ensure continuity, not all Board members’ terms of office end at the same time. Of the 23 Board members, the terms of office of 11 members ended on 5 December 2020. Two of those members were reappointed by the Minister for Health:

• Louise Kavanagh McBride – nominated for appointment by the institutes of technology
• Laura Sahm – nominated for appointment third level education

The following six members were appointed by the Minister for Health:

• Áine Lynch – nominated by directors of nursing and midwifery
• Siobhán McArdle – nominated for appointment by the HSE
• Louise Collins – nominated for appointment by the HSE
• Conan McKenna – appointed to represent the public interest
• Anne Marie Duffy – appointed to represent the public interest
• Cyril Sullivan – appointed to represent the public interest

In addition, an election was held in September 2020 in three categories with the successful candidates being appointed to the Board by the Minister in January 2021:

• Lorraine Clarke-Bishop – re-elected in the nursing/midwifery education category
• Joseph Shalbin – elected in the general nurse category
• Marian Vaughan – elected in the children’s nurse category

The terms of office of the remaining 12 members will end on 5 December 2022.

Below are profiles of the eight new members of the Board:

Áine Lynch

Áine is a registered general nurse for more than 33 years and has spent her career predominantly in the acute hospital setting in Dublin following a number of years in the UK and Saudi Arabia.

From 1998 she has enjoyed several roles in Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) including Clinical Nurse Manager 2 in Trauma Orthopaedics, Clinical Facilitator in Orthopaedic Nursing, Nurse Practice Development Advisor CNM 3 and Assistant Director of Nursing, Nurse Practice Development Department.

In 2016 she moved from TUH to the Nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development Unit (NMPDU) Dublin, South Kildare and Wicklow where she initially worked as Nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development Officer and later held the role of Interim Director.

Áine returned to TUH in April 2017 as Director of Nursing. Along with leading the nursing service of more than 1,000 Registered Nurses and Health Care Assistants, she is executive lead for the Patient Advice and Liaison Service, Pastoral Care Department, End of Life Care, and the Arts and Health team. She acts as executive lead for the Patient and Community Advisory Council and has assumed the role of Executive Integrated Care Lead in November 2020.

In the earlier part of her career Áine completed the English Nursing Board 2019 Orthopaedic Nursing programme, a Bachelor of Nursing Science (TCD) and a Master’s in Education and Training (DCU). In 2019 she completed a Diploma in Leadership Development in the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. She is currently undertaking an Executive Leadership programme for Directors of Nursing and Midwifery through the National Leadership Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, ONMSD, and the RSCI Institute of Leadership. She holds the position of Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin.

Anne Marie Duffy

Anne Marie is an independent expert on curriculum, assessment and regulation participating in a range of projects both local and within European states. She is a Non-Executive Director on the regulatory body ‘Qualifications Wales’. She serves on the governing bodies of a number of charities.

Anne Marie holds a BA (Hons) and Master’s Degree in Education from Queens University Belfast. She is an alumnus of the Chief Executive’s Forum Women’s Leadership Programme. She was appointed OBE in 2017 for Services to Education. Anne Marie held the role of Director of Qualifications and Responsible Officer within CCEA (Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment) directing the design, operation and grading of public examinations.

She was a member of the Chief Executives’ Forum of the Joint Council for Qualifications (UK) and held the role of non- Executive Chair of the Qualifications Governance Council of NEBOSH (National Examinations Body for Occupational Safety and Health). Anne Marie has more than 36 years of experience working within the public sector, latterly within the highly regulated area of public examinations, complying with regulatory conditions across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

She now serves on the Regulatory Board of Qualifications Wales and thus brings to NMBI experience of working on both sides of regulation. As Director of Qualifications within CCEA, Anne Marie led and directed CCEA’s digital transformation programme with the onscreen marking project gaining a UK NextGen award for public sector transformation in 2017. She brings significant experience in change management and stakeholder engagement to NMBI. Responsible also for leading investigations into allegations of malpractice, Anne Marie brings to the Board expertise in governance, accountability and evidence-based decision making.

Dr Conan McKenna

Conan is a part-time management consultant and lecturer at the Institute of Public Administration in areas including Human Resources Management, Organisation Behaviour and Strategy. He also chairs the Audit and Risk Committee of the Data Protection Commission and is a member of the Complaints Committee of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority.

He retired in recent years from full time work as an assistant secretary general in the Department of Justice and Equality where he was responsible for policy in relation to the Courts and was a member of the Board of the Courts Service. He was also responsible for policy and key legislative reforms in relation to regulation, family law (including the 2015 Marriage Equality Referendum), assisted decision making, civil liability/medical negligence and the legal professions. Conan also worked as part of the senior management team in the Houses of the Oireachtas over many years, developing expertise in senior leadership of Financial, ICT, Human Resources and change management/governance. During this period, he also developed considerable expertise and experience in relation to parliamentary committees and inquiry work as well as associated legal matters.

During his public sector career of more than 40 years, he worked across seven different organisations. Conan originally graduated from UCD with a degree in English and subsequently qualified as a barrister at law. He also studied Management Information Systems at the Irish Management Institute and has an MSc in Management (Organisation Behaviour/HR) from TCD and a Doctorate in Governance from Queens University, Belfast.

Conan is delighted to have been appointed to the Board and sees this as an opportunity to learn about a sector completely new to him and, at the same time, apply his experience and expertise to helping NMBI in whatever ways he can to manage key challenges and deliver on its strategies and ambitions in the coming years.

Dr Cyril Sullivan

Cyril is a qualified accountant (FCCA/ACMA) with more than 30 years’ experience in the profession. Dr Sullivan is currently the Director/ Chief Officer with ECC Ireland and he has held a number of senior executive positions in the public sector including Director of Finance and Support Services with the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), Head of Finance and Corporate affairs with the National Roads Authority (NRA) and an auditor with the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (C&AG) Office.

Cyril has had a number of State nominations including being a member of the Audit Committees of the Department of Health and Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and he is currently on his second term as a member of the Audit Committee of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and with the Citizens Information Board. Cyril has just finished his second term as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of An Garda Siochana.

His expertise is in the areas of governance, financial management, ICT, audit and risk. As well as being a qualified accountant, Cyril has a B.Sc in Computer Science (TCD), an M (Econ) Sc in Policy Studies (TCD), an MBA (Smurfit Business School, UCD) and a Doctorate in Governance (Queens University, Belfast). 

Joseph Shalbin Kallarakkal

Joseph was elected to the Board in last year’s election in Category A as a registered nurse from the practice of general nursing engaged in clinical practice.

A Registered General Nurse, Joseph had been working in St. James’s Hospital, Dublin but recently joined the staff in Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan. Apart from his nursing qualifications, he has a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and a MBA in Healthcare Service Management. He is a vice-chairperson in the INMO’s International Section.

As a union representative Joseph successfully argued in 2019 for nurses/midwives from overseas should be recognised as Critical Workers.

Louise Collins

Louise is Director of Clinical Services (Health and Social Care Professions) in Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown.

She qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist with a BSc. (Hons) Speech Sciences from University College London (UCL) in 1992 and worked in community and rehabilitation services in the NHS until 2000. On her return to Ireland, she worked in acute services (Mater Misericordiae University Hospital) and as Speech and Language Therapy Manager in Connolly Hospital. Her clinical expertise lies in care of the older person, stroke and mental health services.

Louise has been a member of the executive management team at Connolly since 2013 undertaking roles in operations as well as health and social care professions lead.

Her academic qualifications include a Diploma in Leadership and Quality in Healthcare from the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, an Advanced Diploma in Executive Coaching and a graduate award in Executive Healthcare Leadership from the Health Service Leadership Academy.

Professionally, Louise has worked closely with the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists (IASLT) having previously been a member of the Validation Committee and is currently Chair of the Education Board.

Marian Vaughan

Marian was elected to the Board last year in Category B, Children’s Nursing and currently works as the Clinical Placement Coordinator (CPC) in CHI at Crumlin. She is registered in the General and Children’s Divisions of NMBI Register of Nurses and Midwives. Marian became a RGN in 1988 and a RCN five years later, completing a Diploma in Pharmacology at RCSI in 1991. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing Studies at DCU in 2010.

Marian has 32 years’ nursing experience, with 27 years in children’s nursing with experience in Infant Cardiology in both New Zealand and in Crumlin. She has extensive Neonatal Intensive Care Unit experience and has been a Research nurse in two studies in a UCD academic-clinical partnership. Her experience includes a decade as a Clinical Nurse Facilitator at CHI and 15 years membership of Nurse Practice and Nurse Education Committees.

Marian has also been project leader in an initiative which led to the development of a Standardised Cross-Hospital Student Evaluation Programme, as part of the CHI Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Programme.

Siobhan McArdle

Siobhán is currently an Assistant National Director in the HSE with responsibility for Covid-19 Operations.  She holds a senior leadership role in the operational design and delivery of new Covid-19 services at local and national level as part of the HSE's pandemic response. She is also a member of the Working Group for the High Level Task Force on Covid-19 vaccination.

A qualified Speech and Language Therapist, she presents with almost 30 years’ experience of working in a range of local, regional and national healthcare services in clinical, management and leadership roles. As a senior healthcare manager, she has an established track record of working collaboratively and strategically with others, making links across the wider healthcare system, governmental departments and external agencies, to facilitate and enable improvements in service delivery.

In addition to her clinical training, Siobhán holds an M.Phil and postgraduate qualifications in corporate governance and leadership.

NMBI is inviting calls for expressions of interest from members of the public, who have never been registered as a nurse or a midwife, to fill four vacancies on the Fitness to Practise Committee.

Details of these vacancies and how to apply are on our website.

Please share this link with anyone who you think may be interested. The closing date for applications is Friday, 9 April 2021.

The Fitness to Practise Committee considers complaints which are referred to it by the Preliminary Proceedings Committee. Members of the committee sit in ‘panels’ for the purpose of considering complaints at inquiry.

An inquiry is similar to a hearing that usually takes place in a court or before a tribunal. Members of the committee of inquiry hear and consider evidence and information presented to them. More information on fitness to practise inquiries and the work of the committee is available on our website.

All nurses and midwives are legally required to be registered with NMBI in order to carry out their duties as a nurse or midwife.

Revenue has advised that if you are receiving a flat rate expense, you should note that the annual retention fee of €100 is included in the flat rate expense amount.

Practising nurses and midwives who do not claim the applicable flat rate expense, can claim a deduction at the end of the tax year in respect of actual vouched expenses incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of the duties of their employment, including the annual retention fee.

Further information from Revenue is available here.

NMBI has announced that it is planning to run a public consultation in 2021 in order to publish Guidelines for Ethical Standards and Behaviour for Candidates (Students).

Dawn Johnson, NMBI’s Director of Professional Standards (Midwifery), explained the need for the guidelines and the input from stakeholder groups.

“The 2011 Nurses and Midwives Act requires NMBI to prepare and publish guidelines to organisations to deliver programmes on ethical standards and behaviour,” said Ms Johnson.

“NMBI wishes to regularise new standards with the 2011 Act – specifically Section 85 (1) (i) – and we intend to publish a Draft in Quarter 2 of 2021.

“Our public consultation will include targeted consultation with the HSE, Higher Education Institutions and student representative organisations.”

Ms Johnson said that once draft guidelines drawn up by NMBI are published, a month-long consultation will take place.

The Central Applications Office (CAO) has released 2021 application data up to the Change of Course Choices closing date of 1 March showing a large increase in applications for nursing and midwifery courses.

In total 79,176 applications were received by CAO by the 1 February closing date – an increase of 6,203 applicants on the previous year.

There was a significant increase in people wishing to study nursing and midwifery, with 5,951 first preference applications, compared with 4,909 first preference applications in 2020. This marks an increase of 21 per cent year-on-year.

There was also a large increase in applications for medicine with 4,031 first preferences, compared with 3,220 last year, an increase of 25 per cent.

Social and behavioural sciences has also seen an increase with more than 5,800 first preference applications, up 27 per cent on last year.

The data provided at this stage is interim data and is subject to change when late applications are taken into account and when the Change of Mind facility closes on 1 July.

NMBI CEO attends RCSI annual conference

The RCSI held its 40th annual nursing and midwifery conference online last month on the theme ‘Meeting the Needs of Modern Healthcare’.

NMBI Chief Executive Sheila McClelland gave the opening remarks on the discussion ‘Recovery and Wellness in a Covid-19 world’.

Joining the discussion – hosted by Professor Thomas Kearns, Executive Director at the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery - were world-renowned experts Professor Jean Watson and Professor Mary Jo Kreitzer. The discussion is online now and can be viewed at this link: 

Meeting the Needs of Modern Healthcare on Vimeo

 Nurses launch ‘Answers for Cancers’ podcast

Two oncology nurses have been using their spare time to help cancer patients through their new Podcast.

Anne-Marie Fay and Michelle Matthews work at the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin but their ‘Answers for Cancers’ podcast is available to everyone.

The podcasts aim to answer questions cancer patients might have about their diagnosis and treatment. The nurses are hoping it will help both cancer patients and their families.

Each week, they interview different medical practitioners who work with cancer patients, to discuss different topics such as fertility, new treatments, fatigue, and mental health.

You can read the full story as told to the Irish Examiner here.

Irishman’s legacy funds world-leading caesarean research in New Zealand

The legacy of an Irishman from humble beginnings who went on to make his fortune as a businessman in New Zealand is helping to fund pioneering research in the country.

Hugh Green passed away in Auckland in 2012 at the age of 80. He left the Donegal town of Raphoe aged 20 and went on to amass a fortune through farming and property deals. However, he gave most of his €250M fortune away, including to Irish charities.

Funding left by Mr Green through a foundation is now helping a research project led by Associate Professor Katie Groom and her team at the University of Auckland’s Liggins Institute. They believe a simple treatment will safely prevent short-term breathing problems that are more common in babies born by planned or elective caesarean section than in other new-borns.

You can read more on this story here.

 Irish Association for Cancer Research Annual Conference

The Irish Association for Cancer Research (IACR) is holding its annual conference virtually from Wednesday 24 March until Friday 26 March. The conference programme is now available on the IACR website.

Sessions include:

• Covid-19 and Cancer
• Improving Treatment Outcomes: Rehabilitation and Nutritional Support
• Psycho-Social Oncology
• Clinical Trials: Access and Progress

• Health Implementation from Theory to Practice

There will also be workshops for early career researchers, nurses, and allied health professionals:

• Grant Writing

• Developing clinical-academic partnerships

The conference is an opportunity for researchers and clinical professionals to network, collaborate, and keep up-to-date on cutting-edge cancer research.

Attendance is free to IACR members and you can register here.

Hospital launches virtual Maternity Unit tour

Letterkenny University Hospital has filmed a virtual tour of its Maternity Unit to allow expectant mothers and partners/family members to view it and hear staff talk about maternity services there.

Evelyn Smith, Director of Midwifery at Letterkenny University Hospital said: “Unfortunately it is not possible for women and their birthing partners to tour the maternity unit in advance of giving birth at the moment due to the need to reduce footfall as part of our infection and prevention precautions for Covid-19.

“We know how important it is to be as prepared as possible for this life-changing event. The virtual tour gives an insight into the services in the Maternity Unit and introduces some of the people working here including midwives, clinical midwife specialists and an obstetrician. The tour includes the admission room, the birthing suite, the fetal assessment unit, the maternity theatre and the neonatal unit.”

You can take the tour here on the Donegal Woman website.

 Irish Cancer Society launches Night Nurse recruitment drive

The Irish Cancer Society says due to hospital restrictions on visitors, more people than ever want to die at home. The Society is seeking to recruit more nurses to meet the increasing demand for its Night Nursing Service.

Demand for the Society’s Night Nursing Service, which provides end-of-life care to patients in their own home, jumped by over a fifth last year as patients sought to spend their final days in the company of their family.

Requests for the free service for patients being cared for by family and friends in their homes surged by as much as 76 per cent in Kildare, 70 per cent in Wicklow and 60 per cent in Dublin. Demand has continued into the early months of 2021 with more nurses needed in almost all parts of the country.

You can watch an RTE news report on the issues raised here.

 Latest Covid-19 information from the Department of Health and HSE

Level 5: Ireland remains at Level 5 restrictions until 5 April, with any changes which may be introduced likely to be announced in the days beforehand. As always, the latest advice is available at gov-ie

Details of Level 5 restrictions can be viewed here.

Vaccine Updates: All the latest details on the vaccination roll-out, including details on the updated vaccination profile groups and Frequently Asked Questions can be viewed here.

Where to find Covid-19 Vaccination Information: We encourage everyone to read about the Covid-19 vaccine and to get their information from a factual, trusted source – here are the links to the pages with information on the vaccine:

• Check the HSE website for information about the vaccine, information on this page is updated regularly
• Find the vaccine information materials here.
• Details on getting the Covid-19 vaccine is updated regularly here.
• Read the full Covid-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy
• Read the National Immunisation Advisory Committee Chapter about Covid-19 vaccine

• Covid-19 vaccine information for health professionals

Public Health Information: For the most up to date information and advice on Coronavirus, please go to the HSE website and HPSC website. Clinical and professional guidance relating to Covid-19 is available on the HPSC website where you’ll find up to date guidance for healthcare settings and non-clinical settings.

You can find the Covid-19 A-Z information here from the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

Please also check the Healthy Ireland site with further resources and information on the Keep Well campaign. You can view the latest information on how Ireland is responding to cases of Covid-19 here.

Ireland’s Covid-19 Data Hub is available here.

With Julie Belton, Director of Cuckloo Lane Health Practice, Ealing, London

For more than 6,500 patients in the west London borough of Ealing ‘going to see the doctor’ hasn’t been part of their language for more than a decade.

For this portion of a diverse community where half of the population is from the BAME community (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) going to see ‘the nurse’ is how they see primary care, their care.

That is because these patients are clients of the UK’s only nurse-led practice, where nurses are in charge.

Cuckoo Lane Health Practice is completely unique, and according to Director Julie Belton, can be and should be copied elsewhere. It just has not been yet.

Her fellow director Carol Sears made a unique decision 15 years ago when the GP she worked with retired, and the practice went to tender. She and two colleagues – a fellow nurse and a practice manager – put in a bid….and won.

Julie, a trained nurse and a trained midwife, joined five years later as a director (having added a string of new qualifications to her CV including a Masters in Individual and Organisational Development).

“We are mavericks,” says Julie. “Even today so many years later there will be some GPs out there who aren’t happy with what we did and what we have grown to become.

“What we have done is that the nurses in our practice work to the edge of their qualifications. We hire in a GP for two to three hours each day but 80 per cent of our patients are seen and treated by nurses, we do the prescribing and look after them.

“The GPs we work with are very happy with the arrangements too. They get to do what they’re good at without the worry of running a practice and all the paperwork that goes with it.”

Staff of Cuckloo Lane Health Practice

Julie says the success of the practice (it has been quality assured as Outstanding in one inspection) is based on their model of care and the way staff come together.

“We operate a flat structure of leadership, so we don’t have a hierarchy. We look after our staff, pay them well and communicate with each other regularly. We respect each other and there is a great rapport among us,” says Julie.

The practice has six nurse practitioners, three practice nurses, two healthcare assistants and administration and reception staff. Many staff work part-time so the Cuckoo Lane team meets twice every day for a five-minute, five-point huddle where everyone has their say. Everyone is in the loop.

“Patients are also – as far as possible - encouraged to make their own decisions on their own care. We go above and beyond the call of duty for each one of them.”

But isn’t there a culture among patients? Those who just must see a doctor? Julie says it doesn’t happen at Cuckoo Lane.

“We don’t have any issues with patients who insist on seeing a GP every time they have to come in to see us. They know us and trust us,” she says.

Julie and her team are keen to spread their knowledge further; to create more ‘mavericks’ in healthcare. So Cuckoo Lane takes in medical students on placements.

“Our undergraduates love it here. They get to see how far their careers can go and they get to see leadership roles they can aspire to,” says Julie, who in February was one of the few nurses in Britain directly in charge of a Covid-19 vaccination centre. She was placed on a roster alongside GPs from other practices in Ealing.

This ‘maverick’ wishes that more nurses in her profession would follow in her and Carol’s footsteps.

“I’d advise anyone thinking of following our model of care to explore it, build a team, build a strategy, foster that team and communicate with them. It can be done,” she says.

You can find out more about the practice on its website (available in 99 languages including Irish) or follow the Cuckoo Lane team on Facebook and Twitter.

As we continue our series highlighting the committed work of nurses and midwives in Ireland by sharing your stories, this month we talk to Labhaoise Temple, a Public Health Nurse based in the beautiful towns of Dunfanaghy and Creeslough in north Donegal.

If you would like to feature in our Professional Focus, please complete and send the Professional Focus questionnaire along with pictures to communications@nmbi.ie. 

Labhaoise Temple, Public Health Nurse in Dunfanaghy and Creeslough, north Donegal.

Why did you choose a career in nursing/midwifery?

I was at college studying science after the Leaving Cert at the then Regional Technical College in Letterkenny. I always had a feeling that I would like to do nursing as both my parents were nurses and I saw the difference their work made to people’s lives. The interviews came up and I went for it and was lucky enough to get it. After general nursing I decided I wanted to specialise in midwifery, and I found that really special and rewarding. After six years as a midwife, I decided I wanted to work as a public health nurse within the community and this is where I work until the present day. During my time as a public health nurse in Donegal I have worked in Letterkenny, Falcarragh and now Dunfanaghy/Creeslough.  

Was this your first career choice and what would you do if you weren’t a nurse/midwife?

I have always been a nurse/midwife/public health nurse. If I hadn’t become a nurse, I would have liked to have become a PE teacher or continued to study science and see where that would have taken me.

How do you believe you have made a difference as a nurse/midwife?

We are in a very privileged position as public health nurses to be invited into people’s homes and work alongside them to help improve or manage their health. This relationship is very different from working in the hospital environment. We are allowing people to remain in their own homes providing the best clinical care available to us. Helping families from birth right through to end-of-life care has been hugely rewarding – whether that is assisting someone who may only have days left of their life or giving advice to a young woman only starting her journey through motherhood, all situations are uniquely rewarding. At the moment I am receiving wonderful feedback from a breastfeeding support group we set up. It is very rewarding.

Do you have a memory in your job that really stands out?

I recall visiting the home of an elderly man who had never had modern bathroom facilities and who lived in basic conditions. He had never required medical care until his later years. We arranged for a lot of facilities to be installed for him including new facilities but he chose never to use them. It taught me that you can only reach out to people and offer help but it may not always be accepted. He lived very happily in his own circumstances. It taught me that you have to work alongside people and respect their choices. 

How has Covid-19 changed nursing? Are there any positives that you will take with you?

It has changed how we work as now we have to risk assess everything before we do it. Part of our work is now done over the phone. Our clinical work has remained the same and has increased if anything. People are afraid to go to hospital because of Covid-19 and require nursing care in their own homes. Some PHNs had been redeployed - including myself - taking on new roles which was very challenging and not without its stresses. However, it highlighted and demonstrated our adaptability and vast knowledge and expertise as nurses. It has also made everybody reassess their own infection prevention control standards and these will continue from here on in.    

If you could, what advice would you give to 19 year old you, starting out?

I would simply say soak up as much experience from the staff on the wards and to appreciate the high standard of training we received on those wards. 

If you were given one million euro to spend on health, how would you spend it?

Well, first of all, as we all know form the health budget, one million euro would be a drop in the ocean. But I would concentrate it on advancing primary care facilities, allowing more resources to go towards caring for people within the community which would in turn, help people to remain in their own homes. Fast-track, easy-access diagnostics for clients in the community would be another wish. I would also increase the amount of clinical nurse specialists within the community. There appears to be more managerial posts yet fewer and fewer people on the ground. We need more patient-facing roles.

It’s post-pandemic and you’ve just won a holiday to anywhere in the world! Where would you go and why?

Italy. We were there on our last holiday two years ago and planned to return last year but a small thing called a pandemic popped up. I loved the culture, food and weather there.

Back to reality…. You’ve a week to spend on holidays in Ireland. Where would you go and why?

I’m going to take a couple of weeks off in July and we are going to spend it in Donegal rediscovering all the beaches, walks and wonderful places I used to visit with my own family when I was a child.