Modernising the NMBI

NMBI CEO, Sheila McClelland is featured in the latest edition of Eolas magazine which is also available online. Ms McClelland talks about the modernisation plan at NMBI, how the organisation responded to the Covid-19 pandemic and the importance of the new registration system.

You can read the article here.

Vaccine roll-out for frontline health workers

Nurses and midwives will be among the first to get the Covid-19 vaccine, the Government has announced.

Residents in nursing homes and staff there are being prioritised, followed by patient-facing healthcare staff.

The full Government vaccination strategy and implementation plan is available here.

Students set for campus return, says Harris

First year degree students are set for a return to college campuses in the New Year, Higher Education Minister Simon Harris has said.

Minister Harris says he is concerned about the “mental health and wellbeing of students sitting at home in the box room, particularly first-years”.

Small group tuition and induction days are being planned. You can read more here.

Theresa is top practice nurse

A Carlow-based nurse has been named Ireland’s Practice Nurse of the Year.

Theresa Lowry-Lehnen is an associate lecturer and full-time nurse at IT Carlow.

She was awarded the honour at the recent Irish Healthcare Awards, and you can read more here at Carlow Live.

Practitioners take to YouTube as Letterkenny UH recruits 120 new staff

Nurses and midwives at one hospital have turned to YouTube in a bid to find new colleagues.

The initiative is part of a campaign by Letterkenny University Hospital in Co Donegal to recruit staff to 120 new posts, hoping to attract ex-pat practitioners back to the North West.

This is the hospital’s largest recruitment campaign in its history, with positions available across nursing specialities, midwifery, consultant and non-consultant hospital doctor specialities, laboratory, radiology and pharmacy, physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy. There are also opportunities for Health Care Assistants and administration and support staff. 

Deirdre Diver, Advanced Nurse Practitioner in the Endoscopy Unit at LUH said: “I came to Letterkenny University Hospital in 1989 and trained here as a student. I have worked as a Staff Nurse, Clinical Nurse Manager, Clinical Nurse Specialist and now I am an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Gastroenterology/ Nurse Endoscopist.

“Over these years I have had excellent educational support from Letterkenny University Hospital.  As a Nurse Endoscopist, I carry out gastroscopies and colonoscopies and participate in the multidisciplinary team. As a teaching hospital, Letterkenny University Hospital promotes a culture of education, innovation, and growth.  We have strong working relationships here in Letterkenny University Hospital and it is a great place to work.”

Commenting Natasha Mooney, Staff Midwife Letterkenny University Hospital said: “I have been working as a Midwife in LUH for seven years. I am originally from Killybegs but I trained in Dundalk Institute of Technology and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda. I came back to Donegal in 2013. We have a great unit here; we have a brilliant team of doctors and midwives and a good multi-disciplinary team. We have approximately 1,700 deliveries per year and have both consultant-led and midwifery-led units.  We have a Perinatal Mental Health Midwife and a Bereavement Midwife, and we are currently recruiting a midwife who is a specialist in lactation (breastfeeding). The team also includes an Advanced Midwife Practitioner and midwives that carry out sonography. There are great opportunities to develop as a midwife here in LUH and Letterkenny itself is a really great town.”

The hospital has now commenced an unprecedented recruitment via the Saolta website.

Watch hospital staff talk about their experience of working in Letterkenny University Hospital on the YouTube link here.