Last week, we were delighted to hold a clinical practice placement workshop at our office in Blackrock. 

Our Education Department met with more than 50 attendees including representatives from the Department of Health, the Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director (ONMSD), staff organisations and nurses and midwives working in academic and clinical areas. 

The purpose of the workshop was to examine the current offerings for practice placements for students at an undergraduate level and discuss opportunities to expand the number of placements available. The group discussed European Directive criteria for qualifications, Irish standards and requirements, core practice placements and specialist practice placements for nursing and midwifery. As healthcare evolves, alternative options were also discussed to achieve the registration standards of practice for nursing and midwifery. 

Practice placements are integral to the undergraduate nursing and midwifery education programmes that lead to registration with NMBI. 50% of a programme’s curriculum is dedicated to learning in the practice environment. It gives students the opportunity to apply theory to practice, develop new skills and gain competence in nursing and midwifery.  

Working with stakeholders in the health and education sectors to develop a plan to increase undergraduate student placement numbers is one of the key priorities set out in our new Statement of Strategy 2023-2025.