Government plans ‘more attractive’ career pathways for nurses

The Government is to introduce "more attractive " career pathways for nurses in a bid to encourage emigrants to return to work in Ireland as well as providing incentives to keep staff already working here. Minister for Health Simon Harris said his department would be producing new policies early in 2017 to "radically reduce" the length of time it took for a nurse to qualify as a specialist or as an advance nurse practitioner.

He said the HSE would be holding special recruitment events in Dublin from December 28th-30thwhich would have walk-in job interviews for nurses and midwives. Mr Harris said the message he wanted to send out to nurses and midwives returning to Ireland for the Christmas holiday was that they should consider coming home to stay.

The Government is currently facing potential industrial action by nurses over staffing levels and recruitment and retention problems in hospitals. The result of a ballot on industrial action by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) is due today. This could see nurses insisting on curtailment of services, including bed closures, in cases where there were insufficient staff available. The executive of the INMO is also expected to meet today.

Government sources have said that it takes six or seven years for a nurse to qualify as an advance nurse practitioner. It is understood that while the Department of Health has not finalised its plans, this period could be shortened to two or three years.

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Advanced nurse practitioners are involved in the delivery of whole episodes of care for patients. It is believed the Government also wants to increases the number of advanced nurse practitioners. Sources said that while there were few currently in Ireland, in Australia up to 2 per cent of the nursing workforce are advanced nurse practitioners.