Eilish Hardiman: director of nursing at St James's Hospital and a part-time MBA student in the Smurfit School of Business
Meetings take up most of my day, whether they be with the Department of Health, or the hospital's ICT department, or a nursing group, and they usually start about 8am, so I like to be in my office at about 7.30am to prepare and read my e-mails.
A lot of my job is group communication and discussion, making decisions, which I enjoy and it keeps things interesting, but one thing I dislike are unproductive or wasteful meetings. I just don't have the time.
The first big event of the day is the bed status report; how many have come in to A&E over the night, how many need placing, whether we've had any deaths. That will set the tone for the day.
If we need to place more than 15 we'll be uncomfortable, over 18 will be a problem. Normally it's not that high though.
As director of nursing I have responsibility for the nursing staff, I'm the senior professional within the hospital. My mother was a nurse, so I suppose it was always in the blood.
I qualified 18 years ago and then did my degree in the University of Ulster, which would have been unusual at the time.
I then spent a few years in all the major hospitals in Dublin before settling here and working my way up.
As the head of the profession, you have to be a member of that profession but a lot of my work is in the corporate sector now, so last year I decided to take on the Executive MBA in the Smurfit school and we've just finished the first year.
It's a part-time course, so I'm in two nights a week and then we have a study group of five. The class is quite large, over 70, and we're streamed, so most of the interaction is with the study group and we have very varied backgrounds: accountancy, pharmaceutical, financial and public health.
It's a big workload but I see the semesters as 12-week blocks with exams at the end and you just have to cut out the cinema, going out, holidays and get through it.
I usually finish work around 5pm; I am always contactable in an emergency, but you need to be disciplined.
I have to balance my life and my work, I have two babies and a very understanding husband.
I chose to do the MBA because I feel it will help me with the corporate side of my job and give me skills to move on in a different direction if I want to, although I am happy here at the moment.
(In interview with Robin O'Brien Lynch)