Volume 2 Issue 1 Nursing and Midwifery Newsletter Spring 2014

Dublin Mid-Leinster

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Practice Development Enhancing Clinical Effectiveness through Practice Development: A Clinical Nurse Manager Perspective, Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore (MRHT)

Page 2

Cervical Screening Service in a Methadone Treatment Centre DML

Page 3

Leadership & Innovation Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care™ Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore shortlisted for Irish Healthcare Awards 2014

Page 4

Provision of Safe Quality Care N u r s i n g a n d M i d w i f e r y M e t r i c s : Quantifying our Care

Page 5-7

Continuing Professional Development & Research

Athlone Institute of Technology (A.I.T) Students Nursing Team - finalists in National Health and Safety Authority (HSA) in Healthcare Competition

Page 8

Mental Health Nursing Research Group – Dublin South East Mental Health Services

Page 9

Planned initiative – Psychosocial Interventions

Page 10

Shaping the Future of Intellectual Disability Nursing in Ireland

Page 10

Master Class Series for Senior Nurse Managers Resilience and Leadership

Page 11 Upcoming events

Page 12

NMPD News Page 13

Message from Area Director Feedback, comments and submissions for future issues are welcome and should be sent to dmlnewsletter@hse.ie

Dear Colleagues Welcome to the spring 2014 edition of the DML-Nursing and Midwifery Newsletter. Thank you to all staff who have made a submission for inclusion. It is important that we share developments and innovations in practice as it highlights the responsiveness of nurses and midwives to developments and changes in healthcare and can prevent duplication of effort across our region. This edition contains some short articles from clinical services across DML on initiatives that improve nursing and midwifery practice and consequently the experience of patients. It also includes a feature article on nursing and midwifery metrics which provides greater insight into the quality of care provided to patients and presents vital information for nursing teams to assist the continuous development of practice. I would like to welcome Ciara White to the NMPD team in Dublin South Kildare and Wicklow and wish her all the best with the project in this area. I would like to thank Dr Martin McNamara and Dr Ann Sheridan in the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems, UCD for working in partnership with us on this initiative. A lead for nursing and midwifery metrics in the Midlands is currently being explored. I would like to congratulate Audrey Wright and her team in Riada House Day care services and Mary Brosnan and her colleagues in the National Maternity Hospital who received awards at the Irish Healthcare Awards on March 7th. I would also like to congratulate Alice Cockram and her team from medical 2 ward and Denise Doolan in the MRH, Tullamore for being a finalist at these awards in the General Hospital-Department Initiative Of The Year section. I hope you enjoy reading this edition of the newsletter and if you require further information on any of the initiatives please contact the named project lead. .

Page 2 Practice Development DML Newsletter

Enhancing Clinical Effectiveness through Practice Development: A Clinical Nurse Manager Perspective,

Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore (MRHT)

17 Nurse Managers at Clinical Nurse

Manager 2 (CNM) grade in MRHT recently

participated in a 5 day educational

programme. The course provided them the

opportunity to explore and develop their skills

in co-ordinating a busy healthcare team using

practice development strategies to facilitate,

implement and evaluate changes within a

clinical environment. A service needs

analysis was carried out and, following

consultation between Senior Nurse

Management, Nurse Practice Development

and Nursing & Midwifery Planning &

Development (NMPD), Tullamore, a bespoke

programme was developed.

The primary objectives of the programme

was to understand the link between practice

development and the delivery of safe,

effective person-centred care through the role

of the CNM, teamwork, leadership and

management styles, facilitation and

communication skills, appropriate delegation,

problem solving, conflict management,

reflective practice and action learning sets.

The planned outcomes of the programme

included enhancing the delivery of safe and

effective person-centred care by supporting

the CNM to foster a culture of clinical

effectiveness and facilitate the ward team to

manage and prioritise existing workloads in a

timely, effective manner within existing

clinical governance structures. The

programme required the completion of a

project by each CNM. In addition, reflective

diaries and action learning sets were included

to support reflection on experiences and

learning. The programme was facilitated on a

phased basis over a 3 month period and was

assigned Category 1 Approval (CEU 5) from the

Nursing & Midwifery Board of Ireland. The

programme was supported by the NMPD,

Tullamore as part of the Continuing Nurse/

Midwife Education Initiative.

A variety of improvement projects were initiated

by each CNM relating to evidence based

practice and quality and patient safety including

Infection Prevention Control (IPC), Lean

Methodology and Communication initiatives e.g.

patient/family communication in the emergency

department, Review/Development of Nursing

Documentation, Patient Referral Pathways and

The Introduction of the Safety Pause.

Poster presentations were displayed on the final

day to provide the opportunity to share and

learn from other participants. Senior nurse

management were also in attendance on the

final day. A follow up day is planned in Autumn

2014 where participants will present the

completed improvement projects.

For further information, please contact Denise Doolan, Nurse Practice Development Facilitator: 05793 21501 or denise.doolan@hse.ie

Participants with the programme facilitator

The Dr. Steeven’s Addiction Centre

facilitates a methadone treatment clinic in

Dublin Mid-Leinster, which supports 150

clients. The centre has recently initiated a

smear taking service in association with

Cervical Check. Cervical Check is the

government funded national cervical

screening programme that provides free

cervical smear tests to women in the 25 to

60 years age group with a view to reducing

the number of cervical cancer cases in

Ireland. Cervical cancer is a progressive

disease and early detection of cell changes

will reduce incidence of invasive disease. It

is one of the few cancers for which there is a

screening test available.

Substance misuse increases the vulnerability

of the client group reducing rates of

compliance to health promotion and

prevention strategies such as Cervical

Check. As many of the women on

methadone treatment attend the clinic on a

regular basis, the provision of cervical

screening onsite was envisaged to be an

effective way for this client group to access

screening. This increases the promotion of

early detection of cervical cell changes and

prevention of progression to carcinoma.

A nurse is responsible for checking client

eligibility for the smear test, counselling and

consenting the woman and for performing

the smear test.

She liaises with the laboratory, arranging follow

up e.g. repeat smear tests or referral to

colposcopy and informing the client’s GP as

required.

To date twenty women have taken part in the

cervical screening programme. Five of these

women have been referred for colposcopy; eight

women have had an abnormal smear result.

One woman was referred to a sexual health

clinic and six women had normal results.

The provision of a cervical screening programme

in a methadone treatment centre has been very

positive for the female service users. It has

allowed for easy access to the programme, in an

environment that is comfortable and familiar to

them. It has provided detection of abnormalities

and subsequent referral to appropriate services

for follow up, thereby reducing the risk of

progress ion to cancer and promoting health.

Page 3 Practice Development DML Newsletter

Cervical Screening Service in a Methadone Treatment Centre DML

For further information contact: Alma Olohan Senior Staff Nurse and Mairead Ryan Staff Nurse. Dr Steeven’s Addiction Centre, Dr Steeven's Hospital, Dublin 8. Phone : 01 6352075 Email: nurses.steevens@hse.ie

Page 4 Leadership & Innovation DML Newsletter

L/R: Fiona McMahon (Interim DON), Sinead O'Toole (SN), Maria Curley (CNM1), Alice Cockram (CNM 2) Denise Doolan (Project Lead, Productive Ward Project), Clare O'Dea (Nurse Lead, Productive Ward Project) and Mary Manning (Interim Director, NMPD)

Medical 2, Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore was recently shortlisted for both the 2014 UK Lean Healthcare Awards and the Irish Healthcare Awards. The initiatives shortlisted included ‘Introducing the 3 Second Rule for Communicating Patient Information using a Patient Status at a Glance (PSAG)Board’ and ‘Sharing the Patient’s Story through Utilising Effective Communication Processes for Handover’. These projects were developed and introduced as part of the Productive Ward Releasing Time to Care ™ Initiative.

The PSAG boards aim to improve the patients’ journey through clear and effective communication processes by having the right information, ready to go, easily accessible and understood at a glance using the 3 second rule.

A number of supporting resources were sourced, developed and implemented to support the PSAG board including magnetic white boards, universal codes and symbols and operating procedures. Improvements in communication between the interdisciplinary team with a reduction in the amount of interruptions to nursing staff are the visible benefits noted.

Implementation of the Shift Handover Module has introduced an effective, standardised, structured approach to handover to support improved patient outcomes by enhancing communication, reducing the risk of near misses/incidents and reducing the length of handover with a subsequent increase in direct patient care time. A training DVD, operating procedures, communication templates and information leaflets were developed while improvements in communication and a

reduction in the time spent in handover have been identified.

Both submissions demonstrate the quality improvement approach taken at the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore using the Releasing Time to Care ™ six phase methodology: Prepare, Assess, Diagnose, Plan, Treat & Evaluate.

Presenting the initiatives provided the opportunity to share our learning experiences across both a national and international forum. The success of these initiatives clearly demonstrates that the Productive Ward is an exciting quality improvement programme which ensures appropriate mechanisms are in place to enhance communication and direct patient care. Further work is underway to advance the Productive Ward Initiatives across the Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore.

Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care ™ Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore shortlisted for Irish Healthcare Awards 2014

For further information, contact Denise Doolan, Project Lead: 05793 21501 or denise.doolan@hse.ie

Page 5 Provision of Safe Quality Care DML Newsletter

care can be measured (Foulkes 2011). The potential benefits of collecting nursing and midwifery metrics are summarised in Figure 1

Figure 1: Summary of Benefits of Implementing Metrics (NMPDU 2013)

Metrics include the use of indicators to measure nurse/midwife-delivered outcomes and patient experiences which will enable nursing staff to frequently review real time data and improve clinical practice appropriately (Harrison 2011). The different metrics being captured and reported by a healthcare organisation can be combined to form a range of scores and reports known as a ‘clinical dashboard’, which can be used to compare and consider the overall health and performance of different wards or areas within one hospital. The reports appear as a list of scores that are given green, amber or red (RAG) ratings so that overall performance can be summarised at a glance; an example of which is outlined in Figure 3,(p6).

Introduction Health care facilities in Ireland are confronting an unprecedented economic downturn coupled with escalating healthcare costs. Concurrently, hospitals are facing growing scrutiny over quality of care and patient safety issues which are highlighted in the media, both eroding public confidence and increasing public demands for transparency in both cost and quality data (Brown et al. 2010). Nurses and midwives represent the largest occupational group in the healthcare workforce, providing the most care at all levels of the care continuum and accounting for a significant proportion of healthcare organisations pay costs. In December 2013, the Health Services Personnel Census data reveals that 10,286 WTE nurses and midwives were employed in HSE and HSE funded (voluntary) healthcare organisations in the DML region, which represents 35% of all health care services employees within the DML region (n 29,732 WTE). Yet nursing and midwifery’s contribution most often remains virtually indiscernible to policy-makers and healthcare managers, and many analysts consider it undervalued and understudied (Dubois et al. 2013). As the largest professional group in the HSE comprising of the largest pay bill, and as the only staff group consistently caring for patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week, nurses and midwives need to clearly demonstrate the quality of care they provide. Benefits of Nursing/Midwifery Metrics Measuring nursing and midwifery standards and acting on the results are a key leadership function of nurses and midwives at every level (Sunderland, 2009). Nursing and Midwifery Metrics present ways of measuring the quality of nursing and midwifery care that utilise process performance quality indicators which provide a framework for how fundamental

Nursing and Midwifery Metrics:

Quantifying our Care

An example of a nursing metric is outlined in Figure 2.Figure 2: Example of a Nursing Metric (NMPDU, 2013)

Clinical dashboards can also be used in the delivery of service improvement projects as they enable leaders to integrate disparate data into a holistic picture of the organisations strengths and vulnerabilities to help establish priorities for performance improvement (Foulkes, 2011, Donaldson et al. 2005). Figure 3: Example of a Clinical Dashboard (Reproduced with kind permission from HoEFT)

Page 6 Provision of Safe Quality Care DML Newsletter

Nursing and Midwifery Metrics:

Quantifying our Care

Pressure Ulcer Assessment 1 2 3 4 5 61. A Pressure Ulcer risk assessment was conducted within 6 hours of admission/transfer to the unit/ward and was dated, timed and signed by the assessing staff member2. There is evidence of a reassessment of pressure ulcer risk in accordance with organisational policy3. If the individual is identified at risk, a care plan with pressure ulcer prevention measures is evident4. If identified as at risk, a daily skin inspection has been recorded on the care plan/ skin inspection chart5. If a pressure ulcer is present, the grade is recorded on the relevant documentation

The evolution of Metrics: The concept of ‘metrics’ has come from the business sector where the term is used to describe a set of measurements to quantify results or outcomes in order to identify how successful a business is in meeting its targets. For the past 20 years, the American Nurses Association has been formally compiling a database of nursing quality indicators, the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI), using nursing audit data gathered from 1,700 hospitals in the United States (American Nurses Association, 2011). More recently, within the NHS, Chief Nursing Officer Mandie Sunderland introduced nursing metrics in 2008 in the Heart of England Foundation Trust (HoEFT), aimed at increasing patient safety and promoting quality care following an increase in complaints, falls, pressure ulcers and medication management issues. Following implementation across the HoEFT, results indicated significant improvements across quality of nursing care provision in all areas (Sunderland 2009).

quality at all levels. An emphasis on the quality of nursing care and keeping quality high on the agenda of managers is vital for continued improvement of nursing. At a time when cases of poor quality care and lack of compassion have become the focus of media attention, now more than ever, nurses and their leaders need to advance the way they use measurement to best effect (Maben et al. 2012). Recent reports on infection outbreaks in hospitals have highlighted situations where underlying issues of nursing care quality were given a low priority in the face of competing productivity targets. Concerns about nursing care are not limited to the general public or to Irish hospitals. There is ongoing professional concern that nursing’s contribution to quality health care is under-recognised, leaving nursing services vulnerable to cost-reducing efforts (Griffiths et al. 2008). Measuring the quality of care is central to providing a nursing/midwifery service that is more transparent, accountable and focused on improvement.

By making the contribution of nursing/midwifery explicit through nursing/midwifery metrics at the patient, organisational and national level it is hoped that the nursing/midwifery component of quality care can be invested and incentivised, rather than overshadowed in the drive to meet other performance targets.

Expressions of interest in the Nursing & Midwifery Metrics Project is welcomed from services within the Dublin South, Kildare & Wicklow region to Ciara White, Nursing & Midwifery Metrics Project Officer, NMPDU Dublin South, Kildare & Wicklow

01- 6201737 or ciara.white1@hse.ie

Page 7 Provision of Safe Quality Care DML Newsletter

Nursing and Midwifery Metrics: Quantifying our Care

Mandie Sunderland first presented her work on metrics to Irish Association of Directors of Nursing and Midwifery (IADNAM) in 2010 and has returned to Ireland on several occasions since to support metrics development in various regions. Indeed, she has presented in 2011 to Directors of Nursing & Midwifery in DML, and many services within the region also presented information on what quality indicators they were measuring at that time.

Future plan to support metrics or Implementation Plan: NMPD in Dublin North, North East and North West regions have been progressing on the collection of metrics for over a year in acute hospital settings, older person services, mental health services, intellectual disability services, maternity services and children’s services. Nursing & midwifery Metrics implementation is now being supported at a national level by Dr. Michael Shannon ONMSD Director, in order to assist services provide assurance of the quality and standards of nursing/midwifery care. A national group (ONMSD) is convening in May 2014 to lead on the development of a national framework and ICT system to support services measure metrics data. Following its establishment, local governance will be developed to progress this work within the DML region. Conclusion: Nurses and midwives have the ability to have great impact on the quality and safety of hospital patient care. Nursing and midwifery metrics has the potential to facilitate nurses to regain control of nursing/midwifery as they provide both an opportunity and an imperative for the profession to embrace tangible measures of nursing’s’ contributions to patient care (Griffiths et al. 2008). Metrics can make a significant contribution to gaining greater insight into quality of care and a catalyst to encourage staff engagement by facilitating discussions about

A team of undergraduate nursing students from A.I.T have won 3rd place in the HSA’s annual

‘Occupational Safety and Health in Healthcare’ competition aimed at Nursing and Midwifery

undergraduates across the Institute of Higher Education. (HEI). Team interviews were held in

Dublin with all contenders, A.I.T students winning 3rd prize. Team members were 3rd year

General Nursing students, Caitriona Hogan, Orla Murray and Gail Flynn. Lending support to the

team on the day was A.I.T Nursing lecturer Beatrice Moran.

The aim of the competition was to provide an opportunity for undergraduate students to work

together to develop, enhance and embed their knowledge and understanding of occupational

health and safety in a healthcare setting. The competition involved posing a real life scenario

using problem-based learning which formed a submission made to the authority. For the project

brief the HAS provided the students with a hospital based scenario from which they had to

complete two tasks.

Anne Maria O’Connor, Senior Policy Inspector, HSA said, “The focus of this year’s competition

brief was the management of occupational health and safety in healthcare. There is increasing

demands on all healthcare organisations to demonstrate good governance in all aspects of service

provision including good governance in relation to the health and safety of its workforce. All nursing

professionals need to have a sound understanding of occupational health and safety and be able

to apply this knowledge in their everyday working life. A safe working environment facilitates

nursing professionals to provide optimum care which benefits both patient and carer.”

Joanne Harmon, Education Manager with the Health and Safety Authority said, “Huge

congratulations to A.I.T for making it to the finals. The standard was extremely high this year.

Page 8 Continuing Professional DML Newsletter Development & Research

HSA Nursing undergraduate competition winners pictured with Martin O' Halloran, CEO HAS. Front from L/R: Caitriona Hogan (Team Captain), Orla Murray and Gail Flynn, Back L/R: Anne Maria O' Connor Senior Inspector HSA, Beatrice Moran, Lecturer Athlone IT, Joanne Harmon Education Manager HSA.

For further information see: www.hsa.ie

Athlone Institute of Technology (A.I.T) Students Nursing Team - finalists in National Health and Safety Authority (HSA) in Healthcare Competition

Introduction: A Vision for Change (2006) identified the need for monitoring of services in order to evaluate performance levels. It is suggested that systems for gathering data on mental health be established at both local and national level. Mental health research needs to be encouraged and funded in order to measure the effectiveness of proposed innovations and to improve our understanding of the changing nature of the mental health needs of our communities.

The Dublin South East Mental Health Service (DSEMHS) area serves the population of Dublin 2, 4, 6, 8 and part of Dublin 14. There are approximately 120 nurses employed in the service. This area provides care for the following: Acute Adult In-patients, Acute Psychiatry of Old Age, Dementia Units, Community Hostels, Community Mental Health Care Teams, Home Care Team, Day Hospital, OPD Mental Health and a Community Team for Psychiatry of Old Age.

The Mental Health Research group in DSEMHS was established in 2011. It is committed to providing nurses with opportunities to update their skills and reflect on their practice. The objectives of the research group are:

The sharing of ideas for research p ropos a ls , pee r suppo r t & encouragement,

Utilisation of different skills & strengths within the group

Opportunity to reflect on service provision, evaluate service and insti-gate change

Looking at ways to enhance service user involvement

Encouraging and enabling nursing staff to instigate research in their area

Dissemination of research findings to all relevant staff

Provide education & training for staff that is cost effective

Research Initiative: In a climate, where continuing nurse education and skills development needs to be achieved in a cost-effective manner, the research group developed a curriculum and facilitated a course on Solution Focused Therapy. The course was evaluated very positively and the training programme enhanced participant’s knowledge, skills and attitude. Participant’s identified organisational obstacles as: requiring ongoing educational support and continued organisational support.

Information regarding this initiative was com-municated and disseminated at conferences in June and November 2012, in the form of a poster and a presentation. A journal article on this piece of research is also being prepared.

For further information contact:Theresa Woods Assistant Director of Nursing, Dublin South East

Mental Health Services Theresa.woods@hse.ie

Mental Health Nursing Research Group Dublin South East Mental Health Services

Page 9 Continuing Professional DML Newsletter Development & Research

As Registered Intellectual Disability Nurses (RNID), we are keenly aware of the developments in the provision of services to people with an intellectual disability in Ireland. This has resulted from changing demographics, renewed movement into community settings and newly emerging health care needs among the people who we care for and support. These changes represent both opportunities and challenges for intellectual disability nursing and it is against this backdrop that the Office of Nursing and Midwifery and the National Office for Social Care in the HSE have established a project to Shape the Future of Intellectual Disability Nursing in Ireland. They have commissioned Professor Mary McCarron and Dr. Fintan Sheerin of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin to lead this project. If you are on the active register as an RNID, then you may soon be invited to participate by completing a questionnaire or attending a focus group. Please use the opportunity to tell us about your experiences and your vision of the future for your profession.

The next project for the Nursing Research Group will be to deliver a 5 day course on Psychosocial Interventions to all nurses in the service. This training programme was assigned category 1 approval from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI). The impact of the training will be evaluated using a pre-test post test approach. It is hoped that the findings will be disseminated through appropriate areas including Lensus in order to make the research findings available to nurses in the services. The nursing research group has registered with Lensus and a record of research to date has been maintained.

Plans for the Future

Analyse date from the five day training programme.

The findings from the results of the research will be uploaded onto the Lensus database.

Developing a clinical audit tool to evaluate in-patient activities

Formulate an audit tool to measure patient satisfaction levels on the in-patient unit

Create an internal newsletter to circulate research findings and topics for future research

Enhance the involvement of the service user and their family

For further information contact: Ms. Geraldine Carroll: 01-2830388 or geraldine.carroll@hse.ie

Top L/R: Ms. Preeti John, Mr. Rajinikanth Maruthu

Bottom L/R:Ms Fionnula MacLiam, Ms Kathleen Beggan (Area Director of Nursing) & Ms Geraldine Carroll

Planned initiative – Psychosocial Interventions

FURTHER INFORMATION: If you have any questions or need any further information please contact: Dr. Colin Griffiths, Telephone: 01 8963115 Email: cgriffi@tcd.ie

Dr. Fintan Sheerin, Telephone: 01 8964072 Email: sheerinf@tcd.ie

Shaping the Future of Intellectual Disability

Page 10 Continuing Professional DML Newsletter Development & Research

develop some techniques to help manage stress right now to benefit managers to help re balance well being and performance.

consider the four important competencies of resilient individuals, body a wareness , emot iona l competence, brain coherence and personal engagement.

explore the skills of the resilient individual and give participants an opportunity to calibrate themselves to the components of the “values” that reflect these.

The evaluation was very positive with participants feeling energised and more aware of the importance of self care in the current busy stressful environment we are living in.

The next Master class is scheduled for the summer, details will be circulated at a later date.

For further information please contact: Susanna Byrne: 01 6201713 Email: susanna.byrne1@hse.ie Mary Manning tele: 0579357870 Email: marym.manning@hse.ie

Master Class Series for Senior Nurse Managers Resilience and Leadership

Over 30 senior Nurse Managers from the DML region attended a Master Class in NMPD Tullamore on March 19th 2014. The class is part of a series of Master Classes which will be facilitated in the DML region for Nurse Mangers in 2014.

The topic for the Master Class was Resilience and Leadership. The facilitator was Michael Comyn who is a business coach, trainer, broadcaster with international experience of over 28 years of informing, entertaining and energising audiences.

The session explored the practices of resilient people, what makes us resilient, what we can do when our resilience is low. The role of sleep and sleep deprivation, nutr i t ion, exercise and energy management and optimism in maintaining the state of mind required to support ourselves and others in challenging times was discussed The difference between the type of stress that motivates and inspires and that which fatigues and immobilises was explored in detail. We were introduced to possible strategies that would;

identify how lifestyle choices can contribute to stress and how we can work toward making different choices.

Page 11 Continuing Professional DML Newsletter Development & Research

Page 12 Upcoming Events DML Newsletter

Congratulations to Shirley Ingram RANP Cardiology at Tallaght Hospital, whose article on Advanced nursing practice: “Advanced nurse practitioner registration in Ireland: An RANP cardiology’s experience” was published in the British Journal of Cardiac Nursing in April 2014.

Publications

The NMBI national conference will be held on the 9th October 2014 at Chartered Accountants House Pearse St. Dublin 2.

The NMBI will be hosting the first Midwives Week from 28 April to 2 May 2014 to mark the recognition of midwifery as a separate profession.

The Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital in partnership with NMBI will hold the 2014 Essence of Midwifery Care Conference: “Collaboration in Maternal and Neonatal Care” on Thursday 1 May 2014, in the Chartered Accountants House, Pearse Street, Dublin 2.

The Institute of Community Health Nurs ing ( ICHN) conference “Community & Public health Nursing Matters” will be held on the 21st May 2014 at Miltown Park Ranelagh Dublin 6.

Events and Awards

Page 13 NMPD News DML Newsletter

An interim process for the approval of CN/MS posts has been agreed under delegated authority from the Department of Health and with agreement with NMBI pending publication of specific criteria for these specialist posts and rules to support the register.

A National group (ONMSD/NMPD) is finalising the peer review process, necessary, to ensure a standard approach, for documentation and qualifications review. Once the group has completed this work, applications submitted, including new applications will be processed during this interim period. Please contact your local NMPD for more details.

In order to support the professional development of nursing and midwifery practice, 2014 submissions for funding is for nursing/midwifery innovation initiatives are currently being processed. The NMPD in Dublin South, Kildare & Wicklow plans to host a showcasing and networking event in Autumn 2014 to facilitate funded sites to share their innovations and to support dissemination of excellent innovative work being undertaken in the region.

For further information please contact: Susanna Byrne: 01 6201713 Email: susanna.byrne1@hse.ie Mary Manning tele: 0579357870 Email: marym.manning@hse.ie

Implementation of the project continues at all of the participating sites. Monthly reports indicate many process improvements which are freeing up staff from administrative work, streamlining ward organisation and management, and resulting in staff having more time to care for patients.

Regional Coordinators are; Raphael Mc Mullin Palmerstown NMPD Raphael.mcmullin@hse.ieMary Manning Tullamore NMPD marym.manning@hse.ie

The NMPDU continues to support organisations in developing ANP posts. There are several within the region at various stages of development, reflecting the innovative leadership of both the organisations and the candidate AN/MPs who, by their vision for role expansion possibilities in nursing and midwifery, are developing the job descriptions and site preparation documents.

Congratulations to Susanne Connolly at The National Children's Hospital, Tallaght who was awarded Registration as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner On the 31st January 2014 in Epilepsy (Children’s). She is the first Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Epilepsy in Ireland.

For further information about the development of ANP posts, please refer to the NMBI website for on-line resources and contact your local NMPDU.

Clinical Nurse/Midwife Specialist (CN/MSp) Accreditation

Advanced Nurse/Midwifery Practitioners

Innovation funding update 2014

Registration as Advanced Nurse Practitioner

ONMSD National Productive Ward/Releasing Time to Care™ Project