TNMU Institute of Nursing Delegation Visited the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

On May 17-25, 2024, at the initiative of the Nursing Development Centre of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and its head Kateryna Komar, as well as with the support of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, a delegation of Ternopil National Medical University consisting of the Director of the Academic and Research Institute of Nursing Svitlana Danchak and her deputy Liudmyla Mazur visited the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI).

This visit is part of a large-scale program aimed at strengthening international cooperation in the field of higher nursing education and establishing partnerships. To achieve the goal, each participant of the visit presented their institution.

TNMU and its Institute of Nursing were represented by Svitlana Danchak, who spoke about the three levels of higher education at Ternopil Medical University, in particular the first (bachelor’s), second (master’s) and third (educational and research) levels of higher education.

The main goal of the program was to study the experience of Irish colleagues. The program of the visit included a discussion of the global strategic directions of nursing and midwifery in Ireland with Professor Mark White (Executive Dean Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery), modern approaches to the formation of a leadership role in nursing with Professor Marie Carney (Former Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery and Coordinator of the RCSI HG ANP Forum), as well as coordination of leadership cooperation between departments with Eileen Carruthers (President of Irish Association of Directors of Nursing and Midwifery).

The participation of nurses in the care of older people was discussed with Deirdre Lang (Director of Nursing/National Lead Older Persons Services/Clinical & Integrated Programs at Health Service Executive and Board Member, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery). Together with Derek Cribbin (Nurse Lead, National Critical Care Programme), the national resuscitation program and the creation of a national clinical centre for nursing and midwifery were considered (Marie Kilduff and Mags Williams, Director and Deputy Director, National Clinical Leadership Centre for Nursing and Midwifery) . Through a meeting with Ms. Fiona Colbert, Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioner (Cardiology), the delegation was able to learn that ANP nurses in Ireland have extended powers to perform which must be obtained appropriate postgraduate education and certification to enable advanced clinical practice, including patient diagnosis and treatment, medication administration and care management.

In order to borrow positive experience and improve higher nursing education in Ukraine, the experience of the development and evolution of undergraduate nursing in Ireland was studied (Paul Mahon, Operations and Education Manager, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery), the formation of postgraduate education of nurses and midwives (Denise McKernan, Program Lead, Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Advancement, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery) and obtained convincing facts of the need for continuous education of nurses (Prof. Mary Rose Sweeney, Executive Vice Dean for Education, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery). Of particular note was the discussion of writing research papers for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing with Dr. Aglecia Budri (Lecturer and Program Director School of Nursing and Midwifery, Lead Researcher Skin, Wounds and Trauma Centre), where RCSI for 2024 is nine such works.

The information and photographs were provided by Svitlana Danchak.