Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 November 2014
384. Deputy Seán Kenny asked the Minister for Health his views regarding qualified nurses leaving the country following qualification; the incentives in place to encourage nurses to remain here on completion of their training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43950/14]
View answerOn average each year, undergraduate nurse programmes in Ireland produce circa 1,500 graduate nurses. Nurses intending to practice outside the jurisdiction of Ireland must seek registration verification from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. In the period 2011 to 2013, the following numbers of new graduate Nurses have requested verification in each respective year; 216, 234 and 264. The number of verification requests for the September 2014 Nursing graduates to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland currently stands at 105.
There are a number of strategies in place to encourage the retention of nurses that include:
- the Nurse and Midwife Graduate Education Programme which offers a structured two-year programme of further education and development to new graduate Nurses, with the further option more recently of a 2 year contract of employment on full salary for those nurses and midwives currently participating in the programme. Additionally there are other contractual options available to nursing and midwifery graduates through the normal recruitment processes;
- financial support for education programmes including clinical Higher Diplomas and Masters, by the Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director;
- support for leadership and management development by the Nursing and Midwifery Planning Development Units and the Leadership and Innovation Centre;
- educational opportunities to support continuous professional development at local level provided by the Centres for Nursing and Midwifery Education;
- regularisation of nursing and midwifery acting positions is currently underway to stabilise and retain nursing and midwifery leadership in accordance with the Haddington Road Agreement; and finally
- the HSE is currently undertaking a national HSE Employee Survey, to determine employee's attitudes to their employers, work practices, culture and communications across the health services. The survey results will be used to improve the working lives of staff, leading to better care for patients.
