The opening of a new school of nursing at Maynooth University will help develop a “sustainable workforce” and will focus on community and primary care as opposed to hospital settings alone, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has said.
On Friday, the Kildare-based university officially launched its new school of nursing, which accepted 27 undergraduate students in September last.
The number of students is due to rise to 100 within four years to meet national demand for nursing education.
The programme was delivered in partnership with the HSE Dublin and Midlands region, and includes “inclusive pathways and flexible progression routes” to support students from diverse backgrounds, including mature and further education learners, to specialise in nursing.
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The curriculum reflects the national shift toward community-based models of care, preparing graduates for roles across integrated care hubs, minor injury units and community settings.
Prof Fintan Sheerin, founding head of the school of nursing said, said the programme places community “at the centre” of nurse education - a key aspect of the Sláintecare reforms.
“Rather than training solely for hospital settings, we are preparing graduates to support health and wellbeing where people live — in homes, clinics and community care hubs,“ he said.
Concerns have been raised about the State’s growing over-dependence on internationally trained healthcare staff, with the OECD last year stating it risks “exacerbating workforce shortages and overall fragility in source countries, often lower-income nations already grappling with acute health workforce constraints”.
Kate Killeen White, regional executive officer at the HSE Dublin and Midlands Region, said by training nurses locally and aligning education with service delivery, “we’re building a sustainable workforce ready to deliver high-quality, person-centred care closer to home”.
Tony Fitzpatrick, director of professional services at the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, welcomed the expansion of undergraduate places, adding that “more places are needed in each university and technological university that offers nursing and midwifery courses”.
Mr Fitzpatrick added that there was a need to ensure these new trainees remain in the Irish health service to reduce the State’s “chronic and unsustainable over-dependence” on international nurses and midwives.
