Nursing Degrees Online

Leaving Certificate:
Passes in 6 subjects (including 2 at minimum HC3) including those shown below:

Irish
English
Mathematics
One laboratory science subject
Two other recognised subjects

A-level applicants

All other EU applicants

Non-EU applicants

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
As you will be required to work with a diverse range of people experiencing a variety of health-related problems, it is important to protect the health and safety of all concerned. As part of the admission requirements you must agree to participate in and complete the following:
• Health screening questionnaire
• Garda vetting (including overseas police clearance, if applicable
• Vaccination program
• Clinical placement protocols

FETAC Applicants
A small quota of places will be available in 2009 for holders of a FETAC Level 5 qualification.

Overview: Understanding Your Degree

If you are attracted to a ‘hands-on’ career in mental healthcare, then Psychiatric Nursing is for you.

This exciting four-year degree in Psychiatric Nursing prepares you to meet the mental health needs of adults and their families in the 21st century.

Approximately half the programme is delivered in the UCD Health Sciences Centre, Belfield. Here you will benefit from interacting with other healthcare students, having access to top-of-the-range lecture facilities, library, information and computing resources, skills laboratories and student resource rooms. Lectures draw upon knowledge from the biological, sociological, behavioural and nursing sciences. Emphasis is placed on developing your critical thinking abilities and learning through the process of self-reflection.

The other half of the programme comprises hands-on, practice-based clinical placements spread throughout the four years. The majority of clinical placements (including a nine-month paid placement in Stage 4) will be spent in our partner healthcare centres:
• St John of God Hospital, Stillorgan
• Cluain Mhuire Community Services

Career Opportunities

Your Psychiatric Nursing degree is the beginning of an exciting and rewarding career in this fascinating field. As well as opening up opportunities for you to travel and work throughout Europe, the Middle East, Canada, Australia and beyond*, the option for career progression here in Ireland is also on the rise.
Due to the presently evolving role of psychiatric nursing in modern healthcare systems, many nurses now choose to specialise in areas such as addiction, forensics and child mental health.

* Registration in Ireland does not automatically provide a licence to practise abroad

Mental health nursing is a challenging branch of nursing that requires exceptional communication skills. Other key qualities required include an empathetic nature and the desire to assist people with complex and varied problems.

You will learn to nurse and communicate with people of all ages and ranges of mental health problems and will have the opportunity to study within both the community and hospital-based facilities.

Areas of study include the theoretical issues relating to mental health nursing, mental health in the context of the family, group-based approaches toward mental healthcare and contributing factors within the context of the community. You will also have the opportunity to further your clinical skills in a variety of care settings including acute adult, older adult, rehabilitation, forensic and community placements.

Geriatric Nursing

Course content
Due to the aging of our population an important part of care will have to be provided for the elderly. An adequate programme is therefore a real necessity. Nurses must not only rely on experience when caring for elderly people. A theoretical and evidence based approach is a must.

Work placement
Work placements are an important part of the curriculum. Overall half of the curriculum is work placement. The first year there will be about 1/3 of work placements. The second year, it will be 1/2 and in the third year, it will be up to 2/3. During the work placement, the students are tutored by lecturers from the department and also by mentors from the wards and health care institutions.

A lot of attention is paid to the preparation, introduction, and evaluation of the work placements. The average amount of hours per week is 34.

In the first year, students don’t have work placements during the weekends. In the second and third year four weekends are part of the work placements. In the third year students have four nights of work placements.

During Christmas, Easter and summer holidays there are no work placements. The work placements are tutored either as bedside tutoring, tutoring of the student’s learning process or supervision.

Job opportunities
A nursing bachelor means that you are polyvalent and that you can apply for a job in almost every health caring sector all over Europe: hospitals, geriatric nursing, revalidation, mental healthcare, healthcare at home, disability healthcare, but also in an independent practice, company life and schooling.

Mental health nursing is a challenging branch of nursing that requires exceptional communication skills. Other key qualities required include an empathetic nature and the desire to assist people with complex and varied problems.

You will learn to nurse and communicate with people of all ages and ranges of mental health problems and will have the opportunity to study within both the community and hospital-based facilities.

Areas of study include the theoretical issues relating to mental health nursing, mental health in the context of the family, group-based approaches toward mental healthcare and contributing factors within the context of the community. You will also have the opportunity to further your clinical skills in a variety of care settings including acute adult, older adult, rehabilitation, forensic and community placements.