Nursing - Principles of Intensive Care Nursing

The Professional Diploma in Nursing (Principles of Intensive Care Nursing) programme is a 20 credit, level 8 programme offered in partnership between the University College Dublin (UCD) School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems (SNMHS) and the Blackrock Clinic. The Intensive Care Unit in the Blackrock Clinic is a mixed surgical and medical unit.

Who is the programme for?
This programme is for registered nurses employed in the Blackrock Clinic who wish to gain experience, knowledge, skills and proficiency in the care of patients within the Intensive care environment.

Programme objectives
build upon and advance the student's repertoire of knowledge, skills, attitudes and professional values that were developed during their undergraduate education and arising out of his/her experiences in clinical practice.

provide the student with the requisite knowledge, skills, attitudes and professional values for the advancement of his/her specialist knowledge in the care of patients and their families in the Intensive Care Unit in the Blackrock Clinic.

provide students with an opportunity for personal growth and professional development.

enable the student to value learning as a continuous and necessary process in the context of intensive care nursing.

You will be able to safely and competently care for critically ill patients in the Intensive Care environment in the Blackrock Clinic. On successful completion you be awarded a 10 credit exemption from the Graduate Diploma Nursing Critical Care Intensive Care programme which leads on to a Master's Degree in Critical Care Nursing.

Major strengths

UCD has a long history of producing high quality graduates

This programme is highly focused on enhancing your clinical practice and the achievement of realistic and attainable attributes in the practice of nursing in the Intensive Care environment in the Blackrock Clinic Hospital

Clinical and university-based lecturers with national and international expertise from clinical, research and educational perspectives

The Programme employs a variety of innovative assessment strategies with a strong clinical focus

Extensive use of IT in supporting the teaching environment of the programme

Access to excellent facilities for lectures

Programme structure
The programme consists of 20 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credits at National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) Level 8. The two modules are offered in sequence to facilitate targeted learning for the student. The programme duration is from September to May.

The two modules are as follows:

NMHS 32440: Core Theoretical Concepts of Nursing Care for the Critically Ill Patient: This module is designed to provide students with the theoretical foundation for entry into critical care nursing practice.

NMHS 32430: Theoretical and Clinical Nursing Care related to Specialised Patient Groups within the Intensive Care Unit. The module will focus on the principles and practice of Intensive Care nursing related to cardiothoracic, vascular,and thoracic surgery, also medical patients requiring advanced haemodynamic monitoring and therapeutic modalities.

All applicants must hold a primary degree in Nursing (or equivalent in related discipline)/RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) consideration if applicant does not hold a degree

All applicants must be entered onto the appropriate division of the Nurses Register maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI)

All applicants must be employed in the intensive care unit in the Blackrock Clinic for the duration of the programme and work a minimum of 75 hours per month. Further information is available on the Blackrock Clinic website

In addition, each student must provide documented evidence from the Director of Nursing in the clinical practice area, which guarantees a placement for the duration of the programme

It is essential that you have access to a personal computer and an email account as communication with students is primarily undertaken by email. Lecture handouts/announcements are made available to students via Blackboard (a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that supports online learning and teaching) and/or via email. Messages from the university regarding examination policy and procedures are also sent via email.

Applications are made online through UCD Applications. ?Applicants may be required to undertake an interview (either face-to-face or via telecommunication) as part of the admission process.

Please note that all applicants are required to pay a €50 application fee. Your application cannot be processed fully unless the application fee has been paid.

Documents to be submitted on application

Original transcript(s) including date and grading of degree award (non UCD Graduates only) and notarised English translations where relevant

A current photocopy of NMBI registration

Copy of Birth Certificate or Personal Page of Passport

Signed Declaration Form from Employer (original form) Declaration Form

Completed Professional Reference Form (original form) Professional Reference Form

Evidence of proficiency in English language (applicants whose first language is not English)

1 year part-time