University College Cork

The Postgraduate Certificate in Nursing is a part-time programme running for 6 months from the date of first registration for the programme. The Certificate has six pathways and applicants choose their pathway at the application stage. The pathways are as follows:

Pathway 1: Gerontological Nursing
Pathway 2: Contemporary Issues in Intellectual Disabilities (Not on offer for 2018/19)
Pathway 3: Medical and Surgical Nursing
Pathway 4: Nursing in the Community (Not on offer 2018/2019)
Pathway 5: Nurse/Midwife Prescribing
Pathway 6: Orthopaedic Nursing (Not on offer 2018/2019)
Pathway 7: Oncology Nursing

Entry Requirements

Applicants for the Postgraduate Certificate in Nursing should normally:

(a) hold active registration on a division of the professional register maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland or be eligible for such registration as required for individual pathways:

Pathway 1: Applicants must be Registered General Nurses or Registered Intellectual Disability Nurses or Registered Psychiatric Nurses.

Pathway 2: Applicants must be Registered Nurses in Intellectual Disability or Registered General Nurses/Registered Children's Nurses/Registered Psychiatric Nurses currently working in an intellectual disability setting.

Pathways 3, 6 and 7: Applicants must be Registered General Nurses.

Pathways 4 and 5: Applicants must be either Registered General Nurses or Registered Intellectual Disability Nurses or Registered Children's Nurses or Registered Psychiatric Nurses or Registered Midwives.

(b) have clinical practice experience (and support structures, if applicable) as required for individual pathways:

Pathways 1 and 3: Applicants must have a minimum of six months' post-registration experience (excluding courses) and at least three months experience in the speciality pathway applied for.

Pathway 2: Applicants who are Registered Nurses in Intellectual Disability must have a minimum of six months' post registration experience (excluding courses) and at least three months experience in intellectual disability nursing OR if a Registered General/Children's/Psychiatric nurse must have a minimum of one year's post-registration experience (excluding courses) in intellectual disability nursing.

Pathway 5: Applicants must have a minimum of 3 years post-registration experience (excluding courses). The required experience must have been gained within the past 5 years with at least one year in the area in which prescribing is proposed. In addition, applicants must (ii) demonstrate continuous professional development and ability to study at Level 9; (iii) provides support from employer and completed Site Self-Declaration Form, signed by the Director of Nursing/Midwifery/Public Health; (iv) provide nomination and confirmation of a designated medical practitioner mentor (completed Site Self-Declaration Form, signed by the Medical Practitioner/Mentor) who will provide the student with supervision, support and opportunities including shadowing opportunities. Applicants must contact their Director of Nursing/Midwifery/Public Health to discuss the identified need for nurse/midwife prescribing in his/her practice area/organisation.

Pathway 6: No experience required but must work in orthopaedic speciality area.

Note Re. Pathway 4: Applicants for Postgraduate Certificate in Nursing in the Community are not required to have community nursing experience at the point of entry to this programme pathway.

Note Re. Pathway 7: Applicants for Postgraduate Certificate in Nursing Oncology are not required to have oncology nursing experience at the point of entry to this programme pathway.

If you are applying with Qualifications obtained outside Ireland and you wish to verify if you meet the minimum academic and English language requirements for this programme please click here to view the grades comparison table by country and for details of recognised English language tests.

Non-EU Candidates

Non-EU candidates are expected to have educational qualifications of a standard equivalent to Irish university primary degree level. In addition, where such candidates are non-native speakers of the English language they must satisfy the university of their competency in the English language. To verify if you meet the minimum academic requirements for this programme please visit our qualification comparison pages.

For more detailed entry requirement information please refer to the International website .