NURSE MENTORSHIP A GREAT SUPPORT FOR NEW GRADUATES IN CUH Cork University Hospital (CUH) Nursing Services are delighted to be implementing an exciting new national nursing initiative, Nurse Mentorship, to support new graduate nurses at the outset of their nursing careers. This initiative is part of a collaboration between the Office of Nursing and Midwifery Services Directorate, the Chief Nursing office in the Department of Health, and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, and is being led out by the National Clinical Leadership Centre for Nursing and Midwifery (NCLC).
Sinéad Favier; Bébhinn O’Sullivan, NPDU; and Louise Murphy, ANP Rheumatology.
What is Mentorship? Mentorship is a mutually supportive relationship between a junior nurse and an experienced nurse. The aim is that the mentor and mentee are working in different clinical areas so there is a degree of objectivity to the relationship. The mentor undertakes a 1.5 hour online training session provided by the NCLC. A database of mentors is accessible to the mentees who choose a mentor whom they feel is appropriate for their needs. Mentoring is largely about meeting, communicating and jointly thinking through problems and opportunities which enhance nurse development leading to improved patient care.
What qualifications are needed to become a mentor? Enthusiasm for nursing and patient care is the ultimate qualification. Maintaining high standards in patient care whilst performing as a role model are also key. Mentors need to be at least 2 years qualified. Andrea Moriarty, Mary Davey & Bébhinn O’Sullivan, CUH Nurse Mentorship Leads, were delighted with the enthusiasm of their nursing colleagues across all disciplines in signing up to become
If you are interested in implementing mentorship in your site please contact Margaret by email: margaret.williams1@ hse.ie
mentors during the CUH Mentorship Information week in December 2021. They are launching the Nurse Mentorship programme in CUH on Tuesday, 1st March 2022 with a Lunch & Mingle for Mentors and Mentees. The focus is on recruiting and retaining nursing staff in CUH through providing support to our graduate nurses. Linking graduate nurses with experienced mentors will help them Irenesupport Gibson, and PhD guide candidate and through their first year as qualified staff nurses. Director of Programmes and Innovation, National Institute for “We wish to sincerely acknowledge and thank our nurses. In spite Prevention and Cardiovascular of the recent and on-going clinical challenges they have committed Health; Neil Johnson, Chief to assisting our graduate nurses to support them to bring their best Executive, Croí; and Dr Lisa Hynes, to the bedside and enable them to reach full Programmes, potential. We Head their of Health Croí. would like to thank Margaret Williams, the National Lead for her assistance and support in the implementation of mentorship to CUH,” said Bébhinn.
14,000 discharged from waiting list thanks to work of triage clinic Orthopaedic musculoskeletal (MSK) triage services have been improving the pathway of care for patients at Galway University Hospital (GUH). The triage clinic was established in 2012 with recruitment of two Clinical Specialist Physiotherapists to GUH. This was an initiative by the National Clinical Programme for Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery and National Clinical Program for Rheumatology in response to growing waiting lists and increasing waiting times for Orthopaedics and Rheumatology. The service in GUH initially focused on orthopaedics but over the nine years since its initiation, the service has expanded to four clinical specialist physiotherapists and now delivers a triage service to rheumatology. The specialist physiotherapists assess patients waiting on orthopaedic and rheumatology waiting lists and guide them to the most appropriate pathway of care for their condition. Those requiring specialist services can be identified more rapidly and directed to the most appropriate service. This has resulted in improved pathways of care for patients and more efficient use of consultant clinic appointments. To date almost 14,000 patients have been discharged from the waiting list without needing orthopaedic review. Of the patients attending specialist appointments following triage review, over 75% went on to have orthopaedic intervention.
Neasa De Búrca, Chartered Physiotherapist; Sharon O’Connor, Chartered Physiotherapist; John Galbraith, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and MSK Triage lead; Eilis Dolan, Chartered Physiotherapist; Joseph Malone, Chartered Physiotherapist; and Eoin Connolly, Chartered Physiotherapist.
Colin Murphy, Orthopaedic Lead, GUH acknowledged the milestone. “The huge amount of work has been invested by a dedicated team of professionals to establish and run this service. Despite the recent setbacks in our hospitals, our MSK physiotherapy triage service has continued to see and assess a large number of patients, improving not only access to care for patients on particular orthopaedic and rheumatology waiting lists, and those in most need, but in selecting the most appropriate care pathway for each patient group and providing timely advice to those who attend MSK clinics.”
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