Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 165: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the extent to which the number of nurses in training is likely to be adequate to meet requirements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10878/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The current number of undergraduate nursing degree places, each year, across the individual courses is as follows:

As a result the total number of nursing undergraduates currently in training is approximately 7,000. My Department and the HSE, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, is initiating a review of different aspects of the undergraduate nursing degree programme and its findings will inform the future direction of the programme.

By international standards Ireland has a high number of nurses graduating each year. In fact the O.E.C.D. (Health at a Glance 2009) indicates that Ireland at 32.5 is close to the OECD average of 35.5 nursing graduates per 100,000 population.

In comparison to many other countries, Ireland has a relatively high ratio of nurses to population. Compared to others, Ireland has relatively fewer nursing assistants or health care assistants working with nurses. If we can achieve a more efficient and effective use of the nursing resource through advanced practice, improved skill mix and more flexible and efficient rostering this would impact on the projected nursing requirements.

The planned reconfiguration of many of HSE's front line services will also be of assistance in this regard. This reconfiguration includes conversion of in-patient work to day-care work, focusing on reducing patient length of stay in acute hospitals, reducing in-patient bed numbers and providing more services in community settings thus reducing dependency on in-patient beds.

In recent years much progress has been made in the better utilisation of the nursing resource and a number of initiatives have been introduced which facilitate nurses and midwives expanding their roles and improving the services provided to patients and clients. I have amended the relevant legislation and introduced new regulations to allow for the introduction of nurse and midwife prescribing. Currently approximately 400 nurses and midwives have commenced or completed the education programme for nurse and midwife prescribing. These programmes are conducted in University College Cork and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. There are currently 154 registered Nurse/Midwife Prescribers from a diversity of health service providers and clinical areas throughout the Health Service Executive with the authority to prescribe medicinal products.

I have introduced the necessary regulation to authorise nurses to refer an individual for medical ionising radiation (X-Ray). The introduction of this expanded practice for nurses is a significant initiative in the Irish health service and will have implications for service users in terms of convenience, cost-effectiveness, improved access to radiology services and simplification of the patient journey.

The continuous development of Advanced Nurse Practitioner posts (121 approved) and Clinical Specialist posts (2066 approved) to meet specific service needs in the nursing and midwifery disciplines are further examples of developments in this area.

A small, but extremely significant development in the better utilisation of nurses is the new role nurses are playing in Sexual Assault Treatment Units (SATU). Eight nurses have successfully completed the Higher Diploma in Nursing -Sexual Assault Forensic Examination programme. These nurses are now working in their sponsoring SATU areas providing holistic care and undertaking the clinical forensic examination of the victims of sexual assault. This work was previously only undertaken by doctors.

Another example of the new and more effective use of the nursing and midwifery resource is the key role that a large number of nurses and midwives are playing in the administration of the H1N1 vaccine in the current Swine Flu vaccination campaign.

I regard nursing and midwifery as key elements of our health services and I am currently finalising a new Nurses and Midwives Bill. This will not only recognise midwifery as a separate and distinct profession but will modernise the regulatory framework for these professions and align it to the frameworks governing other health care professions. The new legislation will enhance the protection of the public in its dealings with the professions and ensure the integrity of nursing and midwifery through the continued promotion of high standards of professional education, training and practice and professional conduct.