Celebrations as 78 nursing students graduate from Tallaght Hospital
By William O’Connor
Tallaght Hospital celebrated the graduation of 78 nursing students last week.
Among the graduates were 56 General Nurse Graduates from the class of 2013, 16 Children’s and General Integrated Degree Programme graduates (CGIDP) from the class of 2012 and six graduates with Higher Diplomas in Children’s Nursing from the class of 2016.
Generations: At the 2017 Nursing Graduation in Tallaght Hospital were mother and daughter Anne and Emma O'Doherty from Knocklyon. Anne (left) has recently retired from the Emergency Department in Tallaght Hospital. Anne's mother Mary O'Donnell is also pictured (right)
The six winners of the Clinical Lecturer in Nursing Award were also announced with clinical nurse managers and staff nurses from the Perioperative, Medical and Paediatric Directorates presented with awards.
The winners included; Clinical Nurse Manager Lareina Smith from Alice Reeves Day Ward, Staff Nurse Ivana Palesova from Franks Ward, Clinical Nurse Manager Orla Crowley from Ruttle Ward, Staff Nurse Olive Clarke from the Emergency Department, Clinical Nurse Manager Janet Carter from Oak Ward, and Staff Nurse Ciara Barry from Maple Ward.
Permanent nursing posts are being taken up by 63 of the 78 graduate nurses within the hospital following their graduation, continuing the hospital’s trend of retaining a large percentage of student nurses thanks to a bespoke Recruitment and Retention Package and career development opportunities.
The package, which aims to support the ongoing career development of all staff in the hospital, was devised in 2015 and includes interview skills workshops, induction programme, clinical skills workshop, access to the Centre of Learning and Development, career coaching, a buddy system and regular meetings with newly qualified nurses to reflect and share their experiences on the wards.
Speaking at the graduation, Áine Lynch, Director of Nursing said: “I want to congratulate each of those who have graduated today, along with their families who have undoubtedly supported them over the last few years.
“Nursing is an extremely rewarding career and the staff and management of Tallaght Hospital are committed to providing opportunities that can help develop nurses’ careers in the areas of medicine they are particularly interested in.
“We have a long tradition of providing supportive learning and development environments, so nurses can continue to develop their careers to support their ambitions.
“The introduction in 2015 of the Recruitment and Retention Package has been very successful in helping us retain quality Graduate nurses and in turn we are thrilled to confirm that 82 per cent of the class of 2013 will take up permanent positions in the hospital.”
