THE Nursing Department in Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital celebrated 40 years of Orthopaedic Nursing Education recently with over 100 guests at a reception in the Lady Martin Auditorium in Cappagh.
The event took place on Thursday, October 20, and guests included representatives of the Royal College of Surgeons, Religious Sisters of Charity, Nursing & Midwifery Planning & Development, past and current educational instructors and current and past nurses.
Director of Nursing in Cappagh, Kathy O’Sullivan, said the body of nursing knowledge has increased exponentially over the past four decades.
“As a result of this ever expanding body of knowledge, nurses have tended to gravitate to individual specialities and to concentrate their expertise in one area,” she added.
“While orthopaedic nurse education started here in the ‘60s, the formal accredited programmes commenced in 1976 and we are delighted to be celebrating this milestone.”
Official records of education date from 1976 with Cappagh Hospital’s Orthopaedic Nurse Education programme, and it was the only certificate programme recognised by An Bord Altranais (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland – NMBI) when it commenced.
Registered Nurses came bi-annually for the year-long course. In 1991, the Faculty of Nursing, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and Cappagh Hospital joined forces to run a one-year Diploma Programme in Orthopaedic Nursing and this ran bi-annually until 1999.
A new Higher Diploma in Nursing Studies (Orthopaedic Nursing) commenced in September 1999 in conjunction with the RCSI and approved by NMBI.
This came about as a result of developments in undergraduate nursing programmes. In the initial stages of this development, students were qualifying with Diplomas and as these programmes developed, they were awarded their Degrees in General Nursing.
Further developments came about with the nurse education programmes for qualified nurses in the RCSI (including the Orthopaedic Programme) in 2006/07 with the introduction of the Post Graduate Diploma in Nursing in a number of specialist areas.
The first group of nurses from Cappagh completed this orthopaedic programme in 2008. This educational strand provides a pathway for Masters Level education for the registered nurse.
Over the 40 year period from 1976-2016, more than 60 programmes were held with 479 nurses completing them. A total of 234 nurses graduated with a Certificate in Orthopaedic Nursing, 124 with a Diploma in Orthopaedic Nursing, 78 with a Higher Diploma in Nursing Studies (Orthopaedic Nursing) and 43 with a Post Graduate Diploma in Orthopaedic Nursing.
This month, a further five registered nurses will receive their awards at a graduation ceremony.
There are currently 11 nurses enrolled in programmes with a further two commencing in January 2017.
“We are delighted to be celebrating our 40th anniversary of orthopaedic nurse education in this historic year of 2016 and also to be celebrating a 25 year association with the Faculty and School of Nursing in the RCSI,” said Rosemary Masterson, Nurse Tutor in Cappagh.
