Nursing in Ireland

Nursing School in Ireland is much different from that at the University of Pittsburgh, or any other school in the world for that matter. In the United States, students enter general nursing programs and obtain the same education. They take the same classes and participate in the same clinical rotations. Everyone in nursing school indeed has different aspirations, goals, and dreams surrounding their nursing careers, and that is no different in Ireland. However, the education needed to reach those nursing career goals is much different. Here in Ireland, they have four different nursing domains that students enter before they even start their first class. The four domains offered are the ones of Intellectual disability, mental health, general nursing, and midwifery. Thus, each student is placed into one of these domains before they even begin their college careers. These groups take distinct classes that prepare them for their very specific nursing professions. However, this system provides fewer opportunities to switch specialties than in most other areas of the world. For example, if a student in a mental health nursing program would decide after reaching the midpoint of his/her college career would decide that he/she wanted to switch to intellectual disability nursing, the program would start from the beginning, rather than carrying on from where they had left off. Students must be sure of their choice of specialty before they enter their college program. The classes themselves are very much similar to our own in lecture halls, except for a slight language barrier to our group.
Another striking difference in education in Trinity College Dublin’s nursing program was their hands-on and clinical learning experience. At Pitt, we have a hands-on lab course that we must complete with added skills and competencies before moving into our junior years. Ireland does not have a nursing skills lab equivalent. These students just get a thorough explanation of these clinical tasks before being trained right in the clinical setting. This at first felt as if these Irish students were not getting enough clinical training, but I was incorrect. Students here in their fourth year are placed into clinical internship placements. These paid internships are year-long and involve extensive hands-on learning that takes place in the hospital. These hours are much more than the ones that we will receive in the hospital at Pitt, making these students more than qualified.
The last striking difference in education here in Ireland is the cost. Here for students, college is free. Students only must pay for housing and food accommodations in Ireland, which total nowhere near close to what many students pay for college in the United States. These stark differences are the reason why I found it incredibly interesting and insightful to study healthcare in the country of Ireland.