Hibernia College is developing a Bachelors degree in General Nursing. A completely innovative approach to undergraduate nurse education, this programme will be designed for the Hibernia College blended learning model and will be developed in partnership with Irish hospitals. Academic validation will be sought for a qualification leading to an NFQ Level 8, honours degree in general nursing and professional accreditation from the Irish Nursing and Midwifery Board (NMBI) for entry onto the General Register of Nurses.
This will be a full time programme with a significant proportion of places reserved for mature applicants and those applicants who have pursued relevant pre-nursing qualifications.
The unique nature of the programme will develop nurses who have a commitment to their profession and a resilience in the challenging context in which it is practiced. In making person-centred patient care and safety the core of all study, there will be a focus on empathy, mindfulness, and interpersonal communication, helping to educate future nurses who will have a deep understanding of the nature of care as well a highly developed capacity to be exemplary in clinical practice. This approach will also complement a model of integrated health care, where the patient – whether in hospital, community facility or at home – is at the centre of the nurse’s mission.
A student on a Hibernia College degree programme spends roughly half their time engaged in online activity, with the other half comprising face-to–face engagement and a professional placement component. Online learning does not equate to independent (self-directed) learning. Whilst all educational programmes have elements of independent learning, the Hibernia College approach is one where a very conscious and deliberate blend of teaching and learning methodologies is employed. The amount of time a student spends in various environments is carefully considered and a programme is explicitly designed to ensure that students have both reasonable and engaging opportunities to reach the programme intended learning outcomes – in this case, those of a professional nurse.
The programme will be developed in partnership with healthcare partners for provision in a blended mode. It will be designed to meet all criteria for full academic accreditation and to meet the Standards and Requirements of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI), whose approval will be required before the programme will be made available to applicants. It is intended that graduates of this proposed programme will meet all the requirements for professional nurse registration with the NMBI.
A key area for the Hibernia programme will be to develop nurses who have a commitment to their profession and a resilience in the challenging context in which it is practiced. In making person-centred patient care and safety the core of all study, there will be a focus on empathy, mindfulness, and interpersonal communication, helping to educate future nurses who will have a deep understanding of the nature of care as well a highly developed capacity to be exemplary in clinical practice. This approach will also complement a model of integrated health care, where the patient – whether in hospital, community facility or at home – is at the centre of the nurse’s mission.
Full costings have yet to be finalised for the programme, however, indicative fees will be in the range of €8,000 – €10,000 a year or part thereof. We are currently working with partners to a student loan scheme in place to facilitate students wishing to avail of the same.
Dr Rita Collins is the Programme Director for the BSc in Nursing at Hibernia College. She has extensive experience at third level in the areas of management of education, teaching and curriculum development within the nursing discipline. She qualified as a nurse and continued her education to undertake a Bachelor in Nursing Studies (Hons) (UCD), a Diploma in Computers in Education (TCD), a M Ed (UCD), and PhD in Information Studies (UCD which focused on the information behaviour of nurses when documenting nursing care. She was a lecturer in the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems in UCD until September 2014.
While at UCD she was involved in the development of blended learning modules. She has also been involved in many European projects under the ‘Lifelong Learning Programme’ and the team developed a programmes of learning for older people to engage them with ICT, this was followed by the development of a Master’s programme in elderly care. She spent four years as the External Examiner for the top-up BSc in Nursing at the University of Sheffield.
Rita has undertaken research on various topics. She has numerous published articles and has presented at a variety of national and international conferences. She has been an invited speaker at conferences in Seville, Spain, Romania and Nancy, France.
She is the current secretary (hon) of the Health Care Informatics Society of Ireland (HISI).
Naomi joined Hibernia College in 2015 as part of the Programme Development Team for the new undergraduate nursing programme. Initially qualifying in general nursing she moved on to specialise in Coronary Care. She gained an MSc in Nursing from Trinity College Dublin on the topic ‘continuing Education Needs for Critical Care Nurses’ before moving into full time education. During the course of her work she has developed an expertise for managing educational offerings for nurses working in various geographical locations.
She has extensive experience in the design and implementation of educational programmes for nursing and other healthcare professionals in Ireland and the UK.
Her areas of special interest include working with students who are making career changes into healthcare and with those who are returning to education. Naomi currently hold a certification as a Basic Life Instructor.
In order to meet the entry requirements for this programme, you should have a minimum education level equivalent to one of the following:
(a) Have obtained in the Leaving Certificate Examination a minimum grade of C3 in two higher level papers and a minimum grade of D3 in four ordinary or higher level papers in the following subjects:
Or
(b) Have obtained the following specific Level 5 Further Education and Training Certificates awarded by QQI or FETAC that provide links to Nursing and Midwifery Degree Programmes
In all cases, applicants must have achieved distinctions in five components including; • Anatomy and Physiology (5N0749 / D20001) • Nursing Theory and Practice (5N4325) • Human Growth and Development (5N1279) or Biology (5N2746)
Or
(c) You do not have either qualification a or b and you are over 23 since January 1st and would like to be assessed as a mature applicant.
More information on the Nursing and Midwifery Board (NMBI) base requirements can be found here
Please complete the information request form at the top of this page. You will be added to a database to receive updates about the BSc in General Nursing.
