UCC SONM 25 Year Book

UCC / School of Nursing and Midwifery

A number of Policy Documents were commissioned and published during this period including The Years Ahead (Government of Ireland, 1988) a policy document for elderly care and Shaping A Healthier Future (Government of Ireland, 1994) which set down general principles for the development of services. This was followed by a series of specialist strategies.

Governed by Legislation

Nurses supported State control and registration of qualifications and thus the Nurses State Registration Act of 1919 provided for the establishment of the General Nursing Council (GNC) of Ireland to make rules, register nurses and control training institutions. Subsequently Schools were officially established in hospitals and were inspected to ensure adequacy of opportunity for learning, curricula were based on requirements of the Council and Council examinations were introduced. The General Nursing Council (Ireland), (1919) existed until 1950. Nursing and Midwifery are regulated by legislation. The Nurses’ Act 1950 made provision for a single agency. In 1951 the Irish Nursing Board (An Bord Altranais (ABA) was founded and the General Nursing Council and Central Midwives Boards were disbanded. An Bord Altranais quickly established rules and regulations regarding schools, developed curricula requirements, identified teaching numbers and set state board examinations. Schools of Nursing were situated within the hospitals, the Matron of the hospital was in administrative

The An Bord Altranais logo is a representation of Saint Brigid’s cross or Brigit’s cross which is a small cross usually woven from rushes. The cross and garlands motif was selected by Dr. Patrick MacCarvill (an obstetrician), the last Chairman of the General Nursing Council for Ireland and the first President of An Bord Altranais. It is believed that the motif was chosen to represent both nursing and midwifery. The badge was worn by generations of nurses and midwives after registration.

charge of nurse training, the post of Principal Tutor was created and schools were staffed with tutors and sometimes clinical teachers. The annual intake in Schools varied, facilities changed over time and methods of teaching and teaching supports evolved. This led to the introduction of a block release system for nurse education and training where nurses were given an initial period of classroom induction. This was followed by four week periods of classroom based education at regular intervals with curricula content guided by An Bord Altranais (ABA) regulation and EU Directives. The Nurses Act 1985 further regulated nursing practice, gave statutory powers and authority to the profession, established a live register, and extended powers with respect to fitness to practice. In 1972, Ireland joined the European Union (formerly European Economic Community

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