Nursing, for a long time, has been one of the most demanding and fulfilling careers anyone can have. This is as a result of the numerous challenges that come with the career.
At the same time, there are several advantages for nurses in Ireland, such as job flexibility, and a wide variety of opportunities in the career.
As a nurse, you can travel around the world. The career effectively gives you a passport to do that. It also offers good job security, excellent maternity plans, and a true vocation for life.
Now, as a nurse working in Ireland, you have the opportunity to work in a world-class healthcare system.
According to The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Ireland has the 8th best healthcare system in the world.
For a small country, that is extremely impressive. In a different study from 2017, Ireland was found to have the 13th best healthcare system in the world.
The quality of the healthcare system in Ireland is not only amazing for your career, but it is also amazing for you. This is because as a nurse living in the country, you also get to enjoy one of the best healthcare services. This is undoubtedly a double win for you.
We understand the fact that the decision to move to a new country will always be a tough one. Trying to decide if you are making the right move for yourself, your career, or your family.
The good news is that Ireland, without a doubt, is one of the best options for healthcare workers. You get to enjoy a higher income, a happier work life, and lots more.
All in all, a career in nursing is an emotionally fulfilling and personally rewarding one that offers excellent job prospects, a wide range of areas to specialize in, and wonderful salaries. A nursing career in Ireland will provide plenty of opportunity and variety for any nurse working there.
We will advise that before you decide to take up a career in nursing or apply to a nursing school, you should be sure that it is the career you want after all.
Make sure you do not enter with doubts, so you do not complete a degree and then go on to hate it. Instead, think about the decision carefully and be honest with yourself before you start.
Number of Nurses in Ireland
The nursing profession in Ireland provides plenty of opportunities and variety for people with nursing careers.
Although the health care system in Ireland is modern and reasonably efficient, changes are still needed to improve their patient facilities, reduce waiting lists and develop better working conditions for medical staff, especially nurses.
All nurses and midwives who practice in the country must be registered on the Register of Nurses and Midwives. This is maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).
On this note, currently, there are over 82,000 nurses registered by the NMBI. Out of this number, over 65,000 are on the active register.
Vacancy for Nurses in Ireland
Several nurses have Ireland as one of their options when it comes to looking for greener pastures.
The country has many of them trooping in their numbers. The truth is, it is not only because the nurses are looking for better career opportunities that they move to Ireland, it is also because the country is actively looking for them.
A recent report from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization states that there are approximately more than 13,000 nursing and midwifery vacancies in hospitals in Ireland.
One reason for this is that Ireland has an aging population. This makes the demand for healthcare services and healthcare professionals grow higher each passing day. Another reason nurses are in high demand in Ireland is because of their ability to complete many primary care services.
According to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, nursing and midwifery levels have fallen by more than 3,000 since 2007. Any qualified nurse from any country in the world that moves to Ireland has plenty of job opportunities waiting for him/her.
Like I said earlier, just as Ireland is a great place to work, it is also a great place to live and raise a family.
This means that it is not just the demand for healthcare professionals that is driving nurses to make a move to the country. So, if you are worried about the move being the right one for you, your career, and your family, I hope this helps you make up your mind.
Nurses’ Salaries in Ireland
The average salary of healthcare workers can vary significantly from one country to another. For instance, some nurses can get paid extremely well in one country, while in other countries, the nurses there might be underpaid when the salaries are compared.
However, healthcare workers in Ireland can attest to a good salary. In fact, nurses who work in Ireland get paid the third highest average salary in the world.
The average salary for a Registered Nurse in Ireland is $45,456 per year. This translates to $23.31 per hour. For nurses who are in entry-level positions, the salary can start at $38,434 per year. For nurses who are more experienced, they can make up to $56,811 per year.
Nurses’ Jobs in Ireland
Nurses in Ireland are often under a lot of pressure to do several complex tasks quickly and they have to be perfect all the time.
They may also get to work in a less critical, more relaxed environment with patients who are not critically ill. This would mean that they have more time to talk, listen and plan with these patients and families.
There are over 1,000 nursing jobs available throughout Ireland in the urban and rural areas within the Acute, Mental Health, and Intellectual Disability Services.
Within these services, there are a plethora of roles available. Whatever your temperament or personality, you are very likely to find a specialty in nursing that suits you.
You can decide to work with patients of any age or demographic that you want to work with. These patients can range from premature newborns to the elderly, or from school children who need check-ups to adults who are undergoing critical procedures or elective plastic surgery. There is an endless scope and the decision is all yours to make.
After you qualify as a nurse in Ireland, your career begins. You are most likely to begin your career as a Staff Nurse.
This is the beginning of the real experience and understanding of the world of nursing. It usually happens in a hospital or care home environment. But of course, the more experience you gather, the more senior roles will become available to you.
There are also educational and management roles for you to explore, such as student mentors or matron.
As a matron, you get to oversee some wards. As a nurse, you get to work in a variety of different settings such as hospitals, care homes, nursing homes, schools, and sexual health clinics.
The career options that are available to registered nurses are numerous. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) maintains the Register of Nurses and Midwives in Ireland.
The Register contains twelve divisions. In Ireland, you can use the designated (abbreviated) letters, if you are registered with NMBI in the corresponding division of the Register. There is a table of the divisions, it can be viewed here.
You should note that it is an offense to practice as a nurse or a midwife in the country if you are not on the Register.
Courses for Nurses in Ireland
The nursing profession is one within the health care sector that focuses on caring for individuals, families, and communities. They care for them so that they can achieve, maintain or restore optimal health and good quality of life.
As a nursing student in Ireland, you will be well-equipped on how to become a nurse and ensure that the clinic or hospital you are assigned to functions properly.
You will be well educated on how to work under critical medical conditions. You will also be educated on the appropriate communication skills you would need in a healthcare facility.
It is pertinent for nursing students and registered nurses who have the desire to gain a degree in nursing in Ireland to know that the country has a reputation for academic excellence.
The country is also known to have one of the best education systems in the world. This attracts a large number of international students annually.
There are five routes one can take to become a nurse in Ireland. Now you should know that not every university offers these routes, so you will have to find one that has exactly what you are looking for.
Degrees in nursing prepare students who are dedicated to being responsible for all aspects of patient care before, after, and during treatment. They are trained to help patients who are on their road to recovery.
These nursing degrees prepare nurse graduates to become professionals who can specialize in Child Nursing, Adult Nursing, Disability Nursing, and Mental Health Nursing. Or, if they want, take more senior positions, like head nursing jobs.
There is a comprehensive list of all undergraduate honors degree programs that can lead to registration with The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI). You can view it here.
Now, let us look at some benefits of studying nursing in Ireland:
- As an international student studying for a nursing degree in Ireland, you are allowed to work while your school. You can work up to 20 hours per week during school sessions in hospitality or as a nursing assistant.
- After spending six months getting a nursing degree in an accredited university in the country, you become a registered nurse.
This gives you the opportunity to earn over an average of $35,696 per year after you have been employed in a healthcare facility in Ireland. Although the salary varies, depending on the experience, role, and location of the facility.
Requirements and IELTS Scores for Nurses in Ireland
As a nurse, there are some attributes that are required of you. These attributes would help you flourish in your nursing career. Some of these attributes are:
- Being A Good Listener:
Being a good listener will help you build trust and have a good relationship with your patients, clients, and colleagues. It will also help you in your detective role, as you search for clues that help with accurate diagnosis and appropriate care for your patients.
- Enjoying Meeting New People:
The chances of you meeting new people every day as a nurse are very high. Being genuinely excited and enjoying meeting new people will help you build your communication skills, which are also essential in your career.
- Open To Learning And Continual Personal Development:
As a nurse, you need to be committed to the idea of lifelong learning. This is because every day would present new challenges and it might come as a burden if you are not open to it and ready to learn every day.
- Approachable:
As a nurse, being approachable is equally important. It makes patients, clients, and their families find it easier to come to you with their problems. Also, you have to be mindful about assisting people in any way you can and help them live independent, healthy, and happy lives.
Besides these attributes, if you want to be a nursing student and get a bachelor’s in nursing in Ireland, you would have to provide the following requirements:
- A secondary school education certificate. The certificate should contain three compulsory subjects; biology, physics, and mathematics.
- An English Level Test; IELT with grades between 6.0-7.0, TOEFEL ranging between 88 and 93, PTE with an overall score that ranges between 61-63.
- A personal statement that includes your interests and achievements in the academic and professional course. You can also include the experience that you would want to gather when studying nursing in Ireland.
We advise that you pay the full tuition fee before applying for a visa. This way, the Irish officials who are in charge of granting admission would see that you can afford to study at the university. To the effect, a bank statement must be provided, showing the cost of living and the full tuition fees.
Students who want to study MSC Nursing or Top-up Nursing in Ireland, are expected to have a bachelor’s degree in Nursing with at least second-class honors. They must also be Registered Nurses in their home country.
The requirement for master’s degree programs is a long list. The most important of them are practical experience and basic knowledge in the field of nursing. Also, as an applicant, you are to provide a document proving that you are a registered nurse.
Is Ireland good for nurses?
According to the World Health Organization, Ireland ranks second-highest for reliance on foreign-trained doctors and nurses.
Why do nurses move to Ireland?
One of the biggest reasons nurses move to Ireland in more and more numbers is the growth opportunities there.
The country is currently in need of qualified nurses, so if any qualified nurses from any country move to Ireland, they can have plenty of job opportunities.
How is life for nurses in Ireland?
Life for nurses in Ireland has a very good salary, easy to work, and kind-hearted people have written all over it. The Irish people are very social and they are more interested in knowing about your country and culture.
How Long Is Nurse Training In Ireland?
In Ireland, all nursing programs last for four years, except for the Children’s and General qualifications. This takes four and a half years to complete. These programs are to be done in a full-time program.
If you want, you can also complete further specialist programs in the form of postgraduate degrees. In some cases, these programs will be more in-depth than the first-degree programs. They are specialist programs that allow you to gain further skills in the field of nursing.
Some other programs you can take are Midwifery, Children’s Nursing, Nurse Tutor, Nurse Prescriber, Public Health Nursing, Advanced Midwife Practitioner, and Advanced Nurse Practitioner.
In What Languages Do You Study Nursing in Ireland?
In Ireland, the main language of instruction and teaching in its universities is English. This is an advantage to students who are native English speakers because they do not have to prove that they are fluent in English.
In the case of non-native English speakers, a Certificate of Proficiency is required. Most often, students are required to submit either a TOEFL Certificate, IELTS Certificate and or CAE Certificate. Some universities may accept certificates from other English Proficiency Tests, like the Duolingo English Test.
How Many Hours Does A Nurse Work In Ireland?
Full-time nurses in hospitals typically work either three 12-hour shifts weekly or five eight-hour shifts.
Round-the-clock coverage means many nurses must work weekends and holidays but usually on a rotating basis. Although, nurses and midwives increased their standard working hours per week to 39 hours.