Program Overview

Nursing in Leadership and Quality Healthcare – Postgraduate Diploma

Overview

The Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing in Leadership and Quality Healthcare programme is aimed at graduate nurses who wish to advance their academic and professional development. The nursing profession is dynamic and evolving with societal needs and care needs of individuals, families and communities. Nurses are challenged by the sophistication of technological, medical and social advancement and with the ever-increasing divergence in social inequalities, presenting nursing with a new agenda for transformation. The Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing in Leadership and Quality Healthcare programme provides the nurse with a broad-based educational experience to practise at a higher level incorporating key concepts such as clinical decision-making, professional leadership, evidence-based practice, professional ethics, research knowledge and skills.

Location and Duration

• Location: Athlone
• Duration: 1 year

Fees

• Fees: €7,200

Level and Course Type

• Level: 9
• Course Type: Postgraduate

Study Mode and Department

• Study Mode: Full Time / Part Time
• Department: Nursing & Healthcare

Course Modules

Year 1 – Semester 1

• Nursing in a Modern Health System
  • Credits: 10
  • The aim of this module is to develop students’ critical appraisal and evaluation of nursing in a modern health system. Critical reflection of the core theories and concepts underpinning professional nursing practice will include: the nature and function of nursing, the professionalisation of nursing and the nurses’ role embedded in a modern health system. Critical awareness will enable heightened insight into nursing from organisational, national, international and global perspectives.
• Research Methods in Healthcare
  • Credits: 10
  • The aims of this module is to enhance the student’s knowledge and understanding of the research process and to develop an advanced understanding of research methods and its application to practice.
• Clinical Leadership and Management
  • Credits: 10
  • This module will enable the student to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to lead and manage change and quality improvement in the modern healthcare environment.

Year 1 – Semester 2

• Quality Initiatives and Outcomes
  • Credits: 10
  • The aim of this module is to develop the students understanding of the quality issues that pertain to the provision of an effective and efficient quality healthcare service.
• Professional, Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing
  • Credits: 10
  • This module provides the student with the opportunity to learn, reflect and critically analyse many diverse ethics, bioethical, legal and cultural ethical concepts and their application to professional nursing practice, The module content is designed to guide the student through important areas of study, and introduce the student to the issues and skills central to the module content, with an emphasis on the development of active and independent learning to enhance professional practice and create lifelong learning skills.
• Application of Evidence to the Healthcare Setting
  • Credits: 10
  • The module will consolidate the student’s apriori knowledge and skills developed in previous modules and through experiential learning about evidence based practice. It will equip the student with the skills neccessy to:
    1. Evaluate the evidence base which underpins quality practice.
    2. Develop a Policy, Procedure, Protocol, or Guideline (PPPG) from inception/review through to validation.

Entry Requirements

• A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Level 8, H2:1 or higher) or equivalent qualification will be required for entry to this programme. In line with University Guidelines students, prior learning may also be recognised including: prior experiential (non-certified) and accredited (certified) learning.

Career Opportunities and Further Study

• Further Study
  • This course will enable graduates the opportunity to complete the Level 9 MSc in Nursing in Leadership and Quality Healthcare as a pathway to Level 10 PhD/Doctoral programmes in national and international universities.
• Career Opportunities
  • Graduates from this Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing in Leadership and Quality Healthcare have the potential for employment in multiple domains of practice. There are numerous areas for career advancement, both nationally and internationally, with Postgraduate level attainment identified as an essential requirement for career progression and promotion in administrative and clinical managerial posts.

Assessment Information

• Assessment is a continuous process which aims to measure the achievement of students in relation to the learning outcomes. It is combined with appropriate feedback, to assist students in improving their performance in relation to set criteria for progression towards, or for the award of the degree. Assessment can be practical or theoretical, formative and/or summative, and administered by lecturers, students themselves or their peers. The use of self and peer-assessment is used regularly as a formative strategy to develop students’ skills in gauging and evaluating their own performance and that of their fellow colleagues.