Nursing and Midwifery – More Than a Career
The Western Health and Social Care Trust (Western Trust), this week, organised an open evening for over 90 students from local schools, that gave an insight into a career as a Nurse or Midwife.
The open evening was aimed at students in year 12, 13 and in Further Education Colleges and was organised by the Western Trust and hosted by the South West College, Omagh Campus.
The event was targeted at those students considering a Nursing or Midwifery career and who wanted to find out more about training, qualifications and job roles. Schools were in attendance from the Tyrone and Fermanagh areas.
Brendan McGrath, Assistant Director of Nursing Education and Workforce, with the Western Trust opened the event, commenting: “Nursing and midwifery provides interesting and varied careers, with a range of career choices in the areas of Adult Nursing, Children’s Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, Learning Disability Nursing and Midwifery. When qualified, a nurse or midwife can further choose to remain in clinical practice or follow a career pathway into Education, Research or Management."
“Apart from the qualifications that you need to be accepted onto the training programmes, being a nurse or midwife is a lot about your personality and how you relate to the people you are caring for, beyond their clinical needs. You need to build trust with people who may be feeling very vulnerable either through illness or disability. As a career it demands strong commitment, but a big part of the reward is in knowing that what you do is likely to have a deep and lasting impact on the person, their family, and the people you work with. This event focuses on educating local students to what it really means to be a Nurse or Midwife and why it can be such a rewarding career, which can lead to real changes in peoples' lives for the better.”
Anne Love, Volunteer Manager, Western Trust who helped organise the event added: “The event proved a real success. Students came to get an idea of Nursing and Midwifery as a career. Many want to work in a caring profession and are not sure how to get involved. This event gave them the advice they need to take the next steps to becoming a Nurse or Midwife.”
Short talks were given with an overview of Nursing and Midwifery Education by and insights into the specialist nursing areas of Adult, Children’s, Learning Disability, Mental Health nursing and Midwifery. Nursing and Midwifery staff were also on hand with advice and information on the various career paths available and what opportunities there are to specialise. All participants received career information and details about their local health and social care provider the Western Trust and how they might volunteer.
For further information contact:
Western Health and Social Care Trust Communications Office: (028) 7161 1188 / 7161 1429 / 82835197
