Clinical Skills Centre

An essential component of the undergraduate B.Sc. in nursing and midwifery for all the disciplines is assuming a professional role in nursing and midwifery. This is facilitated in part by the clinical skills centre and the team of tutors who are based here. The centre located at St James's Hospital Dublin provides a safe environment for nursing and midwifery students to develop psychomotor skills and enhance their verbal and nonverbal communication skills.

The centre prepares the student nurse and midwives to practice clinical skills to a competent level. Nurses and midwifes are required to be problem solvers and decision makers, to acquire judgment skills and to think critically in order to practice in today's nursing and midwifery climate. The clinical skills centre is an area that allows the student to practice clinical skills in a safe, structured environment which facilitates interactive learning by qualified clinical skills tutors.

Throughout your B.Sc. Nursing/Midwifery programme you will complete specific skills related to the year and discipline of your programme.

Year One (Junior Fresh)

For all disciplines, you will have a specific set of Mandatory Skills to complete before your practice placements. Mandatory skills are certified and there is a cost to the certification. Further details will be given to you as you progress through your programme. The mandatory skills are as follows:

• Heart-saver/CPR course - certified by the Irish Heart Foundation
• Moving and Handling – certified by Fetac (Level 6)
• CPI - certified by Crisis Prevention Institute UK
• Hand Hygiene – in line with HIQUA standards.

Other clinical skills classes which will be covered in Year One are as follows:
Universal Precautions and Infection Control, Vital Signs, Urinalysis and Toileting, Skin Care, Personal and Oral Hygiene, Eating, Drinking and Fluid Balance, Blood Glucose Monitoring, Catheterisation and Aseptic technique, Administration of Medications and Injections, Respiratory Therapy and Intravenous Therapy and Communication Techniques employed at the bedside.

In Year One of your programme there will be Practice Teaching provided to you from a member of the clinical skills team. This is additional support you will receive while on clinical placement. Students are encouraged to work with their peers in practicing their clinical skills here at the skills centre. Please contact Sinéad Buckley if you wish to avail of practicing your skills during term time.

Year Two (Senior Fresh)

Skills will vary in relation to the modules you cover in that year. If you are on the BSc General programme or the Children & General Integrated Degree Programme you will also need to complete an OSCE style assessment (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) in the clinical skills area. Please refer to the school handbook for further detail.

Year Three (Junior Sophister)

Will integrate what you have learnt about problem solving and critical thinking and put it into practice in the clinical skills area. In the clinical skills area, all students will have an opportunity to work in a simulated healthcare environment to manage and priorities patient care and patient safety. This will be facilitated by practicing healthcare scenarios which will involve high fidelity computerised mannequins that can mimic particular patient conditions which the student has to assess, plan, implement and evaluate nursing care with their team of interdisciplinary health care workers. This work is assessed in year three modules.
Children & General Integrated programme and General nursing students will also have the opportunity to participate in a module of interdisciplinary learning with five other disciplines from the Faculty of Health Sciences in preparation for the Internship year.
All disciplines have specific clinical skills workshops delivered in the practice facilitated by the clinical skills team. This provides an opportunity for students to practice and revise some of their clinical skills in preparation for their practice placements throughout year three of the programme.
You will have a specific set of Mandatory Skills to complete before your practice placements. Mandatory skills are certified and there is a cost to the certification. Further details will be given to you as you progress through your programme. The mandatory skills are as follows:

• Basic Life Support
• Moving and Handling update
• CPI (Crisis Prevention Intervention)
• Hand Hygiene Techniques

Year Four (Senior Sophister)

During the Internship, students are required to participate in reflective workshops as part of their development in practice placement.

Throughout your postgraduate studies you will complete specific skills related to your programme. Postgraduate courses which have a clinical skills aspect include:

Higher Diploma in Children's Nursing (244KB)

Higher Diploma in Midwifery (251KB)

Advanced Nurse Prescribing Course – Advanced Physical Assessment

This module is designed to introduce candidate ANPs to advanced skills in assessment and clinical examination techniques and includes the physical, spiritual, and psychosocial assessment of adult clients. History-taking and physical-examination techniques presented in this module help the student develop strong assessment skills upon which further knowledge and practice can be built. Advanced health assessment skills include obtaining appropriate health histories and performing physical examinations on adult patients with complex problems, in a variety of acute and chronic healthcare settings. In addition, the course emphasizes documentation of data obtained and the development of appropriate differential diagnoses and therapeutic plans of care.

Professional Certificate in Nurse/Midwife Prescribing of Medicinal Products (233

What to expect at the Clinical Skills Centre

• It is essential each student arrives at session on time
• No students will be able to join session 10 minutes after its commencement
• There is no swapping between tutorial groups unless prior permission is given by Course Coordinator or Clinical skills Manager
• It is essential that you wear appropriate clothing for practicals including Manual Handling and Basic Life Support
• It is essential that you wear appropriate clothing to Nonviolent Crisis intervention Training Programme
• It is the students responsibility (students are required to) access Blackboard in advance of practical and bring appropriate literature and documentation to teaching session
• Essential to bring Student Card as sessions require electronic sign-in
• Social media and social networking: Social media is open, shared and informal. Privacy, confidentiality and professionalism at all times are core nursing and midwifery values. Therefore, you need to respect the legal rights of privacy and confidentiality of your patients and colleagues and respect the values of your profession at all times. Post appropriately. (Bord Altranais agus Cnáimhseachais na hEireann, June 2013)
• Don't take photos or videos in the clinical skills centre

The Clinical Skills Centre, Trinity Centre James's (TCJ in the student timetable) is located on the second floor of the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences building within the grounds of St. James's Hospital.

Directions
Bus

The no.123 bus passes through the Hospital and stops on the main road, outside the concourse, and also across from Hospital 1 entrance. From the city centre, the 40 and 13 stop at the James's Street entrance. The 68 stops on the South Circular Road close to the Rialto Gate entrance.

Train

The nearest train station is Heuston Station. For more information about train services please check www.irishrail.ie or Locall 1850 366222. On foot, Heuston station is about a 15 minute walk to the Hospital.

Luas

The Hospital is accessible by the Red Luas Line and the approximate travel time from the city centre is approximately 20 minutes.

Times

Monday-Friday: 05.30 - 00.30
On average, trams run every 20 minutes and every 8-10 minutes during peak times.
Saturday: 06.30 - 00.30
Sunday and Public Holidays: 07.00 – 23.30
For more details please check: www.luas.ie

Car

There is a public underground car park located off Junction 2. Set-down facilities are located close to each Hospital Entrance.

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