Practice education

Practice education placements are an essential component of the programmes within the School of Allied Health and the BSc Nursing and Midwifery programmes. These placements are delivered through a collaborative partnership between the student, practice placement educators, healthcare providers and the University, ensuring students gain valuable experience as developing practitioners in real-world healthcare settings.

Practice education provides students with learning opportunities through supervised practice, reflection and enquiry, supporting the development of therapeutic, communication, clinical reasoning and personal management skills. Placements take place across a wide range of public, private and voluntary health and social care settings, enabling students to develop experience with diverse client groups and service users throughout the Mid West region, including HSE Mid-West, HSE South South-West, HSE Mental Health Services and Mid-West Community Healthcare.

The Practice Education Team and Practice Placement Allocations Office are responsible for the organisation, management and co-ordination of placements across all programmes. Working closely with students, educators and placement providers, the teams aim to optimise the learning experience while ensuring that programme-specific placement requirements are met. Placements are distributed throughout each year of study in accordance with professional regulatory standards.

Professional regulatory bodies, including CORU and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI), specify requirements regarding placement type, duration and practice experience for each programme. The University ensures that students are afforded opportunities to gain experience in the required practice areas in line with these standards and requirements. In addition, the Practice Placement Allocations Office co-ordinates pre-placement requirements, including mandatory training and health screening, prior to students commencing placement.