'Substantial increase' in number of nurses needed to meet healthcare demands, Cork conference told

Keynote speaker Geraldine Cunningham, organisational development consultant at Barts Health NHS Trust, with Helen Cahalane, director of nursing at CUH at the nursing conference on Tuesday. Picture: Dan Linehan

Any amount of health service reform is just an “aspiration” without nurses, a medical conference heard.

Cork University Hospital’s head of nursing Helen Cahalane, who opened Cork University Hospital's annual nurses conference, also said “substantial” increases in the number of trainee nurses was essential.

She said: “Without nurses, sustainable growth, development goals, and universal healthcare are just an aspiration.

“Healthcare globally is facing huge evolving challenges, where nurses can and do provide essential directions.

“The many gaps in the current nursing workforce will need to be overcome to meet the demands of healthcare.

“The workforce will continue to support the rest of the population's healthcare and help ensure that all people can attain the highest level of care and wellbeing in the healthcare and community service sector.” 

But she added: “Substantial increases in the number [of nurses] to be trained are essential for the future of healthcare.” 

The theme of this year's conference was “A Turning Tide: Nurses Influencing the Future”.

Some of the large attendance at the Cork University Hospital nursing conference. Picture: Dan Linehan

Keynote speakers included the record-breaking sprint hurdler and former Olympian Derval O’Rourke.

She spoke about the highlights of her career, and how some aspects of it could apply to the nurses listening to her.

She talked, for example, about the importance of people asking themselves if how they are doing their jobs was a “help” or a “hindrance” to the way they want to work.

The Irish Examiner columnist also reminded nurses: “You are not solely responsible for absolutely everything.” 

She also encouraged them to learn to “park” certain issues that might affect them and not to beat themselves up.

Speakers also included Geraldine Cunningham, associate director of culture change and wellbeing at Barts NHS Trust London, whose presentation revolved around strategies for nurses to be at their best and how to “influence a better future for healthcare workers”.

Regarding overcrowding at CUH, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation told the Irish Examiner: “Overcrowding is a very significant issue at CUH and it is usually among the hospitals with the highest numbers of patients waiting for a bed.” 

It added: “The January 2023 trolley total for CUH was 1,145, making it the highest January on record for the hospital.” 

Other speakers include Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland chief executive Sheila McClelland, and Dr Jolanta Burke, clinical psychologist and senior lecturer at the RCSI.

Dr Burke spoke about how many nurses “flourished” during the pandemic, despite their experiences.

She also said that a higher percentage — 58% — of people flourished during the pandemic than expected in a recent survey about mental health.

But she said that while nurses did flourish, they were “lower than the general population” at 50%.