

Back Row (L-R): Staff Nurses Merline Tegaram, Lisa Healy, Elaine Johnson, Catherine Tobin and Mary Connolly. Front Row (L-R): A/Night Superintendent Margaret Cronin and staff nurses Teresa Shanahan and Margo Daly.
Eight nursing staff based at Bantry General Hospital (BGH) recently graduated with a diploma in Developing Safe Environments in Health and Social Care from the Institute of Technology Tralee.
As a first for Bantry General, the course was facilitated by video link, which meant that the nurses didn’t have to travel to Tralee to attend the course. This innovative approach resulted in the delivery of a complete modular, professional training programme at the hospital with nurses attending lectures and tutorials via video link to the college. The delivery was of such exceptional quality that lecturers and nurses were able to interact in the same way as if they were all in the same lecture room.
The course covered modules examining national regulation for safer, quality-assured health and social care.
Maureen Minihane, Director of Nursing at Bantry General Hospital congratulated the nursing staff on their successful completion of the diploma course and said: “The eight nursing staff who recently completed their Diploma in Developing Safe Environments in Health and Social Care will enhance the provision of a safe, quality service for patients attending Bantry General Hospital. The course delivery through video link by the Institute of Technology Tralee is innovative, highly interactive and saves time and money. Hopefully we can use the same delivery method for future training courses at the hospital.”
Funding for this course was provided by the HSE’s Nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development Unit.