Why Choose a Career in Midwifery?

Why should I become a Midwife?

The ethos of Midwifery care is to work in partnership with those who are giving birth. Midwives are highly trained to use their knowledge, skills, and professional experience to competently support those giving birth and their baby. In this career every day is different, bringing with it various challenges and experiences.

Throughout your career as a Midwife, you will be an advocate for women and their babies in one of the most rewarding jobs a person can have. Throughout the Maternity Care Support course, you will be equipt with the knowledge, skill, and competence to assist the Midwife in caring for Mothers, babies, and the family unit.

Career prospects within Midwifery will depend on your clinical experience, education, motivation, commitment, and personal choice. There are many different opportunities in this career role, as Midwifery can extend from the hospital, to the community, and the home. Midwifery is a broad and progressive profession with opportunities in clinical, managerial, education and research sectors.

The following are some examples of career opportunities as a Midwife:

Clinical Midwifery Manager, a role which involves managing a service or a team.
Clinical Midwifery Specialist, a role which involves working as a midwife with specialist knowledge in areas such as diabetes, ultrasound, obesity, and bereavement.
Lactation Consultant, who specialises in breastfeeding.
Advance Midwife Practitioner, who is a senior specialist, with additional qualifications and responsibilities.
Registered Midwife Prescriber, a midwife who also can prescribe medication.
An academic, who lectures and carries out research.
Independent Midwife who can be self-employed.
A Midwife who works in the community, such as in a GP's practice, clinic or a private practice.

Throughout your time studying Maternity Care Support, you will be offered practical experience with specialist equipment, such as hospital beds, baby cots, hospital trolly, drips and other essential equipment. Our Tutors are professionally trained and highly experienced, bringing with them a wealth of knowledge and the skills to guide and support you throughout your programme.

Upon successful completion of the Maternity Care programme at Dorset College, you will receive a QQI (Quality & Qualifications Ireland) Maternity Care Support Level 5 Minor Award. Following the completion of this course, learners can combine this with the Healthcare Support or the Nursing Studies Level 5 Major Awards which will qualify them to seek employment in a hospital or work as a Healthcare Assistant in a Maternity Care facility. If your goal is to become a Midwife, this course is the perfect starting point as it introduces you to the world of Maternity care support.

If you would like to start your journey in the field of Midwifery, please contact our Sales Advisor at [email protected] to learn more about this exciting profession.

5 Reasons Why HCAs are Essential to the Healthcare Industry

We all know how important the role of a Nurse or Doctor plays in the healthcare industry, but unfortunately all too often the role of a Health Care Assistant (HCA) is overlooked. Health Care Assistants aid, support and direct personal care to patients and residents in a variety of institutional settings, such as hospitals, clinics and nursing homes. It is a role which requires a lot of knowledge, energy, and compassion.

In Ireland, hospitals are constantly in need of reliable Health Care Assistants, making it one of the most in-demand roles in 2022. As an HCA, your services will be highly valued by a variety of medical organisations in Ireland, and you will often be working alongside other healthcare professionals. While your duties may vary, you will always be a vital part of the hospital team.

The past few years have shown, more than ever, that healthcare workers are a vital part of our society and will always remain so. Although it can be a challenging profession, the rewards will make it worthwhile.

Why HCAs are so essential:

They spend a majority of their time with patients – When you are visiting a family member or loved one in a hospital or healthcare setting, the person that will likely spend most time with the patient is a HCA. They are there to look after their patients, and make your stay more comfortable whilst you are in the hospital. They also act as an important support role for families and loved ones.

They do important day-to-day tasks – Whether you are in a hospital, care or nursing home, patients will need to receive person centered care. Looking after one's daily needs is an important part of the role of an HCA. These tasks offer valuable experience for those beginning their career within the healthcare sector, and allow you to understand your role very well.

They form important relationships – A stated before, HCAs will spend a majority of their time with their patients and are therefore more likely to form valuable relationships with them. Unfortunately, this can be both positive and negative for the HCA, and is one of the more difficult aspects of the job. Overall, these relationships make the patients feel more comfortable, and know they are safe and being looked after. It is also important to make your patients feel at ease by discussing topics that they are particularly interested in, even small talk can help alleviate their loneliness.

They are there in a time of need – If a patient wakes up in the middle of the night quite uncomfortable, unable to move or has suffered an accident, the role of the HCA is to tend to their patient's needs. The HCA will often be the first point of contact for patients, and another reason why relationship building is so important. It is also important for the patients family to know their loved one is in safe hands.

They learn patients' individual needs – HCAs often learn the needs of individual patients and are therefore able to provide person centered care. Maybe one person is only able to drink water, compared to another who has a fear of needles. These are issues that HCA's will come to learn on a personal one-to-one basis, and often try to accommodate as best they can.

How to become a Health Care Assistant in Ireland?

If you would like to start your journey of becoming a qualified Health Care Assistant - then Dorset College Dublin is here to help you! Our Health Care Support and Nursing Studies programmes equip our learners with all the knowledge, skills, and competence to work in a wide range of sectors throughout the healthcare industry. You will experience a friendly student-centered learning environment with industry professionals to support, mentor and guide you.

In terms of career progression and employability, healthcare stands out above many other professions. Healthcare remains one of the best career options in terms of both current job prospects and future industry growth.

If you would like more information about any of our healthcare courses, or where to start on your HCA journey, please email [email protected] to speak with a Sales Advisor.

What is Health Service Management?

Behind every healthcare delivery system is a Health Services Manager. Health care management encompasses the efforts involved in planning, directing, and coordinating nonclinical activities within health care systems, organizations, and networks.

Health Services Management is a focused branch of management that requires specific knowledge of health care operations and technology, whilst also incorporating specific soft skills such as the ability to motivate team members, collaborating with multiple stakeholders and proactively implementing needed changes.

Health service managers complete all the important behind-the-scenes work that makes healthcare accessible and possible to patients of all backgrounds. Health service managers have the organizational, legal and financial knowledge that coincides with the ever-changing healthcare policy and law. Along with this, they understand the complex landscape of insurance, and help guide people through this process. Healthcare administrators are a field in high demand, especially following on from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Ireland, Health service managers can work privately, but most work for the HSE in the Republic or the NHS in Northern Ireland to make sure the organisation, whether this be a hospital, GP surgery or community health centre, works efficiently and effectively. Duties include supervising staff, setting and maintaining budgets, and implementing policies based on government guidelines.

Work activities may also include:

Managing budgets and costs.
Liaising with clerical, medical and professional staff at all levels, providing support to other department managers and staff.
Ensuring health services meet national standards.
Using computer software to record and retrieve data.

Monitoring and developing services; implementing policies and installing changes.
Directing, coordinating, and monitoring medical and non-medical resources, facilities, and services.
Dealing with enquiries, complaints, and solving problems.
Planning projects.
Drafting reports.

Dorset College Dublin offer a Diploma in Health Service Management as part of our Professional Courses. This is an 11-week long course with face-to-face classes taking place in the college. This programme is designed for aspiring or middle managers looking to develop their personal skills and develop managerial competencies.

Throughout this course you will learn from an experienced Health Service Management professional lecturer using individual exercises, group discussions and formal presentations to help learners develop skills in the areas of communication, teamwork, influencing, strategic thinking, planning, and organising in healthcare. The programme will also introduce the Agile approach and techniques and how they can be used to foster innovation.

If you would be interested in entering the field of Health Service Management, email our Sales Advisor at [email protected] for further information.