Phlebotomists receive formal qualification from the School of Nursing DCU

Sixteen students today became Ireland’s first qualified phlebotomists when they received their Phlebotomy Certificates at a ceremony held at Dublin City University.

Pat McLoughlin, Deputy Chief Executive Officer with the Health Service Executive which provided the funding for the programme, and National Director of National Hospitals Office, presented the certificates to a group of 16 phlebotomists who had undergone a three-month training programme which was delivered at the school of nursing DCU in partnership with the National Ambulance Training School.

Sixteen students today became Ireland’s first qualified phlebotomists when they received their Phlebotomy Certificates at a ceremony The course was developed to standardise the knowledge and the skills required of the phlebotomist, enabling them to conform to a national recognised professional standard. It is hoped that this will enhance the phlebotomy profession.

Sixteen students today became Ireland’s first qualified phlebotomists when they received their Phlebotomy Certificates at a ceremony

The School of Nursing DCU is accredited the course, in acknowledgement of the vital role that phlebotomists play within the hospital system. “Phlebotomists are a key element in the health care team, says Professor Anne Scott, Head of the School of Nursing. Here in the DCU School of Nursing, the students are ideally placed to avail of the very latest teaching technologies provided by our Nursing Skills Laboratory to learn not just relevant anatomy and physiology but other essential skills required by the phlebotomists such as laboratory procedures. The course is run over three months, and is partly theoretical and partly practice-based”.

The programme was devised in partnership with the National Ambulance Training School which has expertise in developing courses for the health sector. The Department of Health and Children also played a pivotal role in establishing a national standard for phlebotomists.

The students, who come from all over Ireland, are funded through their employers by the Health Service Executive which is providing ongoing support for the course.

The students who received their certificates are:
Colette Devlin, St Vincent’s University Hospital
Bernadette Dudley, Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin
Siobhan Fitzpatrick, the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital
Hilda Forde, Cork University Hospital
Mary Gowen, Cork University Hospital
Tommie Mellett, Galway University College Hospital
Karen O’Brien, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda
Patricia Wright, St Vincent’s University Hospital
Anne Carey, The Mater Misericordiae Hospital Hospital
Antoinette Fitzgerald, Cork Univesrity Hospital
Bridget Fitzgibbon, Cork University Hospital
Eileen Galligan, Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan
Liz Laird, Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin
Rose McKelvey, Portiuncula Hospital
Eileen Meehan, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda
Mary Mitchell, Loughlinstown Hospital