Ireland will need to at least double the number of nursing students enrolling in its higher education system over the next 20 years, according to a recent research paper for the government.
Around 46% of full-time equivalent (WTE) nurses in this country received their education abroad, according to the report.
As part of a World Health Organization code of practise, Ireland has committed to attain self-sufficiency in health staffing and minimize its dependence on a nurse workforce with foreign education.
Ireland has agreed to appropriate hiring practises and the suspension of active hiring of health professionals from developing nations, especially those with severe shortages.
Based on the current intake of 2,000 undergraduate nurses a year in Ireland, the number of WTE nurses will reduce from 54% last year, to 38% in 2041.
The report says that significantly increasing the production of nursing graduates by 251% to the per capita level of Australia (109 per 100,000), among the highest in the world, increases the share of domestically educated nurses to around 70% of the WTE workforce after 20 years.
The Department of Health has released a report titled “A System Dynamics Model of Nursing Workforce Supply” as part of the 2022 expenditure review to enhance evidence-based policy decisions.
Separately, the department has also published a study on Population Based Resource Allocation (PBRA) funding models to distribute healthcare resources according to population need, to promote efficiency and equity in health outcomes and distribution of resources.
A PBRA model will be designed and used for the planned six Regional Health Areas.
The age of community and acute hospital facilities varies significantly, with a big proportion of both portfolios having been constructed more than 40 years ago, according to a health capital investment report.
It concludes that this likely has negative associated impacts on maintenance costs, patient safety and efficiency in healthcare service delivery.
Stephen Donnelly, Ireland’s Minister for Health, stated that the publications were about fundamentally changing how Ireland invests in healthcare, particularly with relation to the workforce and acute beds.