According to the Department of Health local services in Northern Ireland have been given a major boost following the graduation of almost four hundred “much needed” new nurses at Queen’s University, Belfast.

The graduation ceremony which took place before Christmas also gave recognition to the development of clinical skills by awarding prizes for clinical excellence in the four areas of nursing; Adult, Mental Health, Learning Disability and Child Health.

Speaking at the ceremony Chief Nursing Officer, Miss Judith Hill, said: “The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, as commissioners of nursing and midwifery education, are particularly pleased that Queen’s University have recognised both the theory and practice of nursing by awarding prizes for academic and clinical excellence.”

Professor Jean Orr, Professor of the School of Nursing and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Queen’s University said: “We wanted to ensure that the importance of the theory and practice components of the pre-registration nursing courses was reflected by awarding these graduation prizes.

“We were delighted to award a total of eight prizes for clinical and academic excellence and an additional prize for community outreach.”

The Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety currently funds an intake of 640 nursing students on pre-registration nursing courses each year.

Queen’s University are commissioned to provide 540 places and the University of Ulster are commissioned to provide 100.

According to the Department of Health the majority of nurses who graduated, have taken up posts within health and personal social services in Northern Ireland. (AMcE)