Hip fracture preliminary report
I attended the launch of the first preliminary Irish Hip Fracture Database (IHFD) report. The National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD) has done much to improve the quality of hip fracture care in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In Ireland in 2008, a group of clinicians representing geriatric and orthopaedic specialities gathered with the shared goal of improving care of hip fracture patients.

Louise Brent is the IHFD clinical lead in orthopaedic nursing. All nurses in the discipline have a key role to play in maintaining the data.

The IHFD report summarises the data collected nationally, case mix, care and outcomes of 843 hip fracture discharge cases submitted by eight hospitals between April 2012 and March 2013. Each site will be issued with a supplementary report of its individual performance, which will enable benchmarking and comparison of hip fracture care in hospitals against the national data.

At the launch of Irish NHFD Report were (l-r): Louise Brent, IHFD clinical lead in orthopaedic nursing , and INMO president, Claire Mahon

Midwifery staffing campaign
The INMO recently launched a midwifery staffing levels campaign (see pages 6-7 for full details) and aims to launch a general staffing levels campaign in the near future.

On my hospital visits over the past number of months, the key issue being relayed to me by members is the difficulties they are experiencing due to staffing levels. I would like to remind you to please take the time to complete the relevant incident forms when issues arise in your workplace due to short staffing.

I would also like to remind you that, if you have not attended one of our safe practice workshops, you should sign up for the next one in your area in order to protect yourself in these very difficult times.

Gender equality rights
The ICTU Women’s Conference was held in Wexford with the theme ‘Women Organising for Decent Work’. At the event, I spoke to the INMO’s Social Policy Committee motion: “We call on the Minister for Social Protection to progress legislation that takes account of the human rights and dignity of trans persons and their families in line with the recommendations of the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe. Trans and intersex persons of all ages should be able to access the rights contained within Recognition, and personal medical treatment history and partnership status should have no impact on the process. ICTU supports TENI’s campaign for inclusive, marriage-friendly Gender Recognition for Ireland.

“Gender Identity – We hold that all people have the right to have their gender identity recognised and respected in the workplace and commit ourselves to campaign about raising awareness on gender identity in the workplace.”

Executive Council members Eileen Healy and Eileen Kelly also spoke to the motion, which was passed unanimously.

Coffee morning
INMO representatives in St James’s Hospital in Dublin organised a coffee morning in February for all INMO members. I was delighted to attend with Catherine Hopkins from the INMO information office.

It was a lovely opportunity to meet members face-to-face in such an informal setting. I would like to thank the representatives, particularly Aoife Feeney and Joanie Halpenny, who put so much effort into ensuring it ran smoothly. Others present were Jo Tully, Sandra Morton and Sean Farrell.

Safe Ireland
I was at the launch by Safe Ireland, in the Mansion House, of an EU-wide survey on violence against women. This was based on interviews with 42,000 women across the 28 member states.

The report shows that violence against women, and specifically gender-based violence that disproportionately affects women, is an extensive abuse that the EU cannot afford to overlook. We hope the report’s findings are taken up by those who can initiate change to address the issue. The report is available at http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2014/vaw-survey-technical-report

RCSI conference
I attended the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland’s Annual International Nursing and Midwifery Research and Education Conference. It was an excellent showcase of the work by nurses and midwives across the country and internationally. One of the highlights of the event was the awarding of an honorary doctorate to Christina Noble for her work with the street children of Mongolia and Vietnam.

Get in touch
You can contact me at the INMO headquarters at Tel: 01 6640 600, through the president’s corner on www.inmo.ie or by email to:president@inmo.ie

From the President - On the ground with the president