Competition: Occupational Safety and Health in Healthcare for Nursing Undergraduates 2012/13

The Health and Safety Authority is pleased to announce its inaugural occupational health and safety competition for undergraduate general nursing students. The prizes include Apple iPads for the winning team and cash prizes for finalist teams.

The healthcare sector has a high occupational injury and illness rate. The competition aims to raise awareness of occupational health and safety in nursing. The competition provides an opportunity to learn how occupational health and safety is integrated into the general nurse’s everyday role and that patient safety and occupational health and safety are not mutually exclusive. When nurses prevent themselves from being harmed by their work they also protect their fellow workers and others who may be harmed by their activities such as patients and visitors.

The competition actively encourages collaboration amongst education, medical and occupational health and safety professionals as co-operation is a vital key to improving health and safety in the workplace. The competition will involve a team of students (3 students) tackling an occupational health and safety problem in a healthcare work environment. In doing so the students will have to carry out research and connect their research with the practicalities of the job.

Entry to the competition is open to all third and fourth year students in general nursing. Entrants will be short listed, with winners receiving their awards at a ceremony in spring 2013. For further enquiries, please email healthcarecomp@hsa.ie.

Please note this competition is now closed to entries.