ONMSD and the National Clinical Programme for Cardiology – including Heart Failure

The National Heart programme (NHP) was established in 2020. It is a National Clinical Programme integral to the Integrated Care Programme for the Prevention and Management of Chronic Diseases (ICPCD).

It incorporated the former National Clinical Programmes (NCP) for Heart Failure and Acute Coronary Syndrome.

The NHP encompasses the full continuum of cardiovascular care, with an emphasis on supporting service reform and the implementation of integrated care within the community. The Nurse Service Planner is part of the core NHP team.

The Nurse Service Planner’s contribution to programme implementation is through:

creating awareness and promoting the principles underpinning cardiology nursing in both primary and secondary care settings
providing clinical advice, perspective and practical support to individual programme work streams on nursing issues to drive, support and facilitate the delivery of evidence-based integrated care at national, Regional Health Area and Community Health Network levels.
working with cardiology nurses and healthcare professionals to encourage and support them to implement national models of care, guidelines, pathways and care bundles developed by the NHP
involving cardiology nurses in providing input, advice, support and direction to the National Clinical and Integrated Care Programmes for the Prevention and Management of Chronic Disease on nursing issues.
providing support and advice in relation to the implementation of the cardiology integrated care nursing services on the implementation of the Chronic Disease model in the mapped networks and hubs
engaging with key stakeholders about professional development and advanced practice of cardiology nurses and advise the NHP on alignment with models of care and resource planning
providing a professional nursing link for cardiology nursing colleagues to the NHP and ONMSD
providing advice and direction in relation to nurse education and professional development training for cardiology nursing in both acute and community settings
creating a nursing forum that captures learning during implementation and learning from existing local good practices
ensuring that programme design, national implementation plans and all supporting guidance documentation are complete, specifically in relation to nursing aspects

Nurse Interest Associations

Irish Nurses Cardiovascular Association (INCA)

Membership and meetings are open to all nurses working in cardiology providing a forum for cardiovascular nurse education, communication and research development. Contributions from cardiovascular nurses and those working and interested in the cardiology are welcome. INCA also incorporates a professional sub-group for chest pain
Twitter: @chestpaininca

Irish Association of Heart Failure Nurses (IAHFN)

This is a professional association dedicated to improving all aspects of care for the heart failure patient. Membership and meetings are open to all nurses working in heart failure.

Irish Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation (IACR)

The IACR consists of a multidisciplinary group of healthcare professionals, under the auspices of the Irish Heart Foundation. Membership is open to nurses working in cardiac rehabilitation and this professional organisation endeavours to provide and improve the standard of professional education within cardiovascular rehabilitation.