Returning home and working in Ireland brings you closer to family and friends, who you may not have seen in some time. Having that close support system is important for work/life balance so that, while you work hard in your career, you have the right people around you for when you need to unwind.
Ireland has an excellent reputation for healthcare and is the perfect setting to continue in your nursing career. Working as a nurse is a rewarding experience and, here in SPMHS, we truly value the time and energy put in by our nurses: we are proud to reward and commend that hard work.
We are the largest independent, not-for-profit mental health service in Ireland, with a leading reputation for high-quality care and innovation in Ireland and internationally.
We have a strong focus on staff career development, offering promotional prospects into nursing management roles, and provide a welcoming, nurturing environment for our nursing staff.
Working with us will give you the flexibility to resume and grow your career back home, while also settling back into life in Ireland.
What kind of services do we provide?
We work to provide the highest quality mental healthcare to people who are experiencing a range of mental health difficulties, including eating disorders, bipolar disorder, depression, psychosis and many others.
We provide inpatient care in our central Dublin locations through St Patrick’s University Hospital; St Patrick’s Hospital Lucan (St Edmundsbury); and Willow Grove Adolescent Unit. Through our Homecare Service, service users can also receive inpatient-level care remotely in their own homes. We offer day patient services through our Wellness and Recovery Centre and community and outpatient care through our Dean Clinics, as well as remote access to our services.
What are the benefits of a nursing career with us?
Getting a position in SPMHS means you can have a permanent job lined up and ready to start as soon as you return to Ireland. We offer additional support on moving home through our Human Resources (HR) Department.
Along with your permanent position, key benefits of working with us mean that you will receive a sign-on bonus of €3,000 (subject to six months of service) and ward location allowance of €1,995 on top of your basic pay, and enjoy flexible working hours; this gives you security and capacity to start a new job, while you are settling back into life at home.
We offer an attractive pay package with a minimum starting salary of €45,466 and rises for length of service. All our nurses are paid from our enhanced nursing pay scale, with your salary depending on your experience, making sure that your pay increases from your last employment in Ireland.
We want our nurses to have fulfilling careers with exciting opportunities for progression. You will have access to external and in-house continuing professional development (CPD) training and postgraduate education opportunities.
Other key benefits include:
- enhanced payments for Sunday, public holidays and night duty
- generous annual leave
- eligibility for further allowances, such as a Qualification Allowance or Community Allowance, for specialist areas of work
- paid Parent’s Leave, Maternity Leave (26 weeks paid, plus up to 16 weeks unpaid) and two weeks paid Paternity Leave, as well as other protective leaves, such as force majeure and Parental Leave
- VHI group health insurance scheme
- flexible Defined Contribution (DC) Pension Scheme with 10% employer contribution
- working paperless, as we were the first mental health provider in Ireland to introduce an Electronic Health Record (EHR).
On top of this, we also aim to make sure your wellbeing, mindfulness and work/life balance are taken care of. We have an active Staff Wellbeing Committee and a free Employee Assistance Programme, as well as perks such as:
- a nursing staff recreational area, which includes showers, a pool table, table tennis and darts
- an onsite gym
- a subsidised canteen
- a Bike to Work scheme
- a Taxsaver Commuter Ticket scheme
- free onsite parking, subject to availability.
In addition, our locations are very central in Dublin, meaning that, wherever you are based in the city or country, it is easy to get in and out of work and enjoy being close to Dublin city centre.
St Patrick’s University Hospital and Willow Grove Adolescent Unit are just three minutes from Heuston Station and a number of cross-county bus routes for easy travel outside of Dublin, while they sit also directly on the LUAS red line and beside many Dublin Bus routes. St Patrick’s Hospital Lucan is along the N4 and close to numerous public transport routes.
Are there opportunities for career progression?
We offer many opportunities for career development and progression, including:
- acting in more senior roles to gain experience, with support systems in place
- going forward for promotion into leadership roles, such as Clinical Nurse Manager I/II/III for both ward and non-ward nurses, and Team Liaison Nurse
- undergoing proactive career planning, with opportunities to be a key worker across multiple programmes
- being part of multidisciplinary teams, which include consultant psychiatrists, registrars, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, addiction therapists, cognitive behavioural therapists, pharmacists, dieticians and many more
- working across our inpatient, outpatient and day patient services, including homecare and remote care delivery where appropriate.
Our nurses work across numerous mental health services and programmes which specialise in specific mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, alcohol and chemical dependency, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, personality disorders, psychosis recovery, older adult mental health and more. This ensures our nursing staff gain varied, hands-on experience and are constantly developing new knowledge and skills.
What is our focus when it comes to mental healthcare?
At SPMHS, human rights is a huge factor in the work we do and we are focused on the advancement of mental health services for all. We want to move towards a society where everyone is empowered to live mentally healthy lives.
To achieve this, our main areas of work include:
- encouraging our service users to get involved in their own care and treatment
- delivering a high quality mental health service
- advocating for people’s rights and ending mental health stigma
- conducting research into mental health and providing training for staff.
How you can apply for a job with us in SPMHS?
To apply for a job and start your career in Ireland with us, you must have:
- current registration or eligibility for registration on the psychiatric register with Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI)
- proven ability to build solid working relationships within a healthcare organisation and with service users
- an excellent level of clinical knowledge.
Please note that post-registration experience is desirable. Current intern nurses due to qualify this year are welcome to apply.
Successful applicants will be placed on a panel and job offers will be made based on our requirements.
If you have any questions about full-time and part-time job opportunities for nurses in SPMHS, you can contact Emma Cunningham in our HR Department by emailing hr@stpatricks.ie or phoning +353 1 249 3435.
