Nursing & Midwifery - Respiratory Care in Nursing Practice

Advance your theoretical knowledge and develop a critical and questioning approach as you explore professional and clinical issues relevant to the care of the respiratory patient.



You will enhance your clinical practice by developing an in-depth knowledge of the respiratory systems and associated conditions that impact respiratory care. You will also spend time evaluating approaches to planning and implementing health education, interventions and polices and strategies.



This RCSI School of Nursing and Midwifery programme is delivered part-time via an active blended learning approach including self-directed learning and live online classes approximately once every week. Further support is provided through the module lead, programme director and regular online drop-in sessions.



The award title for this course is Postgraduate Certificate Nursing (Respiratory Care).



This course is a Level 9 award on the Irish National Framework of Qualifications



Suitable for

This programme is aimed at healthcare professionals – from the fields of nursing, medicine, pharmacy, podiatry and the pharmaceutical industry – who wish to advance their academic and professional knowledge and skills within respiratory care.

What you will learn

Enhanced Care of the Respiratory Patient

Biological Science and Patient Assessment in Respiratory Care

Health Promotion and Behavioural Science in Respiratory Care

To be eligible for the programme you must:



Hold an NFQ Level 8 qualification. However, applicants who do not hold a Level 8 qualification may still be eligible to join the programme through our supported-entry pathway programme. This is subject to an assessment of prior learning and experience.



Have an active registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. For non-nursing applicants, you must have an active or registration with an appropriate professional body.



Recognition of prior learning (RPL)

If you do not meet the minimum academic requirements above, you may still be eligible to apply through recognition of prior learning (RPL). RPL is the assessment of knowledge, skills and competence previously acquired.



Learning occurs in many contexts which include work, involvement in social and community activities, or learning through life experience generally. RPL does not give credit for experience as such; rather it considers the learning that was acquired as a result of the experience.



RPL may be used to gain:



Admission to courses/programmes where a person may not have obtained the standard entry requirements.

Exemptions from course modules which duplicate the learning outcomes an individual has already demonstrably acquired through prior learning.



English language requirement exceptions

Applicants who have completed undergraduate/postgraduate full-time studies in the medium of the English language (three or more years cumulatively), and students registered with the NMBI, are exempt from these requirements.

6 months



Mode of delivery

Online - Part-time

Next start date January 2026

Upon the successful completion of this programme, students can progress to a postgraduate diploma.