Postgraduate Certificate
6 months
Online - Part-time
30 ECTS
October 2025
About
Advance your theoretical knowledge and develop a critical and questioning approach as you explore professional, clinical and managerial issues relevant to leadership roles with RCSI School of Nursing and Midwifery.
Enhance your capacity for leadership by developing your knowledge in key areas of leadership, management, strategy and change management and explore concepts of quality improvement and risk management. This 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 (Advanced Leadership).
Enhance your capacity for leadership within the healthcare setting
Develop leadership skills to plan, audit and improve services
Explore clinical governance and decision-making processes
Suitable for
This programme welcomes registered nurses at all levels of their career – from those who aspire to enter management, to nurses in managerial positions who want to develop key competencies and skills.
What you will learn
Faculty highlight
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Course information
This programme will provide you with the skills and knowledge to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of a comprehensive range of knowledge in the specialist area.
- Articulate a critical awareness of the latest evidence-based knowledge in the specialist area.
- Demonstrate a range of research and specialist knowledge and skills to the specialist area of clinical practice.
- Select from a broad range of specialist skills and knowledge in the specialist area.
- Act in a comprehensive and often unpredictable variety of professional and ill-defined contexts in the specialist area.
- Take significant responsibility for the work of individuals and groups and lead and initiate activity in the specialist area.
- Critically self-evaluate professional and personal learning needs and those of others within your specialist area of practice and link to related continuing professional development requirements.
- Present a reflective and questioning approach to specialist practice delivery and exhibit professional application of your knowledge in an accountable, responsible and evidence-based manner.
Upon the successful completion of this programme, students can progress to a Postgraduate Diploma.
This programme is delivered online via an active blended learning approach including self-directed learning and live online classes.
This programme will run from October to April each year.
This programme is assessed through a range of assessment modalities.
All programmes offered by the School of Nursing and Midwifery are accredited by RCSI, the National University of Ireland and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. Recognition by bodies in other jurisdictions must be determined by individual applicants.
Admissions
To be eligible for the programme you must:
- Have an NFQ Level 8 qualification. Applicants who do not hold a Level 8 qualification may still be eligible to join the programme through our supported-entry pathway programme.
- Have an active registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. International applicants must be registered with their national nursing board.
Learning occurs in many contexts including work, involvement in social and community activities, and learning through life experience generally.
Recognition of prior learning (RPL) does not give credit for experience as such – rather, it considers learning that was acquired as a result of the experience. RPL may be used to gain admission to programmes where you may not have obtained the standard entry requirements.
This is considered on a case-by-case basis. Exemptions from programme modules that duplicate learning already demonstrably acquired through prior learning may also be considered on a case-by-case basis.
For more information, please contact the School of Nursing and Midwifery:
- Tel: +353 1 402 2445
- Email: nursing@rcsi.ie
English language requirements for RCSI Postgraduate programmes are published here.
If you have completed undergraduate/postgraduate full-time studies in the medium of the English language (three or more years cumulatively) or are registered with the NMBI, you are exempt from these requirements.
The fees for this programme are €3,565.
Please note:
- Fee includes all resources, access to our award-winning online learning portal and access to extensive RCSI-only databases.
- Fee includes an NUI fee.
- Fee is payable via the above schedule, where relevant.
- If you have outstanding fees you will not be entitled to receive your grades or be eligible to progress and or graduate (VLE and Library privileges will be withdrawn in these cases).
- RCSI accepts no obligation to refund any fee, or part thereof, in respect of a student who chooses to withdraw from a programme.
- If you choose to withdraw from a programme you are liable for full fees owed for the seat on that programme.
- All NUI parchments are issued in Latin; you will be required to pay an additional fee of €50 to NUI if you wish to have a parchment published in English.
- Fees are subject to review annually.
- If you are being sponsored or funded by your employer you should upload a funding confirmation letter in the document upload section on the application portal.)
Please view our Postgraduate fees policy for more information.
How to apply
Applications for this programme are now closed. Applications for entry to the programme in October 2025 will open in January 2025.
Please register your interest above for information about this course.