Shauna Delaney is an “innovative, educational leader who has helped transform the landscape of critical care nursing in Ireland,” according to a close colleague of the critical care clinical nurse educator who recently won a major award from Trinity College Dublin (TCD). A native of Carlow, who has worked in the Intensive Care Unit at Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) for the past 7 years, Shauna was recently awarded the TCD Dean of Health Sciences Award for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching in Professional Practice under the School of Nursing and Midwifery.

Paying tribute, her TUH colleague added that Shauna “really wants to improve patient care and has a phenomenal work ethic. She is an innovative, educational leader who has helped transform the landscape of critical care nursing in Ireland by developing and implementing the first-ever NMBI (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland) accredited New-Graduate Nurse in Critical Care Programme.”

This programme has enabled the transition of new graduate nurses into the critical care environment, without having the historical background of several years of ward experience first.

Shauna was nominated for the award by her critical care colleagues and students. She originally graduated with a BSc (Bachelor of Science) in children’s general nursing from TCD in 2014 where she was also elected a Scholar of TCD in 2012 based on her academic achievements. Her critical care career path began in Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London where she initially worked as an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) nurse in a cardiothoracic and transplant ICU.

She returned to Ireland to work in TUH in 2016 where she completed her postgraduate diploma in intensive care nursing and then completed her MSc (Master of Science) degree in clinical health science education. Currently a registered nurse tutor, Shauna was awarded a scholarship from TCD in 2022 to complete a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) degree in critical care where she is now exploring the unmet support needs of critical illness survivors in Ireland.