On Friday 5th June, Mercy University Hospital Cork (MUH), welcomed an expert Australian emergency nursing team in preparation for a joint venture with Emergency Department (ED) nurses to pilot the HIRAID™ emergency nursing assessment framework. Thanks to Spark Funding, the pilot will commence in MUH ED in July 2026 for three months and affords Irish nurses an opportunity to participate in an international collaboration, raising the central role of ED nursing assessment in patient experiences and outcomes. This is the first time that HIRAID™ will be evaluated in the Irish context and if successful, opens the gateway for national scalability.

HIRAID™ was developed in Australia by emergency nursing experts for ED nurses.  HIRAID™ stands for History including Infection Risk, Red Flags, Assessment, Intervention, Diagnostics, Reassessment and Communication.  Accurate emergency nursing assessment is fundamental to the delivery of high quality and safe ED care, which is dependent on ED nursing care. Despite the importance of ED nursing assessment, there is no standardised framework in use for ED nurses working in Ireland. HIRAID™ is the only validated framework that provides ED nurses with a structured and systematic approach to patient assessment and management, and communication with patients, carers and colleagues. HIRAID™ is currently implemented in over 160 EDs in Australia. HIRAID™ is also used in the Emergency Nurses’ Association (United States) residency programme and was implemented in Thailand in 2025.  HIRAID™ is due for rollout in Denmark and Sweden later this year.