The profound silence emanating from the Department of Health about this year's nursing application arrangements is balanced by the cacophony of complaints from would-be nurses.
Where do I apply for nursing? How do I apply? And when? Will the same procedures as last year be in place? What grades will I need in the Leaving Cert? Worried students and parents are wondering about the complete absence of information when it comes to nursing applications. Nursing is not listed in the CAO handbook and the Nursing Applications Centre only comes into being after the advertisements appear in the newspapers.
The situation has been changing rapidly in the past few years as nursing schools replace the traditional apprenticeship style of training with the new three-year college-associated diploma. The selection procedure has been evolving also. Last year, assessment tests were introduced in place of the previous year's two-interview system.
Late last week a spokesperson for the Department of Health told College Choice that an announcement about 1998 applications would be made . . . soon. No specific date was forthcoming. This is the season of college applications. Students want information about the new college-based nursing programmes. Naturally, they would expect that information to be available now.
A review of the nursing applications process took place last year and the Department of Health was presented with the report in mid-December.
Last year 17 schools of general nursing offered college-associated diplomas. Six schools of psychiatric nursing and two mental handicap nursing schools also offered college-associated diploma courses. It is expected that all of the nursing schools in the Republic will offer the college-associated course this year; however, the Department of Health has yet to confirm this.
Again last year, students applied to a central nursing applications centre (not through the CAO), which was managed by Price Waterhouse, the consultants who carried out the review of the applications process.
Price Waterhouse's involvement ended with the delivery of their review to the Department of Health and it is expected that the Local Appointments Commission, which administered the assessment tests and chaired the interview boards last year, will take over the applications and selection process.
It seems likely that the same arrangements as last year will prevail this year but some confirmation would be welcome. There were more than 5,000 applicants for almost 900 places last year and all applicants were called to an assessment test. This test, which took place in late June and early July, consisted of three cognitive reasoning components - mathematical, verbal and decision-making. This was supplemented by a detailed questionnaire which sought to identify "caring characteristics".
Slightly more than half of the applicants were weeded out at this stage while the successful 1,700 were called to interview. The 15 interview boards consisted of senior nurse tutors and directors of nursing, chaired by a member of the Local Appointments Commission. Candidates were ranked on the basis of their performance at interview and they then had to pass through a "gateway" by fulfilling the minimum Leaving Cert requirements.
There was no points rating for Leaving Cert results but students who achieved the minimum requirements on their first attempt at the Leaving Cert had 10 per cent added to their interview score. In addition, students had to supply a letter of reference from the school principal and pass a medical examination.
There were 40 places in mental handicap nursing, 120 in psychiatric and 725 in general nurse training. Candidates ranked the hospitals in order of preference on their application form in a manner similar to the CAO.
Once they received an offer they could accept or reject it outright or accept or reject it but ask to be considered for a higher preference should one become available. There was an acceptance fee of £50 which was refunded after three weeks in a nursing school.
Student nurses on the collegeassociated courses are no longer part of the hospital workforce. They are not paid a salary but receive a non-means-tested maintenance grant from the local health board or voluntary hospital and they have full student status.
Entry Requirements For Nursing
Guidance counsellors have complained long and loudly about the entry requirements for nursing - students must have three languages (Irish, English and another language) and a laboratory science in their Leaving Cert. These are, in effect, NUI matriculation requirements. The programme was first piloted in the University of Galway which, understandably, put NUI requirements in place. As the number of college-associated places grew, these requirements were extended to all colleges. This means that nursing applicants for non-NUI colleges such as DCU and UL must fulfil NUI requirements. There have been suggestions that there should be some weighting for Leaving Certificate subjects as students with excellent results are not rewarded for their efforts. It has also been suggested that any change must wait on the report of the Points Commission which is looking into the points system. This would seem a little disingenuous as nursing is not within the CAO system.
Bringing nursing into the CAO or, at the least, synchronising the application timetable with the CAO, would make life a lot easier for students who are, after all, studying for their Leaving Cert as well as applying for further education.
All that those worried parents and students can do now is to wait for an announcement by the Department of Health or an advertisement in the newspapers indicating where to apply and when. College Choice will carry an update if the much-awaited announcement is made this week.
Nurses And Bedpans
A lecturer on one nursing diploma tells the story of how she asked a number of students at the Young Scientist exhibition what their career aspirations were. There was a lot of interest in the paramedical sciences but no student mentioned nursing. Goaded, the lecturer asked - what about nursing? It is now a diploma with the possibility of continuing on to a degree and postgraduate study.
The students were blissfully ignorant of the new training arrangements. She wondered if this was because their guidance counsellors were unaware of the changes or if they did not point their high achievers in the direction of nursing.
Continuing this theme, Prof Pat O'Brien, a lecturer in TCD's school of nursing, urges students not to listen to the old stereotypical statements like: "Nursing is only about making beds, mopping sweaty brows, emptying bed-pans and assisting doctors."
He recommends aspiring students to make an appointment to see the local public health nurse or a staff nurse in their local hospital.
Maximising Your Chances Of Getting A Place
Prof O'Brien suggests that students visit a nursing school in their local hospital or go and see the department of nursing in one of the colleges. Attend career days. "It may be advantageous to have completed a pre-nursing course prior to application for admission. Do remember, however, that this does not provide any guarantee of being accepted but all things being equal, it can give you an edge over others at interview," he adds.
It may be useful to have done some voluntary or paid weekend or holiday work in a local hospital or nursing home. "And do remember a huge number of otherwise potentially excellent nursing students do not get past the interview stage simply because they appear to lack confidence and basic communication skills," says Prof O'Brien.
Add-On Degree
Students who perform sufficiently well at certificate and diploma level can progress to degrees and stay within the free fees initiative if they continue their education on a full-time basis. There is one exception, nursing.
Nursing students, taking the three-year full-time diploma, are funded by the Department of Health, which says that the oneyear add-on degree is optional so it is not paying. Meanwhile, the Department of Education and Science insists that nurse-training is the responsibility of the Department of Health.
The result is that students who began the first nursing diploma, introduced in UG in 1994, are now paying their own fees to do a full-time add-on degree. In effect, they are being treated as post graduate students while the degree is clearly an undergraduate qualification.
All add-on degrees are optional. Students can leave with a certificate or diploma - there is no need for them to progress to degree. Why are nurses not being treated equally?
UG students' union has instructed its legal advisers to start High Court proceedings against the Department of Education on behalf of the 50 nurses involved. The Department says that efforts are ongoing to redesignate the course as part-time which would put it outside the scope of the free fees initiative. If the Department wins, will this approach be extended to other add-on degrees?
Points For New Courses
People continue to ask College Choice to speculate about next year's points. In particular a number of queries have been received about TCD's information and communications technology course which was introduced late last year. Students applied directly to the college for the 80 first-year places. The college admissions office informs us that the cut-off points were 330 but it would be unwise to use this as a guide to next year's levels. There was strong demand despite the late introduction of the course. Next year, there will be 120 places on this course.
As for courses which have been introduced this year for the first time, it is impossible to predict points levels. Points are simply a function of supply and demand so it is you, the students, who set the cut-off levels.
Additional reporting by Catherine Foley