A chara, - I write in relation to your article on the contents of the soon-to-be published Report of the Commission on Nursing (The Irish Times, July 26th).
I am delighted to read that the group will recommend the establishment of a new, four-year degree programme, which would include one year working in a hospital as a student nurse. I only hope that the discrimination currently being suffered by fourth-year nursing students at the National University of Ireland, Galway will not be perpetuated under the proposed new system.
At the moment, the 48 students on the Bachelor of Nursing course in that university are the only full-time undergraduate students in a State-funded college paying tuition fees. They are also ineligible to apply for a maintenance grant.
These students have found themselves severely penalised for trying to further both themselves and their profession. A clear message must be sent to the Minister for Health and Children and the Minister for Education and Science, both of whom refused to fund the fourth-year students' studies.
Nursing is not about emptying bed-pans. Nor do nurses merely give patients a jab in the arm. Rather, nursing is an integral part of the professional health care service in this country. Similarly, nurses must be granted the same opportunity to study at degree level as their colleagues in other medical fields.
It is unacceptabe to treat student nurses in a different manner from their fellow third-level students, and it is time for Mr Cowen to end this discrimination. We look forward to the findings of the Nursing Commission. For too long now, this avenue of further education has been ignored. We hope the report will lead to a productive discussion on the plight of student nurses. - Is mise, Darren McCallig,
Education Officer, USI, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.