Nora Owen
Ceist:401 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has proposals to re-examine the method by which leaving certificate students can enter the nursing profession; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21223/01]
Written Answers. - Nursing Staff.
Nora Owen
Ceist:440 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will have discussions with the Department of Education and Science regarding the entry requirements to become a nurse; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21226/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 401 and 440 together.
The minimum educational requirements for entry to the nursing diploma programmes are set by An Bord Altranais. In addition to meeting those requirements, applicants must also satisfy the individual requirements of the third level institutions involved in the operation of the programmes. I should explain that it is not the educational requirements but the large volume of applications from school leavers interested in a career in nursing that determines the points needed to gain a place on the programmes. In response to a recommendation by the Commission on Nursing, the application system for places on the nursing diploma programmes has been transferred to the CAO from this year onwards. In April 2000, An Bord Altranais, which manages the Nursing Careers Centre, proposed to my Department that both the written assessment test and interview be discontinued for school leaver applicants under the CAO nursing application system from 2001. It also proposed that the selection of school leavers for nursing should be based on points obtained in the leaving certificate examination in the same way as applications for other third level courses. The Nursing Education Forum, which was composed of representatives of both the health and education sectors, including my Department and the Depart ment of Education and Science, endorsed the proposals of An Bord Altranais when my Department sought its views on the matter in May 2000. Mature applicants for places on the nursing diploma programmes must undertake a written aptitude test and an interview, as in previous years.