pathway to becoming a nurse

[nomi]

Hi

I am very interested in becoming a nurse. I applied to do nursing at University this year 2004. Unfortunately I havent been offered a place which i am really really disappointed about. I applied through the mature age entry scheme. I am 27. I had to sit a STAT which is a test which I did well in but still not enough the cut off scores this year for year 12 applications jumped by around 6 points.

I am extremely frustrated and other than getting offered a place in February which I dont think is likely i will miss out.

Does anyone have any suggestions to me other than trying again next year. Unfortunately I may also have missed out on tafe as well as stupid me didnt apply to do this and now its too late.

Are there any private nursing schools to perhaps become an enrolled nurse etc that could be used to gain credit towards the BN.

Any help would be apprecaited.

Naomi

Oh btw I am in South Australia

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

Keep your options open for February and speak to the uni about a mid - year start (even one subject) There are a LOT of drop-outs in the first six months of nursing.

This website lists the universities offering nursing but is not complete. Try contacting the South Australian Nursing council and ask them what is available they usually know and can tell you.

http://www.littlefish.com.au/nursing/edu/education1.htm

[ceridwyn]

Hi, I agree all of the above.

Do you have second round offers? I know many in my class came in on second round. People apply so much in advance and then change their mind when the offer comes in.

Victoria has quite a few private providers of the CERT1V in nursing and seem to advertise to begin every 3 months,but I think it is mostly internal and about 1-2000 dollars to do. I am not sure on this. Nursing seems to be one of the couses that has really cut down on places. I noticed Melbourne unis have only offered each 80-100 places it use to be 100-200.

Let me know if you want more info. C

[nomi]

Hi

Thanks for the responses I appreciate it. I am feeling much better about things today. I am still hopeful that I will get in this year however I have decided for practical reasons to defer to next year even if I do get in. By doing this I can save lots of money and be much better prepared as I have decided I would rather go interal.

If I do get accepted externally i will just do a couple of subjects and transfer interally next year.

Either way I will get their in the end and thats all that matters.

[joannep]

I think it is absolutely worth ringing around to see if they will accept you in a mid year entry. My friend's daughter asked and was able to commence midyear due to the drop out rate.

I wish you the best ...

[emmy]

Hi Nomi

Good luck with everything.

I'm studying at UNISA where you can study mixed mode, that is, you can study internally and externally at the same time,(I'm not trying to confuse you honest) for example, if you choose you can study some courses externally whilst studying some internally and you could also choose to go part time for one year until you get things settled.

I studied part time last year as I was moving and so my degree will be finished in 4 years instead of 3.

If you don't get in have you thought about doing a cetificate in aged care as you would also get exemptions from some of the placements.

Good luck in whatever you decide, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Emmy

[nomi]

Hi Emmy

UNISA is the course I applied for !! I was silly though an only put in the one preference. Nursing externally. Im still hoping to get into the next round in February if not I will go next year.

Unfortunately all the TAFE courses needed the same admission procedures otherwise I would have done the certificate course and then gone on from that.

[emmy]

Hi Naomi

Let us know how you get on.

Do you know how your test results compare with the TER score.

Quite a few people drop out in the first semester so it might be worthwhile contacting the uni to find out what happens to these places.

Good Luck, at least it's not too long to wait until you find out.

[nomi]

Hi Emmy

No I dont know how my results ranked with the TER cut off scores. Its calculated differently.

I applied to do the external course which you needed 76 - 77 points to get into. The internal course needed about 72 I think. Which jumped up by about 6 points from previous year.

The mature entry course I did was called STAT you dont get a score like say 80 out of 100 but a percentage.

I did better than 72% of all other applicants doing the test, that is the scoring they tell you.

I actually did better than 82% of all people in the verbal/language side and better than 56% of all people in the science/math side.

So you can where my strengths are lol

I am pretty sure that if I had applied internally I would have been accepted.

Oh well, good luck with your course and maybe I will be joining you next year.

Naomi

[emmy]

Hi Naomi

Don't give up, you'll get there in the end.

Have you thought about contacting the program director as an awful lot of people leave the course in the first semester and so they may keep you in mind, you never know.

Anyway, at the end of the day it doesn't matter if it takes you an extra year or 2 or 3 as you'll get there eventually.:)