‘I missed out on place in general nursing through the CAO. Are there other options available?’

I was very disappointed to miss out on a place in general nursing in Dublin through the CAO this year. I considered taking a pre-nursing level-five course in the further education sector, but I’ve heard of others who took that route and still failed to get a place. Why are points so high? The profession is missing out on people like me who have so much to contribute.

First things first: there are many other nursing degree programmes on lower points outside the capital. Based on your points, you could have secured a place in St Angela’s, Dundalk, Letterkenny or in Castlebar. These degrees are exactly the same as those offered in the Dublin colleges, but because of the smaller cohort of applicants they are about 50 points lower.

Your concerns over the level-five PLC route are well-founded. To date, there are very few places on offer. Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris has pledged to expand the number of places through level-five awards, but to date it is an uncertain option.

So, what to do now? You could simply apply to the CAO again in 2023 and hope that the planned easing of the inflated Leaving Cert grades will see points for courses return closer to 2019 levels, but that would be a bit of a gamble.

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[ Who should consider an FE course? ]

[ Thinking of changing your CAO course selection? ]

Alternatively, you might consider applying for some of the other level-eight degree programmes in psychiatric or mental health nursing, which tend to require lower CAO points than general or children’s nursing. Upon graduation, you could then apply to take a postgraduate programme in general nursing.

Another option that has opened up in the past year is the new general nursing degree programme offered through Hibernia College, which is similar in style to its long-standing teaching education programme. It is currently accepting applications for their spring 2023 intake.

Its BSc (Hons) in nursing in general nursing is another new way to become a general nurse in Ireland, designed to provide learning opportunities for mature students, graduates of further education programmes and school-leavers who wish to undertake a full-time level-eight degree programme.

Its programme is delivered through a blended learning with a mixture of practical clinical learning, traditional classroom-based and online learning. Graduates will be eligible to register as a registered general nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).

Although delivered online, the programme is full-time. The theory content is released on a weekly basis to give a study workload of 39 hours per week. This involves working through online content, engaging in synchronous or live activities and preparation time for assignments.

So, you have a number of choices. You could go back through the CAO in the coming application season, but you need to be more strategic in how you list your course choices to take on board what I outlined above. Alternatively, you might consider Hibernia if you are comfortable with online learning.