mature student general nursing

michealkirwan

thinking about the honours degree in nursing in WIT or DCU im already a fully qualified hca and im just 26 so would like opinions from people that have went this route.
ive done;
Care skills
Palliative care
Mental illness
Work experience
Nutrition
Health and safety at work
Communications
Care support
Occupational first aid

I also plan to have completed by the start of the academic year september 2014 to have;
Anatomy and physiology
Introduction to nursing
Human growth and development
Biology
Also in regards to experience, I am currently gaining work experience in a private nursing home as a health care assistant.
If anyone can help please do get in touch.

jewell

Hi Michael,

You can apply via CAO from Nov 2013 for academic yr 2014. You can apply as a mature student and will be required to sit an aptitude test in April next yr. with the course you are planning to do you could prob apply with the fetac results from that course but there is very limited places for fetac applications.

The application process and being offered a place a based only on the aptitude test and previous experience isnt taken into account really. aptitude test consists of a verbal and numerical section, a skills experience section which you will be able to tick lots of positive boxes due to your experience but those who dont have experience can also tick those boxes!!

The last section is a job simulation section which gives you senarios on nursing situations and you must chose which you think you would do, from your experience you may have an advantage in this section, but its important to answer "as a student nurse and therefore, most actions need to be reported" the job simulation has only been part of the assessment process for 2013 & 2012, prior to that, if someone passed the aptitude test they had an interview which was much better because people with experience were more than likely to do well at the interview. For great advice regarding the whole process go to facebook/rollercoaster page. HTH

Just finished 3rd yr as mature student:)

michealkirwan

Thank you very much jewell. I thought being a hca would give a great advantage to the situation seeing as youre in the environment already. I want to do do it ans i know i can. aptitute tests dont show how good you can be as a nurse. Third year is meant to be a nightmare? ha! Well done!

cairdre

Michael

If you are in a position to you should consider applying for nursing in the UK they are far more likely to take your qualifications and experience into account. You would pick up plenty of part-time work over there with your skills. There are no fees for nursing degrees n the Uk.

HTH

C

michealkirwan

I dont think the nursing degree in england is the same as ireland is it? does it carry over? without making changes to work here?

paperclip2

michealkirwan wrote: »

I dont think the nursing degree in england is the same as ireland is it? does it carry over? without making changes to work here?

You could check with An Bord Altranais. Tel: 01 639 8500. They should be able to give you a rough of idea of comparable qualifications.

michealkirwan

thank you paperclip too!