Madam, - There is a shortage of trained nurses and we are importing nurses from the Philippines and many other countries. Yet at present we have 797 mature (over 23 years of age) men and women wanting to train as nurses. These have passed rigorous aptitude tests and interview. Originally 1,585 applied.
These are men and women who feel they have a vocation for nursing and are prepared to train at this stage of their working lives, to give up jobs, take on study and live as students. As a guidance counsellor I am very aware of the success rate of mature students in their chosen courses. Surely they all deserve a college place this September for that sort of dedication. - Yours, etc.,
PERDITA QUINLAN, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.