The training of nurses.

Twenty-five years ago the traditional training of nurses was abandoned in favour of university courses combined with hospital experience. The thinking was that medicine had become so advanced that a tertiary education was required to handle this sophistication.
The down side to that decision was that nursing lost huge numbers of enthusiastic people whose education level precluded them from university - and ever since we have had a drastic shortage of nurses.
Now there is a move to return to the future - with the establishment of twenty-five nursing schools adjacent to public or private hospitals which will cost $ 170 million over five years - and enrol people who have reached year 10 high school level.
At last the planners are starting to accept that while tertiary standards are necessary for using the highly complex equipment and medication that equip our hospitals, not every nurse needs to be a Professor of medical knowledge.
The " on the job " training of yesteryear produced magnificent nurses and for every task that requires academic know how there are thousands of routine applications such as taking blood pressure, changing dressings and giving injections.
Just as in the medical profession we have general practitioners and specialists - so nursing needs to be divided into nurses with specialised training and nurses with adequate training to meet general needs.
These new nursing schools will allow those unable to meet university entrance standards - or who can not afford the cost of university - to embrace nursing and be soundly trained in both theoretical and practical nursing - both in the classroom and on the job.
There will be outrage from some quarters, but for once common sense seems to have prevailed - and this could be the answer to our nursing shortage !