Nursing degree at Trininty

shorain

hi,
anyone with info on the Nursing degree at TCD i'd really appreciate. basically just wondering about amount of lecture,tutorial (if they are are mandatory??)
hours in the first & second years. trying to organise a part-time job etc and the office staff are being a bit vague!
thanks a mill
shorain

wheresthebeef

Hi,
My name is David and I am just at the end of my first year in Nursing in TCD. I'm studying general, but the course hours are the same for all three disciplines. I am a Students Union Class Rep.
You will be expected to commit to around 30 hours of lectures and tutorials per week. They are all mandatory, and attendance is monitored by a spot check system. Only a medical cert will result in an excused absence. You will spend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the School of Nursing and Midwifery on D'Olier Street. And Thursday and friday at the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences at St. James Hospital. Each day is pretty much 9am to 5pm with few exceptions, or at least it was this year. Some days you could have big gaps in the middle of the day. like no lectures between 12 and 4. but one at 4 to 5, and there would be a spot check in the 4-5 lecture.

The course takes a considerable amount of committment, and in a survey of first year nursing students this year, 78% of students found it difficult to commit to the programme and work as well. Some staff have commented that the programme is so intense that students should be discouraged from working as well as studying, and have commented that the attendance monitoring system is designed to stop people attending casually or irregularly.

The Course is really interesting though. Its divided into three sections, Social Sciences (aka Psychology and Sociology), Biology, and Nursing Studies. Each have equal weighting.

If you are worried about working during the year, try to get your finances sorted now. Work for the summer, and put cash by. Apply for a Maintenance Grant if you are eligible, this can be done through your local county council. Students get a travel allowance of 90 euro per 6 week placement of which there are two placements i.e 180 euro per annum. If you're family is a low income family you can apply to the trinity trust fund for travel expenses for placements, or to the Student Assistance Fund.

And a word of warning, when selecting your health service provider, General Students have a choice between Tallaght and St. James. St. James Hospital are not as accomodating to students, are slow to pay allowances, and are generally harder to deal with. Last year we had to protest for St James to vaccinate students against Hep B for free - see link http://www.irishnursingstudents.com/protest.pdf. Tallaght on the other hand is fairly friendly and nice, but one point to note is that if you pick Tallaght, you could be placed in Loughlinstown or Naas General for some of your placements. This could be a good thing if you live in Naas or Loughlinstown.

Look forward to seeing you around School in september,
If you have any other queries or want any more advice my email is david@netsoc.tcd.ie

David W

JF Nursing Class Rep

fookchooknooris

fair play david good post.

wheresthebeef

does i know you?

fookchooknooris

yep irc

sullivk

I'm going in2 my 3rd year of nursing in TCD in september...the 1sy yr is pretty easy, but ull get a big shock in 2nd year (i hate 2 think wat this yr will be like!!)...
Our course coordinators don't give a f**k about our year...We'v been bombarded with work (unreasonably!!) this year...The wrong exam results were put up TWICE in February, resulting in some very disappointed and upset students!! Alot of the lecturers we had last yr were very unhelpful...
Anyway, ill shut up moaning!!
The travel allownce is 15 euro per week wen ur on placement, u don't get paid til ur third year (thats next april 4 me!!! wooohooo!!) All the bad things aside I have enjoyed most of the course and placements. Watch out 4 the Biology lecturer Paul Costello, hes an absolute star and Patricia Cronin...Theyr fab lecturers!!
The course requires alot of devotion and committment in my opinion (I dont kno how the hell iv got this far!! )
Goodluck with ur studies, we need mor nurses!!

wheresthebeef

anyone thinking of doing nursing should take a look at www.irishnursingstudents.com , we'll be adding more stuff over the next few weeks, but we have info on studying in the UK, grants, and tax for student nurses.
I'll also be putting up a finding employment page, with information on nursing agencies and other health care jobs suitable for student nurses.

Paul Costello is good. I know i'm probably in a minority, but i love Jacqueline Whelans lectures, she's so passionate about communication and her stories are the business.