LAUSR

The responsibility to select and admit students to undergraduate nurse education programmes generally falls with university admission teams and nurse educators. Recent conversations with ‘Sarah’, a woman in her eighties, and with ‘Joe’, an undergraduate student, prompted us to reflect on how processes and criteria for admission have evolved over time and how these continue to be contentious. They prompted us also to revisit discussions regarding student qualities appropriate for current and future nursing practice and the most reliable methods to select students with these qualities. Students who will be future registrants and nurse leaders. Reminiscing about her life choices, Sarah expressed sadness that she was unable to ‘train’ as a nurse in the 1950’s. This was, she said, because she was under the required height of 5 foot (152 cms). A height restriction was not then unusual, with the rationale that nurses needed to be sufficiently tall to assist with lifting patients at a time when beds could not be lowered. There were also weight restrictions, requiring a BMI of under 30, in some places. Further, there were rules requiring that student nurses remain unmarried. In addition to what now seem indefensible requirements, there was a focus on character and constitution. In the 1900’s, for example, nurses entering the profession were subjected to ‘stringent scrutiny’ and needed to be deemed of ‘good stock’ and ‘high character’. Student nurse, Joe, questioned current occupational health student screening processes as he witnessed peers experiencing acute anxiety in the course of clinical skills practise sessions. There is some evidence that different educational strategies evoke different levels of anxiety in students and that this reduces as the programme progresses. Health and well-being requirements of potential student nurses are reviewed by university admission and occupational health teams and nurse educators. The United Kingdom Nursing and Midwifery Council also specifies particular ‘health and character requirements’ that deem students suitable for the profession of nursing. This does not mean that applicants with health conditions or disabilities are prevented from enrolling and there is support for this. However it is also important to make explicit health requirements to reduce or prevent unnecessary risks to students, care recipients or to institutions charged with safe practice.