University denies closing nursing applications

The university has denied a claim by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses that it has been refusing prospective students to the nursing courses.

In all, the university said, 165 applicants will be accepted for the coming academic year, the same number it had taken last year, following a record number of applications spurred by a campaign enticing youngsters to join the profession.

In a statement on Sunday, the MUMN said the university was not accepting online applications since the 140 mark had been reached.

But the University said it had accepted all applications made on time, and all would be considered.

It said it had received 75 first-preference and 49 second-preference applications for the BSc (Hons) course in nursing, and 136 first-preference and 45 second-preference applications for the preparatory programme in the Diploma in Health Science (Nursing) course, bringing total applications to 211.

The university will be accepting 100 students into the BSc course, 42 into the preparatory diploma programme and 23 mature students who currently work as nursing aides.

This will bring the number of students studying nursing in the coming academic year to 342.

This year, 81 nurses are expected to graduate.

Malta currently suffers from a shortage of nursing staff, which has led to promotional campaigns enticing young people to join the profession. There have also been calls for nurses from abroad to start working here.

Last year, the campaign bore fruit and an unprecedented 379 prospective students applied to join the course. This year, a total of 305 first and second preference prospective students applied for the course.