The Southern Institute of Technology has delayed the start date of one of its nursing programmes because clinical placement spaces around the region are getting tight.

Chief executive Penny Simmonds said the enrolled nursing programme, which usually had a mid-year start date, would now begin in October.

At present its Bachelor of Nursing course had 100 first-year students, 81 second-year students and 42 third-year students.

There were 58 students studying pre-entry nursing, and 20 students would soon complete the enrolled nursing course.

Ms Simmonds said all nursing students had to complete a certain amount of clinical placements, and a variety of them, but because of the high roll numbers across the programmes the number of available placements was getting tight.

Placements were completed at both public and private hospitals, rest homes, community-based health organisations, and in health education around Southland, Queenstown and Central Otago, Ms Simmonds said.

By delaying the start of the enrolled nursing programme to the start of October, the institute hoped to spread placements and ease the situation, she said, but this meant those students would have only a three-week break over Christmas.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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