Recruiting minimum-age nurses: is the profession ready?

The minimum age restriction for entry onto nursing courses of 17.5 years has recently been removed. Students of 16 and 17 years could potentially be on nurse education programmes and therefore in clinical practice in the very near future. This could be a beginning of a trend, and might be influenced by the current economic climate affecting education and employment. This article outlines the context of the situation, and describes the strategy taken by one higher education institution in conjunction with clinical practice providers to devise processes and protocols in readiness for young people applying to enter nurse education. Clinical practice concerns are discussed, with emphasis on implications for risk assessments. The authors presented the key findings at the Royal College of Nursing Admissions Tutors Conference on 7 November 2008, where considerable interest was generated in the issues arising.