Belinda Wohlgemuth has wanted to become a nurse since she was 10 years old.
For the 18-year-old from Mount Warrigal, the profession is a calling.
She set her heart on nursing after helping to care for her elderly grandmother and has been preparing for it throughout her HSC by studying health services at Shellharbour TAFE.
But her dream could be dashed by a surprise $15,000 fee.
For two decades NSW Health has sponsored the Certificate IV in Enrolled Nursing at TAFE, making it free for trainees.
But now, with a new training model in development, Ms Wohlgemuth has been told by TAFE teachers her only option is to do the same course without NSW Health sponsorship, at a cost of $15,000.
She simply cannot afford the fee.
Nor can she get a loan because her mother, a single parent who works part-time and cares for Ms Wohlgemuth's autistic brother, cannot be her guarantor.
"I just love (nursing) - it's something I've always wanted to do," Ms Wohlgemuth said.
"I would take a loan if I could but I would need a guarantor."
If she completed the course, Ms Wohlgemuth could expect to be on a weekly base salary of $804. It might not be big bucks but she is not interested in pursuing any other career.
The uncertainty surrounding the enrolled nursing program comes at a time when Australia faces serious nursing shortages, with 983 nursing and midwifery positions to be filled in NSW. There are 861 trainee enrolled nurses studying and working in NSW.
Ms Wohlgemuth had hoped to enrol in the free course in September.
However, she said TAFE teachers had told her this was no longer available.
Faculty director for human services, tourism and hospitality John Boss said the only alternative they could offer Ms Wohlgemuth was the $15,000 course.
A NSW Health Department spokesperson denied there were changes to the enrolled nursing program course this year and said there would be none until 2010.
"NSW Health is in discussions with TAFE NSW and other registered training organisations to develop and provide the best new training model for enrolled nurses, patients and to look at hospital-based models," she said.
"The cost to students will be one of the key things being discussed as part of the new model."
NSW Nurses' Association councillor Angela Pridham said the situation seemed ridiculous.
"These people can't afford to go to university and now they can't afford to do enrolled nursing at TAFE. And we're crying out for nurses.
"The average age of a nurse is about 47 so we're going to have a huge number of people retiring in the next few years and we've not got the same number of people coming into the profession.
"You'd think the Government would be looking at strategies to resolve this situation."
Ms Wohlgemuth is now in a dilemma. She doesn't have a Universities Admission Index because she chose vocational subjects in her final school years, which means she cannot enrol in university immediately.
She hopes to find work as an assistant in nursing and wait for three years until she can enrol at university as a mature student.
"It's going to take me a while to save up," she said.
"It is frustrating, but you just have to get on with it."
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