Nursing

I knew that I wanted a career in health from about the age of 13. I met our local health visitor and her role sounded so interesting and varied and also very useful. I followed this idea up through careers fairs, through voluntary work in hospital and paid work in the chemist. Through this, I soon realised that nursing was the career for me.

I took a three year full time course to become registered as a nurse. After I qualified, I was particularly interested in women’s and family health so it was inevitable that, after some time working as a nurse, I went on to train to become a midwife (another eighteen months post registration education) and later on a health visitor (a further twelve months education).  As a practitioner, I found the educational aspects of midwifery and health visiting particularly rewarding so I subsequently undertook graduate education in order to further develop this aspect of my career.

The best thing about my job is being able to facilitate and support nursing and health students to achieve their goals, aspirations and ambitions. The most challenging aspect is fitting everything I want to do into the day!

My advice for students thinking of becoming a nurse is to build a good support network of friends and family to celebrate the ups of your career and support you through the more challenging times.

My journey to nursing started a little later in life than for some. I started my working life as a trainee accountant and then doing auditing for an insurance company before I realised that this was not really what I really saw myself doing long term. My mid-twenties career crisis initially led me to consider a lot of similar careers before I came to the realisation that I wanted to do something completely different, and the ideas of nursing took hold.

I was 29 when I qualified and although my training was mostly adult focussed, my real passion was in children’s nursing. My first qualified post was at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and I went on to convert my qualification to be a children’s nurse a couple of years later. Since qualifying I have worked in paediatric intensive care, medicine, outpatients, as well as over ten years now in nurse education. 

I have enjoyed every aspect of nursing and have never once regretted my choice to switch careers. The buzz of seeing and actively helping poorly children get better and re-join their families is hard to beat.

If you are in school or college and thinking about nursing as a career then go for it. You will go on an amazing journey and you will learn so much, including about yourself. If you are already in work and think there might be a more fulfilling career out there, you are absolutely right! Nursing can offer you more than any other job: Joy, utter delight, sadness, frustration, even occasional sheer terror – but never boredom.

When I was 18 my boyfriend had a horrific car crash and ended up in hospital for many months being treated for a head injury and multiple broken bones. Up until then I hadn’t really thought of nursing as a potential career and was destined to become either a marine biologist or a psychologist – you can tell I didn’t have very strong idea of what I wanted to do. Seeing Bernie helpless and in pain, and feeling pretty useless made me frustrated and I wanted to do something to address that feeling. 

My dad was a very senior nurse manager and my mum had tried nursing and hated it. They didn’t much approve of my relationship with Bernie, less so after his accident left him disabled and suffering from seizures. My dedication to Bernie contributed to very poor results in my A-levels and I had to re-sit two of them the following year. I thought the news that I was thinking about a career as a nurse would not be well received, but when I told them my Mum said ‘Oh yes, you would make a great nurse, I don’t know why you didn’t think of that before’. In my interview at the nursing school in Leicester I think my passion for people carried me through – it certainly wasn’t my academic record. 

From the moment I stepped foot on a ward I knew I had made the right decision. I loved caring for the patients and I admired so many of the staff I met. My academic skills developed more slowly than my clinical skills but I was helped by having a strong work ethic and an inability to give up.

I had great experiences (mental health placement) and terrible experiences (children’s placement), and finally ended up in a surgical ward as a staff nurse. The ward sister of an adjacent ward had a terrifying reputation and I remember her being astonished when on my first day as a qualified nurse I looked smart and professional – never a strength of mine as a student.

I have worked in surgical wards, intensive care, and as a nurse specialist in chronic pain. I have never lost my passion for nursing and doing my best for patients. I always loved to teach and to learn and a move into education was kind of inevitable. I am surprised, given my earlier academic struggles, that I have now got a PhD. But I think my own experiences help me empathise with students and I love to teach and support others to do their best for their patients and clients. 

My Dad wonders whether he should have advised me to take a different career path, he wonders whether I should have been a physiotherapist. Much as I love my Allied Health Professional colleagues I am proud to be a nurse, and I know I made the right decision. I worry about all sorts of things that nurses must cope with now, but I know from speaking to many of them that they feel the same way I do – passionate about patient care.

I chose Nursing because I've always had a passion to care for people from a very young age. I think this was sparked when I was admitted to hospital as a child myself and this was when I was influenced by the great nurses that looked after me. I then researched Nursing whilst at secondary school and found out that the course consisted of 50% theory and 50% practical which really drew my attention as I wanted a hands-on university course and ultimately career. I chose my course by firstly attending a careers fair whilst I was studying in sixth form, and later on visiting open days that gave me a real insight into the course structure and layout. At this point I knew nursing was a tailored-fit for me.

I would suggest following potential universities on social media accounts because you can easily see what sort of social activities are on offer and whether it is appealing to you. Also, there are online courses available on the internet specifically for healthcare professionals that I found interesting to complete and include in my personal statement. I believe it could give you an insight into nursing and the NHS to help you consider whether nursing is really for you.

During fresher's week I had the chance to try out lots of different societies and fitness classes at the sports and fitness centre. I also became an A2B ambassador which provided a space where I can meet other students from other courses.

My favourite aspect of the Nursing programme is being able to apply the knowledge we are learning in lectures directly onto real patients when on placement. This is only my first year but I think my biggest achievement so far has been safeguarding children whilst on school nursing placement. Being that person who is in direct contact with vulnerable children and being the person who they talk to about their fears was a very special achievement I think because they trust you.

My biggest challenge has been trying to balance my sleep, placement, uni work and normal daily living. I found this a real challenge at first, especially when placement started, but I told my friends and they were very supportive. I managed to organise my days and just complete things like assignments one bit at a time. I would advise new students to establish a good routine from the start of the year. By this I mean organise your workload from the beginning and try to maintain this work ethic throughout, otherwise it just piles up.

I hope to become a registered nurse, but also volunteer some of my time to help those who are in crisis in less developed countries. I think this will be a good way to satisfy myself that I have done something to help those who are less privileged than us.

I was an A2B participant and I'm very glad I was because I was better prepared than my other friends who were also applying for university. Firstly, we received help from actual lecturers on how to write a university grade assignment which meant I was able to reference and write essays even before I started university. Also, I got the chance to practice nursing interviews here at the university so I knew how to prepare and improve for the real thing.