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23 year old guy considering nursing

Baiscally I'm 23 and have been working for two years and I am considering a career in nursing but I have no idea if I'd like it beyond thinking that it looks very rewarding. I've emailed a couple of hopsitals about doing some work experience but they haven't got back to me. Is there any way I can assess if I'm suited to the profession. I previously did a degree but it was academic rather than vocational.

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Original post by Mr Student
Baiscally I'm 23 and have been working for two years and I am considering a career in nursing but I have no idea if I'd like it beyond thinking that it looks very rewarding. I've emailed a couple of hopsitals about doing some work experience but they haven't got back to me. Is there any way I can assess if I'm suited to the profession. I previously did a degree but it was academic rather than vocational.


Nursing is deffinately rewarding, and the role is so diverse and varied depending on where you work, and more and more men are entering the proffesion every year. Have you also looked on volunteer websites? Thats how I got my hospital experience before applying. What degree did you do before and what grade? That should be enough for graduate entry :smile: If you don't know aswell I think if you are a caring person, can manage responsobility, stressful and emotional situations and also want to make an impact on people's lives nursing is a great career to go into.

EDIT: Nursing is also becoming increasingly academic a good grasp on biology is needed and also you have to be willing to continually learn and develop proffesionally, through further training, specialisation and reflecting on practice.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by restoration
Nursing is deffinately rewarding, and the role is so diverse and varied depending on where you work, and more and more men are entering the proffesion every year. Have you also looked on volunteer websites? Thats how I got my hospital experience before applying. What degree did you do before and what grade? That should be enough for graduate entry :smile: If you don't know aswell I think if you are a caring person, can manage responsobility, stressful and emotional situations and also want to make an impact on people's lives nursing is a great career to go into.

EDIT: Nursing is also becoming increasingly academic a good grasp on biology is needed and also you have to be willing to continually learn and develop proffesionally, through further training, specialisation and reflecting on practice.


I did a business degree and got a first. I am caring but I have had no experience with bodily fluids. How did you cope with this at first. Please could you let me know what the volunteering websites are?
Reply 3
Go to some open days at universities, see what they have to say about your previous qualifications. I went into my course without any healthcare experience, but had quite a few friends who are nurses and knew what I was getting myself into. Have a look on hospital websites about volunteering, however it can be difficult to get a space to do it as they can be oversubscribed. Care and nursing homes are always worth a try as is giving something like SJA a bash.
Original post by Mr Student
I did a business degree and got a first. I am caring but I have had no experience with bodily fluids. How did you cope with this at first. Please could you let me know what the volunteering websites are?


Ah I see :smile: Take what moonkatt said on board too however you might need experience nowadays as nursing is competitive, erm lets just say there are worse things that you'll see than bodily fluids, I just felt sorry for some of the patients at first and you do get past that stage of feeling off about it. I used this website http://www.do-it.org.uk/ but there's also this... http://www.volunteering.org.uk/

Do a google search and have a look around :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 5
Had a quick look on those sites and there's little in the way of nursing within 20 miles of where I live. Perhaps a care home is the best bet?
Reply 6
Original post by Mr Student
Had a quick look on those sites and there's little in the way of nursing within 20 miles of where I live. Perhaps a care home is the best bet?


Try care homes and nursing homes, it's probably a bit easier to get in touch with someone there than a hospital, and also like I suggested in my last post if you fancy it St John Ambulance might be helpful too. Like restoration said though, it has over the last few years got more competitive to get into nursing so it makes sense to boost your application with whatever you can. Also if you've ever had the experience of caring for a relative it's something you can put down in your ps on your application.
Reply 7
Neg me all you like, everyone... but srsly male nurses = weird. Sorry, dude.
Reply 8
Original post by NB_ide
Neg me all you like, everyone... but srsly male nurses = weird. Sorry, dude.


Thanks for that valuable contribution to this thread.
Reply 9
Is nursing similar to working in a care home. I'm more interested in the clincial side of it. I like the look of A & E etc.
Original post by Mr Student
Baiscally I'm 23 and have been working for two years and I am considering a career in nursing but I have no idea if I'd like it beyond thinking that it looks very rewarding. I've emailed a couple of hopsitals about doing some work experience but they haven't got back to me. Is there any way I can assess if I'm suited to the profession. I previously did a degree but it was academic rather than vocational.


Hi ya!

Unfortunately it's not easy to get work experience in a hospital if you are no longer doing your A levels. I have been trying to get work experience in my local hospital but they don't seem very interested in offering work experience to people that are not on years 10 or 12, for some reason.

However, don't let that bring you down. I'd suggest other forms of work experience. I will soon volunteer with St John's ambulance. They are very friendly and it's almost as good as working in a hospital. Red Cross and local care homes are also a good options. If you can find a part time job in a role related to care, even better.

I must, however, point out that nursing is not a job per se. It's much more a life style than a job, so you sure don't want to choose it just because you want to help people. You can help peple as a teacher, social worker, police officer, and so on. I suggest doing lots of research as well as getting experience. Do you like biomedical sciences? Do you like doing things like dressing wounds, dealing with medication? Do you see yourself stitching a patient's giant wound? Dealing with death? Are you grossed out by blood, fluids....? There's so much in nursing that you gotta love, otherwise you will HATE being a nurse. You either love it or hate. I love it and hopefuly will be a nurse someday! :biggrin:
Reply 11
Original post by Mr Student
Is nursing similar to working in a care home. I'm more interested in the clincial side of it. I like the look of A & E etc.


Nursing in this day and age is done in all sorts of places, nursing homes, the community, the workplace, schools and of course all the different areas of the hospital you can think of. To train as a nurse you have to experience several different parts of nursing, some specific to the branch of nursing you have chosen to train in. Men are over represented in some areas compared to others, however they are becoming more prevalent across the spectrum. Overall I believe men account for around 10% of nurses on the register or there abouts. You still get people making moronic comments about male nurses such as the one in this thread, however if it's something you want to do go for it, ignore what ill informed people have to say, men have played a part in delivering nursing care from the very beginning of nursing.
Original post by NB_ide
Neg me all you like, everyone... but srsly male nurses = weird. Sorry, dude.


have you got a rationale behind that or are you just being a muppet ?
Reply 13
Some people have said "I can't see you cleaning bed pans everyday" as though this is the defining aspect of the role of a nurse. I fully accept that dealing with bodily fluids is part of the it but surely everyone finds that a little unpleasant at first and gets used to it. There must be a whole lot more to consider than just that. (It was a trained nurse that made that comment).
Reply 14
Another place to get some experience would be to volunteer in as hospice. I know people who have done this and gained work experience for medicine.
Reply 15
Original post by Mr Student
Some people have said "I can't see you cleaning bed pans everyday" as though this is the defining aspect of the role of a nurse. I fully accept that dealing with bodily fluids is part of the it but surely everyone finds that a little unpleasant at first and gets used to it. There must be a whole lot more to consider than just that. (It was a trained nurse that made that comment).


Good job we use cardboard ones these days that are destroyed in a macerator after use now then isn't it :smile:

There is the delivery of personal care which is a huge part of nursing care however it's only part of the picture, there's a lot more to it than just that. In my role it's very rare I am involved in delivering personal care, however what I do is still nursing.
Reply 16
Original post by moonkatt
Good job we use cardboard ones these days that are destroyed in a macerator after use now then isn't it :smile:

There is the delivery of personal care which is a huge part of nursing care however it's only part of the picture, there's a lot more to it than just that. In my role it's very rare I am involved in delivering personal care, however what I do is still nursing.


May I ask what setting you work in and what your job involves?
Original post by Mr Student
Some people have said "I can't see you cleaning bed pans everyday" as though this is the defining aspect of the role of a nurse. I fully accept that dealing with bodily fluids is part of the it but surely everyone finds that a little unpleasant at first and gets used to it. There must be a whole lot more to consider than just that. (It was a trained nurse that made that comment).


Sure cleaning bedpans and personal care is part of it in some places, but that's not the only thing you'll do by far, HCA's are taking more and more of the personal care nowadays. Nursing has become very focused clinically dealing with medications, drug admin, medical procedures etc. It's hard to just put down what a nurse does because it varies depending on the type of nursing you want to go into... For example if you work in A&E you'll more than likely be doing resuscitation, stitching wounds, breaking bad news (dealing with death etc), managing wounds, giving families emotional support. It's different every day and the list goes on and on really. Some nurses even prescribe and diagnose, prescribing happens a lot more in the community however.
Original post by Mr Student
Some people have said "I can't see you cleaning bed pans everyday" as though this is the defining aspect of the role of a nurse. I fully accept that dealing with bodily fluids is part of the it but surely everyone finds that a little unpleasant at first and gets used to it. There must be a whole lot more to consider than just that. (It was a trained nurse that made that comment).


Well I'm sure she is a great nurse. :rolleyes:

You have got to decide for yourself. Besides everything that has already been said, you also need to enjoy the sciences behind nursing. Only you can find out what's best for you.
Original post by Mr Student
Some people have said "I can't see you cleaning bed pans everyday" as though this is the defining aspect of the role of a nurse. I fully accept that dealing with bodily fluids is part of the it but surely everyone finds that a little unpleasant at first and gets used to it. There must be a whole lot more to consider than just that. (It was a trained nurse that made that comment).


Obviously nobody likes to do that, but like every job, there's some parts of it that you won't like. If you enjoy caring for people, then you'll enjoy being a nurse, but I've done work experience in a hospital and some of the stuff the nurses tell me is shocking. One of them was on a 14hr shift with only a 5 min break! And the ones that do the shorter shifts always finish at least half an hr late, but with no extra pay. But that's the part of the job, if you've finished your shift and a patient is calling out for you for help, you don't just walk off and leave them. I think it's good that you're considering working in a care home because it will be good experience.

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