Child VS Adult nursing for nurse practitioning-HELP

Yes definitely.

Does everyone have to be interviewed for nursing and take the maths and English tests?

Whilst interviews are necessary to judge the person etc its just not a real representation of who they are and for a person like me, i know it's cliche, but i have passion for nursing and but don't feel like i have the capacity to ace those interviews, if i ever get one.

How are they anyway and are you in your first year?

Yeah and do you know whether the difference in the course content matters for nursing.

I have seen some varied content coursed from different universites.

I'm starting my degree in September (got my A-Level results last week LOL) but did tonnes of research into nursing because I was discouraged from it due to being male and doing academic A-levels. I really enjoyed my work experience in a care setting which is what made me want to pursue it.

Every uni interviews their prospective students, but not everyone gets offered an interview.Don't be disheartened though. At some unis you are fighting off 8 other applicants for your place there!

Some uni's do maths and literacy tests others don't. It's fairly simple if they do however, they just look at the legibility of your writing and your articulation etc. Numeracy tests are usually easy but make sure you know how to convert from micrograms to milligrams etc. as sometimes they put basic drug calculations on the papers which caught some people at my interviews out. Also othings like 1 gram= 1000 milligrams.

As for the interview? Just be yourself that always works if you have aptitude. They ask all sorts of things, but they'd never ask you anything medical related like "What is nephritis?" there more about "what qualities do you think a nurse should have?". The might ask you "what you'd do if someone say refused to eat their breakfast on a ward round" but often it's common sense really.

Don't worry they're always really nice at the interviews! The interviews are fun and you'll meet loads of like minded people The staff know people get nervous and don't be afraid to tell them that they're so reassuring and lovely- they are often nurses themselves after all so this shouldn't be a surprise.

It's the group interviews you've gotta watch out for (most unis do individual in my experience), you might get some big-headed tw*t interrupting you or speaking over everyone- don't let them do that make sure you have a voice.

Above all remember they WANT to offer you a place on their course just show enthusiasm and passion for it and try and talk about any work experience you have in healthcare. Another professional touch is to shake the interviewer(s) hand(s) after the interview. This shows professionalism which is crucial in nursing practice.

It's all accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery council so they should all have similar content. There are universities who have more rigorous degrees in terms of having harder biology, anatomy and physiology and pharmacology modules like Manchester University where I will be studying.

In the first year all the basic life support clinical skills and other lectures are delivered to all branches usually you separate off in 2nd and 3rd year.

In short you'll do anatomy and physiology, public health and pharmacology is compulsory (you have to get 100% to pass it I believe in a lot of unis :O) this is sandwiched with 50% placement throughout the year as required by the NMC.

For the very same reason you just said It's very competitive plus far more adults get sick than children and hospitals tend to only have one pediatric ward= fewer jobs.

Don't let that put you off though! Plenty of graduates find jobs nearly straight away.

I do BTEC health and social care and really hate anatomy and physiology, science is just not my thing.


Thanks for all of your replies, really helpful.

Whilst I think its great to think ahead and have goals, try not to get too far ahead of yourself.

The vast majority of nurses are band 5 and will stay at that level for the majority of their careers. It may change in the future, with nurses taking a more advanced role, but its unlikely to change that much. Nurses don't just become practitioners overnight, they often have many years of post qualification experience and additional qualifications before making the transition.

My point is that, although you may want to be a nurse practitioner there is a long time before that happens. You have to pick the branch that you will be happy spending the next decade (approx, taking account of time as a student nurse) as a band 5 in. Yes, there may be more adult jobs available but with the state of the NHS, I doubt any childrens nurses are struggling to find work. You might just have to be prepared to move after qualifying.

Also can I clarify what you mean when you say nurse practitioner? Do you mean someone who has become a specialist in a specific area of nursing, such as A&E, orthopaedics or cancer care? Or do you mean a practice nurse at a GP (you seem to be asking about both).



This worries me slightly. Whilst the initial degree is not particularly pure science based, bar the A&P, if you hope to specialise in the future, the chances are you will have to do some 'sciency' medical based studying. But don't be too wary, its nothing like the science you get taught at GCSE/school. And hopefully you will have developed an interest in that area which will help you enjoy the science aspects.
Additionally, you will need to have a grasp of some basic scientific principles in order to understand the basic pharmacology of the drugs and treatments you are administering to patients, as well as how and why patients deteriorate or improve.

There are fewer places at uni to study children's nursing. Where I was there were 250 adult students and 50 child branch. It is not hard to find a job, everyone in my cohort has a job and were able to choose because of having more than one job offer. You can't just 'transition' from adult to child, unless you want to work in NICU, but even there paeds trained nurses are now being hired in preference and rightly so.
And yes Blackstarr you will be interviewed and nearly every uni, not all, will ask you to sit a numeracy and literacy test.

Yes, i am asking about both and yeah, it does seem like i am getting ahead of myself but that's because i need to narrow down my career path so if you have the answer to the bi in bold, that would be great.

The problem is you're not really narrowing it down by asking this question. You can be a nurse practitioner in so many different fields, there are certainly childrens' specialist nurses. Picking a branch on the basis of which will allow you to become a nurse practitioner is foolish. You're missing my point, you actually have to be a band 5, non specialist, nurse in that area first. Do you want to work with children or adults for your career?

And if you're considering being a practice nurse, then I would assume adult would give you more options, as a lot of your patients will be adults and you can learn to provide the care needed for children in your practice. But have a look at job adverts and job descriptions, see what qualification they ask for.

And if you're considering being a practice nurse, then I would assume adult would give you more options, as a lot of your patients will be adults and you can learn to provide the care needed for children in your practice

That is essentially what i am trying to get at.

But whilst most patients will be adult, adult nurse practitioners can still cater for children

Depends on your employer but potentially yes. In GP practices I don't think NPs stay on at night for emergency/ out of hours surgeries, its usually the doctors.

Also here's my two cents: Adult branch nursing would potentially allow you to choose between the two as you can do a post graduate diploma to change specialism if you so desire from adult to child (NOT vice versa). If you go into child nursing you will only ever work with children. It really restricts some of the paths you could go down if you were to change you mind in the future. I know it's a lot of pressure but you need to make a decision soon. Also don't forget you need a few years experience before doing your masters degree to become a nurse practitioner and in this time you could only work with children if you choose child branch potentially forcing you into the children's nurse practitioner.

Hope that's helpful

You're getting yourself confused between nurse practitioners and practice nurses. An adult trained nurse practitioner in A&E will care for adult patients. An adult trained practice nurse, in a GP, as far as I am aware can care for child patients (doing vaccinations etc) but I have never worked in this area so I don't know the specifics. It might be they require dual qualification, or it may be that its on the job and post graduate qualifications that allow them to do so. But job descriptions and adverts can tell you this.

Conversion courses from adult to child are becoming less common, due to the fact that more and more of the children's nurse workforce are coming through the branch specific route.

Children's nursing isn't restricting if you know that is what you want to do. And more and more funding is being established for nurse specialist and practitioner roles within paediatrics - especially within tertiary centres. The revolutions in neonatal care mean that more and more babies with long term health implications are transitioning to paediatric care with very complex, demanding health needs. Paediatrics in turn has improved, meaning these babies are living longer and longer into adolescence (Or maybe further). And with child poverty rising, more and more "normally fit and well" children are becoming acutely unwell or developing long term conditions.

The requirements for paediatric care, and therefore paediatric specialist practitioners (From all fields of medicine) is only on the increase.

If i was to work in a GP as a nurse practitioner will i be expected to work unsocial hours?

Practice nurses may or may not work unsocial hours (I'm not entirely sure to be honest) but you will have to do *compulsory* unsocial hours as a student nurse so do consider this.

Whilst I think ... oncology of the drugs and treatments you are administering to patients, as well as how and why patients deteriorate or improve.

This is a fair point well made You need an independent prescribers qualification and lots of years experience/ postgrad certificates to do a masters degree in nursing, which is the key to becoming an NP/ ANP.

I'm curious, I've read that many of the more senior roles in the NHS in nursing are done by men, and that men are statistically more likely to go on and do masters degrees and Phds in nursing than women. What are your thoughts/ experiences with that? Wouls you agree?

I must admit its not something I've really noticed. Perhaps it also varies by specialities. I've always worked on wards where there was a huge difference in female to male numbers. The specialist nurses, palliative care etc, have generally all been female too. I imagine its a different story if you go to places like A&E and ITU. But TBH its not generally anything I've particularly paid attention to.

There are fewer places at uni to study children's nursing. Where I was there were 250 adult students and 50 child branch. It is not hard to find a job, everyone in my cohort has a job and were able to choose because of having more than one job offer. You can't just 'transition' from adult to child, unless you want to work in NICU, but even there paeds trained nurses are now being hired in preference and rightly so.
And yes Blackstarr you will be interviewed and nearly every uni, not all, will ask you to sit a numeracy and literacy test.