Paramedic or Nurse?

I've been asking myself this question for the best part of this and last year and I still haven't decided.

Now I have to write my personal statement and apply to University. Is there anyone out there who was ever stuck in a similar scenario and wrote a personal statement for both of these subjects?

Can you offer me any tips on writing a personal statement for both of these subjects?

oops thanks.

I was interested in both too. But I chose nursing as there is more career progression and a wide variety of jobs and fields you can enter into. I think I would probably like to work in A&E but are open to try different places and am very excited about starting my training in september.

What attracts you personally to nursing/paramedical science?

Nursing because I love people. I think I'm great at comforting others and emphasizing with others too. I am also interested in various disorders (from dementia to rheumatoid arthritis) and I like listening to people's stories and experiences. I want to learn more in depth about the human body, how it works and how it can be treated. Most of all I want to make a difference in the world.

Paramedic for those things and the excitement of it.

If I did nursing I believe could be a lot more flexible with my career; I could switch between specialties I think. I also hear that nursing pays more not that this matters much to me as I have always been fortunate enough to only aim for a job that I want to do rather than what I need to do. On top of this I also hear that it is cheaper to do Nursing at University than it is to do Paramedic. One things for sure it is definitely easier to get into nursing than paramedic; whether the paramedic course is harder is another matter and I don't want to suggest anything.

Paramedical science and nursing are pretty much on the same level in regards to competitiveness on getting a place at uni, they are both solid courses to get into and you will need experience, I applied to notts uni and there were roughly 1,000 people that applied for only 100 or so places. From what I think you should do nursing for the very reasons you said, you can still get "the excitement" in nursing just choose to work somewhere like A&E, I don't know how hard the paramedic course is but nursing is a very challenging degree and you will be expected to work shift patterns obviously, and a "long year" most courses are around 45 weeks leaving you with only small holidays compared to other uni students, but all the effort is deffinately worth it. You are right about being more flexible with your career, but you might find a place you just want to stick at.

Thanks for that reply I couldn't of hoped for a more positive one for my interests, you may have just swung me towards nursing!

Hard work doesn't intimidate me at all and in the way of work experience I don't mean to sound arrogant but I have tonnes! This last year I have been studying health and social care and beside the course I have been on 2 work placements, I have also been volunteering occasionally as an AFA with SJA and I am also a carer at a nursing home local to me.

I would like to know more about you and what you are doing, please share

That's great! I am due to start uni in september, but know quite a few people doing nursing I volunteered in a hospital for 6 months, and before that I was deffinately leaning more to paramedical science, but then I did tons of research and talked to friends and people I know studying nursing and found out about the variety of jobs available and the pay structure, and realised that it should hopefully be a "career for life", I already knew I would get job satisfaction from it after looking after people with my volunteering experience and so I sent my application and got an offer at de montfort I just finished my A-Levels too so am only 18 but am predicted BBB/ABB so I should have met my offer just fine I chose adult nursing because it is more "general nursing" it was either going to be that or children's, and I think it would be hard to manage dealing with a loss of a child, but my opinion may change after the first year seeing as you have to try all areas of nursing. Ask anymore questions you want, sorry I wrote that really quick and am shattered at the minute

Depending on what branch of nursing you go into you will deffinately be studying the body, anatomy and physiology, chemistry, biomedical stuff, medicine stuff - I know some lecturers I will be having will be with medicine students so there is a lot of cross over. Some people have the misconception that nursing is "dumbed down medicine" it it most deffinately isn't though, they are just two different fields, and one wouldn't work without the other.

I'm trying to explain why I've chosen adult nursing over child nursing in my PS but I am having trouble. Do you think It'll be enough to say that I want to study adult nursing because it is more general? The truth of the matter is that I find it much easier from experience to treat adults than to treat children in most circumstances when carrying out first aid treatment.

Don't even mention child nursing, just say something like, you have chosen adult nursing because you have already experienced what it is like to work with them, and really want to gain the breadth of knowledge an adult nursing degree is able to give you. Reword this obviously I might get my personal statement out if it will help you. Oh and also talk about your qualities and why you think you would make a good Adult Nurse.