Volunteer Work For Adult Nursing Course

Hello,

I begin my Access to Uni course in a couple of weeks and it is vital I organise some volunteering work to better my chances of going to university. Originally I was just thinking of going to help out at the local residential home, then today whilst in a hospital I saw a lot about NHS volunteering. I have had a nosy on the internet tonight but have struggled to find a definite list of how/where you can volunteer at. However I did come across sites like Do-it etc which list volunteer work local to yourself. On here I have found work in a charity shop, walking an elderly persons dog and befriending blind people ? I think I would enjoy this type of work more than in a residential home but what do you think would look best on my uni application. Something a bit different or working with elderly people ?

Thanks in advance :biggrin:

Reply 1

Charlotte's Web

I'm applying for Adult Nursing at the minute. I've volunteered caring for an autistic 8 year old which I found on Gumtree, I've also worked at the RSPCA and I currently volunteer at Foodcycle which is cooking meals and befriending people in food poverty, drug addicts etc. I spoke to one of the admissions tutors and the fact that you are actively volunteering is all they want, she said they appreciate that you can't always get really relevant volunteer work and it's fine as long as it shows your caring nature. A lot of places don't advertise so if there's an organisation you'd like to work for then give them an email and they'll point you in the right direction.

I've had 2 weeks work experience of nursing on a surgical ward and one week in a hospice although I couldn't carry these on as volunteering since the hospital only took volunteers to work in the coffee shop etc, and the hospice didn't want to pay for a CRB check for someone who could only help out on evenings and weekends. If you can contact local places and explain your situation they might allow you to come in for a week.

I spoke to one of the admissions tutors and the fact that you are actively volunteering is all they want, she said they appreciate that you can't always get really relevant volunteer work and it's fine as long as it shows your caring nature.

Reply 2

maradoddsy

I did 2 years at uni doing adult nursing. It wasn't for me and I'm no longer doing it, but that's besides the point.

I think it's good that you're doing an access course 1st. I jumped into it straight after school before really knowing that I wanted to do it.

Anyway, sorry, I'm going off topic.

Before I started, I volunteered in a hospice for a summer. If you can get something like that for a longer period, that'd be good experience. You could also look into being a care assistant in a nursing home or somewhere like that. A lot of people on my course had jobs like that and it set them up well for the course.

Like the post above said, it's not easy to get relevant work experience, especially in such a short time. Try your best to get something, however, I was accepted into uni before I even did my hospice volunteering. Just show a keenness for the course and you should be fine.

Good luck! If it's what you really want to do, you'll be great at it.