What do I do if I want to become a nurse?

Would a support worker for disabled people be any good? I've just applied for a job role being a support worker! All the health assistant jobs I can find are asking for experience :frown:

I'm not too sure how to talk about my step grandad and uncle either without Looking like I'm wanting sympathy :,)!

http://www.do-it.org.uk/

Try this out, I found loads of volunteering roles to do support work for disabled, elderly, children, families who have lost a child, day centres. All sorts. :smile:

In my personal statement I wrote about my work placements I did on my Health and Social Care course (nurseries and one care home), volunteering with YMCA day camps, volunteering with disabled children and mentioned the community work I've done.

Show your passion on how much you want to help people! :smile:

And of course show them that you understand the role of the type of nursing you want to do and why your experiences and personality traits matter and help that role.

One thing that stuck in my mind was when a tutor from a university came to give us a talk, and she basically said "You're empathetic.. so what?! You worked in a hospital for nine years.. so what?! Show us what you learnt and how it will help you on the course/as a nurse instead of writing lists."

Hope that helped!

Reply 41

Sezena

OP

6

Original post by roachesandratsx

http://www.do-it.org.uk/

Try this out, I found loads of volunteering roles to do support work for disabled, elderly, children, families who have lost a child, day centres. All sorts. :smile:

In my personal statement I wrote about my work placements I did on my Health and Social Care course (nurseries and one care home), volunteering with YMCA day camps, volunteering with disabled children and mentioned the community work I've done.

Show your passion on how much you want to help people! :smile:

And of course show them that you understand the role of the type of nursing you want to do and why your experiences and personality traits matter and help that role.

One thing that stuck in my mind was when a tutor from a university came to give us a talk, and she basically said "You're empathetic.. so what?! You worked in a hospital for nine years.. so what?! Show us what you learnt and how it will help you on the course/as a nurse instead of writing lists."

Hope that helped!

It really does thank you! My worry is if I pull out of university this year and spend my time volunteering for a year it even hopefully a job in the mean time will I get the chance to go back to university? Should I just defer my year at my current universities just in case? My family are really not supportive of it either and that makes it a lot more difficult for me, my biggest worry is what if I do all of this hard work and then apply and I still don't get in? Then what?! :frown:

Reply 42

lilibet01

9

nobody knows 100% if they are going to get a place, we all just applied and went for it. You are only 19/20, you have years to get in and I personally think that a bit of life experience is really useful for nursing. So don't worry about the 'what if's', if you want it badly enough, you stand as good a chance as the next person.

Reply 43

Sezena

OP

6

Original post by lilibet01

nobody knows 100% if they are going to get a place, we all just applied and went for it. You are only 19/20, you have years to get in and I personally think that a bit of life experience is really useful for nursing. So don't worry about the 'what if's', if you want it badly enough, you stand as good a chance as the next person.

What experience did you have behind you? I was just thinking if I did some voluntary work after exams that's the end of June and July for experience, august I'm going on holiday for a month and for nursing they want early applicants, right? That's two months of experience and then a year where I'll obviously still volunteer and try find a job, but ucas will only see I've had two months of volunteering with that lack of experience is it likely they will even look at me? I think I will call a university and ask them but what are your honest opinions? :smile:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 44

Sezena

OP

6

I've just got an interview to be a mental health support worker! I was wondering if any of you would be able to let me know if this was any good experience to have? I've also applied to be a health care assistant at various places, although I haven't got any interviews for them yet which do you think will be better to go for?

Also if I do go for the support worker, and then get offered a place at a care home/health assistant am I allowed to just drop out of that job and take on the other one I may be offered? Xx

Reply 45

moonkatt

19

Original post by Sezena

I've just got an interview to be a mental health support worker! I was wondering if any of you would be able to let me know if this was any good experience to have? I've also applied to be a health care assistant at various places, although I haven't got any interviews for them yet which do you think will be better to go for?

Also if I do go for the support worker, and then get offered a place at a care home/health assistant am I allowed to just drop out of that job and take on the other one I may be offered? Xx

You can leave any job whenever you want, you'll probably have to work a period of notice.

Mental health support worker will be a fine role for you to help with an application for nursing (especially mental health). Which branch interests you the most?

Reply 46

Sezena

OP

6

Original post by moonkatt

You can leave any job whenever you want, you'll probably have to work a period of notice.

Mental health support worker will be a fine role for you to help with an application for nursing (especially mental health). Which branch interests you the most?

Thank you for the reply! I didn't get a notification so sorry for my late one! My interview is tomorrow morning and I am so so nervous as I would absolutely love to have it, not for the money, but for the experience and just being able to finally do something I'm passionate about!
I'm going crazy looking all over the internet at interview tips, I've never had a proper interview before and I don't even have anything nice to wear so I've opted for a black dress with a grey print floral blazer :') and them little peep toe heels!

Honestly I'm interested in all fields of Nursing, Mental Health Nursing I think I would find particularly interesting because I'm interested in the Psychology of Mental Health Disorders, however I heard Adult took on the most Applicants, and then you can always specialise in a specific field afterwards, am I right? :biggrin:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 47

squeakysquirrel

20

Original post by Sezena

Thank you for the reply! I didn't get a notification so sorry for my late one! My interview is tomorrow morning and I am so so nervous as I would absolutely love to have it, not for the money, but for the experience and just being able to finally do something I'm passionate about!
I'm going crazy looking all over the internet at interview tips, I've never had a proper interview before and I don't even have anything nice to wear so I've opted for a black dress with a grey print floral blazer :') and them little peep toe heels!

Honestly I'm interested in all fields of Nursing, Mental Health Nursing I think I would find particularly interesting because I'm interested in the Psychology of Mental Health Disorders, however I heard Adult took on the most Applicants, and then you can always specialise in a specific field afterwards, am I right? :biggrin:

Just stumbled on your post - good luck with your interview.

If you don't get it - look at NHSjobs - lots of work there. Get some experience and you will walk into a uni place for mental health - there are always places in clearing -as i is a bit of a cinderella profession.

However, that said you will always be employed and can travel the world and it is a damn sight more useful than a degree in psychology. I wouldn't apply for this year either - many students are in their twenties and thirties when they dart.

Reply 48

moonkatt

19

Original post by Sezena

Thank you for the reply! I didn't get a notification so sorry for my late one! My interview is tomorrow morning and I am so so nervous as I would absolutely love to have it, not for the money, but for the experience and just being able to finally do something I'm passionate about!
I'm going crazy looking all over the internet at interview tips, I've never had a proper interview before and I don't even have anything nice to wear so I've opted for a black dress with a grey print floral blazer :') and them little peep toe heels!

Honestly I'm interested in all fields of Nursing, Mental Health Nursing I think I would find particularly interesting because I'm interested in the Psychology of Mental Health Disorders, however I heard Adult took on the most Applicants, and then you can always specialise in a specific field afterwards, am I right? :biggrin:

Hi, interviews can be scary, try not to worry though. They've invited you to interview so you must have met the criteria they wanted from your application form and stand a good chance of getting the job. If they didn't think you were appropriate for the job you wouldn't have got an interview, so try and be confident. They're not there to shout at you or be nasty, they want to talk to you and find out more about you and see how you respond to their questions to see if you are the right person for the job. Have a think about why you want to do the job, that's a pretty common question you get.

With applying for nursing, don't chose a branch just because they take on the most applicants. Yes adult branch does take on the most, that's because it's where most nurses work, while there may be the chance to do further study and work in mental health later on, a lot of places have stopped doing these courses now. Hopefully, all will go well for you tomorrow and the experience here will help you with making a decision.

Good luck :smile:

Reply 49

Sezena

OP

6

Original post by moonkatt

Hi, interviews can be scary, try not to worry though. They've invited you to interview so you must have met the criteria they wanted from your application form and stand a good chance of getting the job. If they didn't think you were appropriate for the job you wouldn't have got an interview, so try and be confident. They're not there to shout at you or be nasty, they want to talk to you and find out more about you and see how you respond to their questions to see if you are the right person for the job. Have a think about why you want to do the job, that's a pretty common question you get.

With applying for nursing, don't chose a branch just because they take on the most applicants. Yes adult branch does take on the most, that's because it's where most nurses work, while there may be the chance to do further study and work in mental health later on, a lot of places have stopped doing these courses now. Hopefully, all will go well for you tomorrow and the experience here will help you with making a decision.

Good luck :smile:

The interview went well I think! I struggled quite a lot when they asked me what communication skills I have so I just said I can calm someone down, I can control my emotions, I'm approachable and then she helped me a little and asked if I was good at persuading people. I said I was good at getting my opinion across but I wouldn't go as far as persuading because I believe people have the right to their own mine and opinion no matter what it is and I don't believe influencing them to think otherwise is right, obviously if they're in danger is advice them and hopefully get them to see my point of view but if never persuade them!
That's the question I found most difficult anyway!
Along the way they gave us scores, and at the end I saw that I got 36/40! I'm not sure if this is good maybe that give everyone that and one person gets 40/40? I'll see! But thanks for the tips :biggrin:

! They helped!

Reply 50

Annaleigh_B

So I just came across this and your situation sounds like mine a little! So I applied to teaching last year and got an unconditional offer. I was excited about getting the offer however I wasn't sure if I wanted to go and do it. I didn't really know if teaching was what I honestly wanted to do. So against the advice of my whole family I deferred my entry for a year. So I could figure out if I really did want to be a teacher, or I wanted to do something else. At this point I didn't know what else I could do, or wanted to do, so I just got a job in a kids play centre and enjoyed meeting new people earning money and stuff that way. Whilst working here I figured out that I was 100% sure I DIDN'T want to work with kids my whole life and they are in fact a little irritating, so I had to honestly sit down and figure out where I wanted to go in my life. I looked into Adult nursing and fell in love with the idea. After some extensive research I decided that that's what I honestly wanted to do with my life. So I had to withdraw my unconditional offer for teaching and re-apply again. I was so worried about withdrawing because there was no guarantee I would even get a place at uni, and my whole family was counting on me going in September. But I knew this was what I wanted to do and it wasn't up to my family to make my decisions for me. So I withdrew and re-applied. I got a few interviews and when I went I was worried because I didn't have any health care experience like almost everyone else, but they obviously saw something Good in me because my first choice gave me an unconditional offer! So I'm off so Hertfordshire in September to do Adult Nursing and my gosh I'm excited!!

So I say defer your place, you never know what you may decide this year and it's good to have an offer just in case you change your mind again. Then try and get some experience in a health care background, but this isn't easy so if you can't find a job doing so, maybe just ask your local hospital for some work experience. Remember, I had NO experience what so ever but I still got a place, so don't worry if you can't get a job. Re-apply then in a few months you can withdraw from psychology and apply to nursing. Good luck!!

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Reply 51

Sezena

OP

6

Original post by Annaleigh_B

So I just came across this and your situation sounds like mine a little! So I applied to teaching last year and got an unconditional offer. I was excited about getting the offer however I wasn't sure if I wanted to go and do it. I didn't really know if teaching was what I honestly wanted to do. So against the advice of my whole family I deferred my entry for a year. So I could figure out if I really did want to be a teacher, or I wanted to do something else. At this point I didn't know what else I could do, or wanted to do, so I just got a job in a kids play centre and enjoyed meeting new people earning money and stuff that way. Whilst working here I figured out that I was 100% sure I DIDN'T want to work with kids my whole life and they are in fact a little irritating, so I had to honestly sit down and figure out where I wanted to go in my life. I looked into Adult nursing and fell in love with the idea. After some extensive research I decided that that's what I honestly wanted to do with my life. So I had to withdraw my unconditional offer for teaching and re-apply again. I was so worried about withdrawing because there was no guarantee I would even get a place at uni, and my whole family was counting on me going in September. But I knew this was what I wanted to do and it wasn't up to my family to make my decisions for me. So I withdrew and re-applied. I got a few interviews and when I went I was worried because I didn't have any health care experience like almost everyone else, but they obviously saw something Good in me because my first choice gave me an unconditional offer! So I'm off so Hertfordshire in September to do Adult Nursing and my gosh I'm excited!!

So I say defer your place, you never know what you may decide this year and it's good to have an offer just in case you change your mind again. Then try and get some experience in a health care background, but this isn't easy so if you can't find a job doing so, maybe just ask your local hospital for some work experience. Remember, I had NO experience what so ever but I still got a place, so don't worry if you can't get a job. Re-apply then in a few months you can withdraw from psychology and apply to nursing. Good luck!!

Posted from TSR Mobile