Dual field nursing?

Hi, I'm in my first year of college and Im looking to apply to dual field nursing in Southampton and Oxford brookes. I'm still unsure if I want to do mental health and adult or mental health and child, and I'm struggling to find any info online. Anyone doing these courses? any feedback

There are very few benefits to doing a dual-registration course if any, employers generally don't have a good view of what they actually include and you may find it actually limits your job prospects. The two options you discuss are vastly different and have wholly different careers associated with them. If you are keen to do mental health then I'd recommend a straight MH nursing degree which will allow you to work with adults and young people.

Hi, I'm surprised by this as I've never heard it limiting job prospects, I've only ever heard that it gives you more choice. I realise that they're different, that's the reason I'd like to do the dual field, as I am interested in both sides. From what I've seen, mental health nursing includes less of the medicine side of things and I dont want to completely rule that out. Have you done the dual field degree?

The issue is that employers often don't see it that way. If you were, for example, recruiting for a nurse for a surgical ward, you're likely to state you are looking for an adult trained nurse on the job application. If you have 5 good applicants, would you pick the one who has spent 50% of their time training in a different field and who may therefore not be wholly committed to your role? Unfortunately often these degrees can make you awkwardly stuck in the middle rather than giving you more choice. I imagine you would not have any issues getting a job, but I just think it's important that you consider how that sort of degree might look to employers.

It is possible to cross over roles from single field nursing. If you have experience and passion then it is possible to work in a field different to the one you trained in. There is a lot of crossover in the fields anyway, in any MH setting you will have people with physical health problems and vice versa. For example, I completed an adult nursing degree yet had no problem getting a job offer working in a specialist unit for people with autism or a neurological rehab unit which was part of a MH trust.

I didn't do a dual field degree for the above reasons, plus it wasn't in line with my career plans.

For an area with so many vacancies I'm surprised that people are being turned away because they have more than one field of qualification. Thankyou for your help though.

As I said, I find it highly unlikely you will struggle to find a job. However, if you apply for competitive posts where there are other applicants you may be at a disadvantage. Again, it isn't really more than one field of qualification, it's a degree which is split into two fields (e.g. someone who does a history and psychology degree isn't as qualified as someone who did solely history).

I can confirm it is not combined!
I will qualify with two separate degrees. I will be as qualified as an adult nurse and as qualified as a mental health nurse.

Hi, I'm in my first year of college and Im looking to apply to dual field nursing in Southampton and Oxford brookes. I'm still unsure if I want to do mental health and adult or mental health and child, and I'm struggling to find any info online. Anyone doing these courses? any feedback

Hi, I'm in my first year of college and Im looking to apply to dual field nursing in Southampton and Oxford brookes. I'm still unsure if I want to do mental health and adult or mental health and child, and I'm struggling to find any info online. Anyone doing these courses? any feedback

"Hi!

It's wonderful to hear you are considering the University of Southampton as well as the dual field programme.

I am a first year student on the Adult and Child programme. The dual field programme provides a unique opportunity to understand multiple areas of the career. You gain two separate registrations under the NMC (you are fully qualified in both areas!). Southampton is a regional trauma centre and recceives patients from around the county and local areas for children, adult and mental health. This means, the experience you will gain here will be the same as any major centre such as London without having to live in a massive city. Our lecturers are researchers meaning they are guiding the future of healthcare (you may have seen the breast cancer research in the news reccently). Also, it is a huge bonus having the dual qualification as it provides unqiue skills. For example, mental health skills on any ward e.g. adult or child will be hugely valuable as these patients are present on all wards. During your training, you will also have a huge variety of placements including community, hospital and high acuity. Finally, the programme at Southampton leaves you with a Masters of Nursing which means you will gain experience in research if this is something you are interested in.

Any other questions please let me know!

Mary (Adult and Child Nursing)
University of Southampton (Official Rep)"

Hi Mary,

How many places are there on the dual field course, also how do students re-validate in both areas and is this difficult? What happens if you get a job in only one area eg children, will you no longer be able to work in adults or how does that work? thanks

Hi there, I will be starting at the Uni of Southampton in a week for adult and child nursing and from my knowledge I know that if you decide to work in an area that is children then you can take up bank shifts in areas containing adult to maintain your dual registration.

Thanks for your reply, I had heard that you can't take up bank shifts in an area for example adults unless you have completed the 6 months preceptorship in that area, which you would not have done if your job was in children's? Do you know if that is correct?