Adult or mental health Nursing

Hi

I do not know if I want to do adult or mental health nursing. My problem is this:

I am on a HNC care and admin. I have placement in a Adult urology ward. My mentor and the staff are great. I just do not know if that is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I just do not know.

I like the idea of mental health nursing- Especially child mental health. I like the idea of being an advocate.

My Mum is concerned it is a sad job as she said "No one gets better" (family experience) and because no one is expected to get better it is a "lazy job" .

I can get experience in mental health if I wanted. However that would mean I only applied for uni next year. I want to know which I want to do.

If I applied for adult I could apply this year or mental health next year. I tried to get mental health experience and hated it and applied for adult I would still need to apply next year.

I do not know what to do.

If I applied next year I would be 19 years old. I would not know what to do for the year between. As I am Scottish if I did another HNC or HND SAAS would not pay my uni first year.

Thanks

I do not know what to do. Any tips? Ideas?

Reply 1

joey-92

Hi, I applied for mental health nursing when i was 19 as i was interested in working with older people with mental health problems. I found after a while that it wasn't for me, i personally felt i was too young and needed more life experience to work in that environment because it is very challenging! I would definitely suggest trying to get some more experience to see if it is for you! As for they 'never get better' that is not true at all! From my placements many of the patients had mentioned how brilliant the nurses were and had supported them with managing their illnesses! I changed to adult nursing and came across a lot of mental illness there anyway, so if your still interested you can go into mental later on, i think it would be more difficult the other way around. Your only young, people apply for nursing from 18 up to their 40's so don't worry about how old you'll be! Nursing is a 3 year course and you get the chance to go on so many placements that by the end of it you will get a feel for what's right for you! Hope this lecture helped a bit! Good luck!

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 2

azalight90

Thanks

The problem my Mum has said that mental health nurses are uncaring. She said that when my cousin was ill and crying in hospital he would be told to "get a milky drink and go to bed) and that the same sort of things happened when other family were admitted.

She also said that if I apply for a 2015 start I would "waste a year doing nothing" Any courses that progress what I am doing loose me funding and all lower courses are lower and need me to fund them.

I do not know what to do. When my Mum told her sister what I was thinking she said "do not do it they are not kind" when her son was in. "but when I was in hopital (medical reasons) they could not be more kind.

Also my problem is not that "19 is so old oh my god" it is this "what do I do for a year?"
I do not know what to do.

Reply 3

angel_delight

Thats a bit of a generalisation!! As in any area of nursing or any type of job you get uncaring people but you also get amazing caring and thoughtful people as well. Its about how you would be as a nurse and how you can make a difference, dont let cynical people put you off.

Why cant you apply for a 2014 start in mental health?

I was 19 when I started nursing and it is not old!! If you do decide to take a year out and you already have the qualifications I would choose to go and get experience. Go and work as a nursing assistant on the bank and get a feel for different areas or do some volunteering whilst working.

I wouldnt let your family put you off, at the end of the day the decision is yours to make and you dont want to look back thinking I wish Id done something different.

Reply 4

blondyx

Original post by azalight90

Hi there,
I would definetly say get some experience in mental health and then work out which one you would prefer.
I applied for MH nursing for this year but decided to get a job in a mental health hospital instead to see if i liked it before going to uni and I am glad I did.
It can be a very hard thing deciding between two areas. I definetly advise spending time thinking about it and trying different areas before going to uni. Don't worry about age, there are alot of people in their 20's and later who study it.

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Reply 5

azalight90

Thanks guys

Another problem is this. I mum was taking to a mental health nurse: He work for a phone line.(not naming names) He supposedly said that he puts the phone on to mute and then every know and then mutest and says how does that makes you feel.

A paediatric nurse recommended doing general first.

My mum says that I had a mental health nurse. She said to my mum that she could phone her any time she needed. She phoned 4 times over about 4 years / 3 years she was off ill 3 times.

My mum seems to think mental health nursing is lazy because the patients do not know the support they should get and therefore the staff can be lazy.

Gosh I do not know. At times like this I want to cry.

Reply 6

blondyx

Original post by azalight90

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Erm sorry I don't really understand your first paragraph. The mental health nurse is now working for a phone company instead?

In 3 years being off 3 times is quite good unless it was for long periods.

It is up to you but I would suggest waiting til you are sure rather than having to possibly study for general and mental.

Reply 7

moonkatt

Original post by azalight90

There's no such thing as general nursing anymore, I'm guessing the paeds nurse meant adult branch, which if you want to be a children's nurse it's a bit pointless studying adult.

I think your best bet would be to get experience in each of the branches you're interested in and make a decision based on that rather than on what people think about each branch (informed or not).

Reply 8

azalight90

No sorry a mental health helpline such as samaritans, mind and such

Reply 9

azalight90

Thanks guys

I have been advised by a adult nurse student who was about to do mental health and a adult nurse and mental health tutor who all say:

It is better to be a adult nurse then do mental health 2 years if you still want to do mental health.

For that reason I have chosen to study adult nursing and then later I might move to mental health 2 years post registration.

Thanks guys

Reply 10

moonkatt

Original post by azalight90

Sigh.

So if you want to be a mental health nurse you'd rather spend three years training in a role that you don't want to do then a further two years (if you can find a course to do MH) making it five years to be a mental health nurse. Bit of a pointless and long way round of doing things. If admissions tutors pick up that you want to be a mental health nurse and not adult then the chances of you getting a place on an adult nursing course will be slim.

If you want to be a mental health nurse study mental health nursing, that's my advice.

Reply 11

azalight90

Thanks

I like the idea of mental health but I just got the most out of my last shift. One of the most ill patients been with us over 4 weeks was asking the night staff if I was going to be in.

I am 100% behind the move.