MSc Nursing UoB 2021

Is there anyone planning to start MSc Nursing at Birmingham this September?
I have a conditional offer for the mental health strand.

I was wondering how people are finding the application process?

Hi PastaBrain. Am starting MSc Nursing in Adult this year, I have satisfied all the conditions and am really excited to start the programme.

Nice to hear from you

Amazing that you’re all good to go! When did you first apply? I’m still waiting for my portal to update.

Will you be new to Birmingham?

I applied mid March, Although my portal hasn't been updated yet. Am sure it will soon. Am not new to Brum..I live on the outskirts. Will you be new to the area?

Ah okay, good to know we’re in the same boat regarding the portal.

And yes I’m totally new - coming all the way up from the south coast! I did my undergrad at Southampton (French & Linguistics). What’s your background?

Feeling a bit nervous about it all. I’ve applied for postgrad halls so hoping they can find me a space!

We will soon find out in regards to the portal.

Brum is a lovely city, but I understand moving to a different city can be quite daunting but you'll be ok.

My background is public health, which I did at Wolverhampton. If you applied early for the halls they should find you a space. When do you hear from them? Have you got plan B just in case the spaces are full?

I also have a conditional offer to study MSc mental health nursing at UoB this September.

Hey! Nice to hear from another applicant!

Are you from Birmingham? And what’s your academic background if you don’t mind me asking?

Sounds like we get our portfolio marks released on Wednesday which is good!

Didn’t even know we got marks for them, thought it was just pass or fail. Do you feel confident you have passed?

Yeah I’m from Birmingham. Let me know if you want any help with finding your way around Birmingham or have any questions. I did a BSc in psychology, just graduated

No, neither did I! Perhaps it’s just worded strangely in the email. Yeah I think mine was okay as they haven’t asked me to resubmit. Unless I missed something lol. How about you?

Thanks so much! I’ll let you know if I have any questions for sure

Maybe. Don’t really want to know my mark, my reflective pieces were a crap in some areas because I had just finished my degree at the end of May and was tired. Plus there was just so much we had to write to demonstrate how we met all the criteria. What was your care experience in?

I am kind of excited to get started soon though and start learning. I feel like there is a lot they haven’t told us yet, even just the basic outline of the year, contact time etc

How many words did you write roughly in total for all your reflective pieces? Mine was ridiculously long.

That’s cool, sounds like good experience for nursing. My background is support work in mental health. I quit though last year to focus on final year of my degree.

Yeah we don’t seem to know much about the course. Or even a start date. It would be good if they could give us a reading list at least

Plus the 1500 word introduction? I’m embarrassed now. I wrote way too much. He didn’t give a word limit!

You would think so but I’m not sure. It wasn’t very hands on, no idea how to give personal care. And although I tried to focus on improving my service users’ mental health, the organisation I worked for wanted us to focus more on “achieving outcomes” with them to justify our funding. It became more about getting them support for practical stuff like benefits and financial help rather than their mental health since we had no specialised training. Probably way more relevant to do something like HCA work on a ward. Although I was moved to a residential setting at the organisation to cover staff shielding during the first covid lockdown, and that was a bit more hands on. I got experience dispensing medication.

How did you find domiciliary care? I imagine it’s really hard work, especially for the pay.

Oh I did an introduction for each of the five sections. Probably doesn't matter. It's embarrassing, but my reflective pieces alone were about 6000 words altogether. I know, it's ridiculous, but i was trying to be really thorough and demonstrate how I met all of the criteria. I passed the first time around, I just don't want to know my mark though haha.

What made you want to do MH nursing specifically?

Yeah I totally understand, I felt sad to leave my last place of work last September.