Nursing degree or diploma

i think it's probably the degree. the diploma is still highly popular, but i believe they will be phasing it out soon and replacing it all with the degree. also, a lot of qualified nurses i know who qualified with a diploma are having to upgrade their qualification to the degree which means studying for a degree whilst working, so i'd guess that doing the degree in the first place would be a better idea.

*edit...i dont think that being qualified with a diploma does any damage to your job prospects, just that having the degree is a bonus, apparently.

Reply 2

JackieS

qwerty_st/n

i think it's probably the degree. the diploma is still highly popular, but i believe they will be phasing it out soon and replacing it all with the degree. also, a lot of qualified nurses i know who qualified with a diploma are having to upgrade their qualification to the degree which means studying for a degree whilst working, so i'd guess that doing the degree in the first place would be a better idea.

*edit...i dont think that being qualified with a diploma does any damage to your job prospects, just that having the degree is a bonus, apparently.

don't alot of people prefer to do the diploma coz you get more money in your bursary - and then take an extra year at the end to turn it into a degree? I remember someone saying you get more money if you do 3 years diploma and one year degree, than if you do just 3 years degree

Reply 3

yeah you do get more with the diploma in terms of bursary. so long as your marks are consistently good in the diploma during the first two years you apparently can move up onto the degree for the final year and come out with the degree at the end of it, in the same way as if you dont do so well on the degree you can step down onto the diploma.

but i think for nurses that qualify with the diploma, it is only like one year or 18 months that they have to study to upgrade to the degree as opposed to three years.

Reply 4

u_cheeky_girl

how much difference in money is it?i think the dip is about £6000, n how much debt shud u cum out wit on the diploma if u move to the uni?...i no it mite sound like a dumb question bt around about.

Reply 5

wether you take the diploma or the degree you qualify at the same level you just have more points if you have doen the degree. Also with the diploma like it has been stated you get a bussary which you dont get with the degree. Also it is easier to get into the diploma as you dont need A-levels, and once on the diploma course during the second year providing you have passed all your assignments first time round you can upgrade to the degree but this does mean you stop recieving your bussary. Also on the diploma course it is a lot more placement based than the degree, which i think is better anyway as at the end of the day that is what you are going to be doing.

Reply 6

i would have to disagree with the diploma being more placement based, it isnt - well not at salford anyway, both courses are 50/50 placement/theory
only difference is that the diploma students have more, shorter placements, like say they have about 4 different placements in a year, which are shorter than the 3 we get in the degree

Reply 7

well that seems to be the case at nottingham as i am a diploma student and our first placement straight after xmas is 16 weeks long, i cnt wait!

Reply 8

16 weeks? do you know what kind of ward or whatever it is?

it'd be hell if you had 16 week somewhere you didnt like. my 1st placement was 6 weeks in outpatients and i hated it

Reply 9

well it is split into 10 and 6 week blocks. for the 10 weeks you are on a branch related placement and my branch is child and i have got a placement on the childrens ward at the hospital where we are based which is good and then the 6 weeks is non-branch related and we dnt find that out just yet. i cnt wait though!

Reply 10

as far as i remember, here at salford, the child/mental health branches only ever had branch related placements even in the first year.

i can see the advantage to the way they've done it at notts though

Reply 11

both our lots of placemnts are broke up like that this year but i dnt know what happend in the 2nd year! i just nt wait now to get out there on my first placement.

Reply 12

JackieS

loopielou87

wether you take the diploma or the degree you qualify at the same level you just have more points if you have doen the degree. Also with the diploma like it has been stated you get a bussary which you dont get with the degree. Also it is easier to get into the diploma as you dont need A-levels, and once on the diploma course during the second year providing you have passed all your assignments first time round you can upgrade to the degree but this does mean you stop recieving your bussary. Also on the diploma course it is a lot more placement based than the degree, which i think is better anyway as at the end of the day that is what you are going to be doing.

You do get a bursary wth the degree - its just less than the diploma

Reply 13

JackieS

loopielou87

wether you take the diploma or the degree you qualify at the same level you just have more points if you have doen the degree. Also with the diploma like it has been stated you get a bussary which you dont get with the degree. Also it is easier to get into the diploma as you dont need A-levels, and once on the diploma course during the second year providing you have passed all your assignments first time round you can upgrade to the degree but this does mean you stop recieving your bussary. Also on the diploma course it is a lot more placement based than the degree, which i think is better anyway as at the end of the day that is what you are going to be doing.

You do get a bursary wth the degree - its just less than the diploma

Reply 14

well we have been told that you get ntohing at all, so i dnt know! but if you do thats good, might make it more appealing to switch in my second year!

Reply 15

well we have been told that you get ntohing at all, so i dnt know! but if you do thats good, might make it more appealing to switch in my second year!

Reply 16

Cinnamon Girl

Although I'm starting off on the diploma course, the first two years have the same level of study. It's only in the third year we go on to study for the diploma or if our grades support it we can switch to the degree or honours degree programme. I think that doing the diploma first has it's advantages (such as the bursary payment) and you can always go on to study the degree once you've qualified (and when you are earning money again). Of course the advantage of the degree is that you get it all over with within your three years and to be honest to progress in a nursing career most of the time you need a degree so it's something you have to do one way or another.

Reply 17