Mental Health Nursing

Hello! So a few years ago, when I was in year 9 (about 14 y/o) I decided I wanted to do Nursing at university, specifically Mental Health Nursing. After my GCSE's I chose Lit, Lang, Sociology and Photog for my A levels. I did this because I didn't quite get the grades I needed to get onto A level science courses (I was literally 2/3 marks off ugh). I thought to myself, 'great, I'll never get into nursing with these subjects' so I leant towards English Lit. Recently, after having written my first draft of my English PS, I've come to the realisation Lit just isn't for me and I don't think I'd enjoy it as much at uni. I love to read don't get me wrong, but, I don't know. So I'm looking at nursing again. From what I've read, I could get into a lot of uni's without science subjects, they either ask for just UCAS points/grades or if they ask for any specific subjects I can get in with sociology. I have little experience right now. Can I write in my new MHN PS that I have some planned to do over the holidays? Or would they throw my application away because I don't have much right now? Would it be worth doing a Health and Social foundation degree first?

Please help me! D:

Any help or information, anything at all, is greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading. :smile:

EDIT: Also, I really don't want to do a gap year, it's kinda out of the question for me. Thanks!

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

opalescent

There is no need to do another degree first. That wouldn't be a sensible use of time and money if you're already sure that nursing is what you want to do. If you don't get in this time round due to lack of practical experience, it would make more sense to take a year out, get a relevant job (psychiatric healthcare assistant or something similar), and then re-apply next year. I know a couple of people who did this to help them make up their minds whether to apply for nursing or not. One is now a nurse, one is in medical school.

For your personal statement, make the most of what you have. Talk honestly about what interests you about MH nursing and what skills and qualities you have that you think would make you a good nurse, with examples. For instance, if you have helped younger students at your school with homework you could talk about how this has taught you to communicate clearly and simply and has helped you to become more patient with people. Even if you don't have relevant medical experience just yet I am sure you could probably use other aspects of life to illustrate why you might make a good nurse.

You could also link your current A-Level subjects to nursing. Sociology has a lot to say about how we think about mental distress and how we view people with a psychiatric diagnosis - what does it mean to be 'ill' and 'well'? Literature and photography are also interesting, because the creative arts can be very useful in supporting people with mental distress. I suggest you have a think about the ways in which they're useful, do a bit of research, and work it into your statement. Yesterday I listened to an interview from the Royal Ballet about representations of mental illness in theatre that might be interesting to you. You don't have to prove that your photography skills are somehow vital to nursing; you do need to show that you are able to think about nursing and mental health in a sensitive, caring, and insightful way, and reflecting on issues like the role of creative arts in mental health care is one way to do that.

I don't think selectors will give much weight to experience you say you're going to undertake, so you may end up needing a year out. But if you are thoughtful in your statement and you can show that you understand the realities of mental health nursing (as opposed to some idealistic picture in your head) and you have the right attributes for it, then you do stand a chance of getting in. :smile:

Good luck. I hope it works out for you.

Reply 2

Speed1987

Take that advice, your young, you probably don't really know what mental health nursing entails. Trust me on this I am a qualified MH nurse, best thing to do is get a job as a HCA in mental health see if you like it? As you may really want to be a psychologist etc, but don't know it yet. Do a year, a lot of people dropout of uni or even when qaulified leave the profession, 50% in the first two years.

So the message is research and experience before you jump in.

edited: sorry I see you don't want a gap year, well nursing is not somthing to be taken up lightly, take a year out maybe do a level 3 mental health course/NVQ or psychology A level. Part time HCA work then go for the degree, to behonest when I trained there wasn't a soul I spoke to who hadn't been a HCA before hand.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3

falling

Volunteering is a good thing to write about as many of the skills are transferrable. If you can get involved with some sort of scheme that works with children or vulnerable adults, that might be particularly useful (like a doing a soup run for the homeless or volunteering at a weekend club for children with learning disabilities etc). Also, in my local health trust it's possible to do two day work experience placements, so ring up/email your health trust and ask if it's possible for you to do something over the halloween/christmas break. Like you, I only decided recently to apply for psychiatric nursing, so I don't have much in the way of work experience either- I'm hoping that I'll be able to get my passion for the subject across in my PS, so make sure to mention books/articles you've read or training courses or anything else you've done that you could relate to nursing.

Some university's give tips on what they look for in a nursing personal statement- I have some information from Queens Belfast and University of Ulster, and while I can't remember off the top of my head what they said specifically, both said they want to know WHY you want to do nursing- what experiences etc have influenced your desire to be a nurse. It's worth checking websites/emailing the university's you're interested in and asking what they look for in a nursing personal statement.

From what I've been reading from trawling through uni's websites, there doesn't seem to be as much focus on relevant experience for psychiatric nursing as there is for other nursing branches. I know a psychiatric nursing student (I think she's due to graduate now) that got in with no prior experience, so it's definitely wroth applying this year regardless :smile:

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