The Student Room Group

Mental health nursing or general nursing?

Hi,
I'm currently in year 12 and im looking at universties as we've started to do our UCAS applications. I have been considering nursing for a while and have always being draw to going straight to mental health nursing but after reading some reviews saying it's quite overwhelming for a 18/19 year old i'm not sure if i should consider doing general nursing instead.Also do you get to specialise after general nursing because i'm not quite sure.

Thank you in advance for any advice you give :smile:
i studied 2 and a half years of mh nursing its emotionally demanding and very challenging but thats not to say general nursing isnt. you dont gwt the breaks from uni like general courses youre usually on placement but if its something youre really passionate about then do it. it may come as a shock too if you have little experience of mental health
Reply 2
I'm hoping that some work experience might help ease me into it all
Original post by hypaspud182
i studied 2 and a half years of mh nursing its emotionally demanding and very challenging but thats not to say general nursing isnt. you dont gwt the breaks from uni like general courses youre usually on placement but if its something youre really passionate about then do it. it may come as a shock too if you have little experience of mental health
From the nurses I've worked with - studying to be a nurse (general/mental health/ paediatrics) is the same - the hours are long, each speciality has its own emotionally challenging things, you have less holidays than everyone else - so it depends on what you really want to do.
I would think general nursing gives more options afterwards - you can work in any ward you want (besides paeds/mental health obvs) e.g. medical or surgical wards, etc but I don't know the transferability.
Having said that - apply to work as a HCA (healthcare assistant) - that's the best exposure you'll get to both in my opinion (I did it) - you'll find out whether the type of patients you encounter are what you're comfortable working with!
Reply 4
Original post by greenjellybean
From the nurses I've worked with - studying to be a nurse (general/mental health/ paediatrics) is the same - the hours are long, each speciality has its own emotionally challenging things, you have less holidays than everyone else - so it depends on what you really want to do.
I would think general nursing gives more options afterwards - you can work in any ward you want (besides paeds/mental health obvs) e.g. medical or surgical wards, etc but I don't know the transferability.
Having said that - apply to work as a HCA (healthcare assistant) - that's the best exposure you'll get to both in my opinion (I did it) - you'll find out whether the type of patients you encounter are what you're comfortable working with!


Thank you so much, that was really helpful. I think I will stick with mental health nursing because that is what I’m really passionate about, I suppose all vocational courses at uni will be difficult so I don’t think I should base my choice on that. I’ll definitely have to talk to some more people to get more of an idea, but thank you very much for replying :smile:
It’s not been “general” nursing for quite a few years, it’s adult nursing, however you tend to find MH nurses in particular refer to it as general as a hangover to the old RGN training.

There is scope to become specialised as an RN (A) once you find an area to work in, just as you can within mental health.
Reply 6
Original post by moonkatt
It’s not been “general” nursing for quite a few years, it’s adult nursing, however you tend to find MH nurses in particular refer to it as general as a hangover to the old RGN training.

There is scope to become specialised as an RN (A) once you find an area to work in, just as you can within mental health.


Oh okay that makes sense, my dad still calls it general nursing hahaha. But thank you that’s helpful information :smile:
Reply 7
You need to apply for what you are passionate in otherwise you wouldn’t succeed. I did an ordinary degree so yes what other have said, the holidays and breaks are different in nursing. However, it’s not as bad as you’d think! You do still get holidays and the years fly by so quickly, you blink and you’ve done a year. I’m just finishing up second year of Learning Disability Nursing, best move I made. There are plenty of people in my cohort that were fresh out of college and saw some things that they had not experienced before. But in saying that, I graduated from my first degree and went straight into care, so I had a good amount of experience and I’ve still had to face new challenges etc. That’s why it’s so important to choose the right course for you
Reply 8
Original post by BoultS94
You need to apply for what you are passionate in otherwise you wouldn’t succeed. I did an ordinary degree so yes what other have said, the holidays and breaks are different in nursing. However, it’s not as bad as you’d think! You do still get holidays and the years fly by so quickly, you blink and you’ve done a year. I’m just finishing up second year of Learning Disability Nursing, best move I made. There are plenty of people in my cohort that were fresh out of college and saw some things that they had not experienced before. But in saying that, I graduated from my first degree and went straight into care, so I had a good amount of experience and I’ve still had to face new challenges etc. That’s why it’s so important to choose the right course for you


I suppose seeing new things is inevitable, thank you for that advice though, it was really helpful.
Reply 9
Original post by hira.naz
I suppose seeing new things is inevitable, thank you for that advice though, it was really helpful.


Good luck with whichever path you take! :smile:

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