Volunteering and shadowing

Hi,

I'm currently hoping to apply for Adult Nursing and I was wondering if anyone could tell me whether it's possible to get onto a nursing degree without any healthcare experience e.g. through volunteering or shadowing.

On a related note, is it quite easy to gain shadowing experience?

Thanks

Hi @IK95,

Great to hear you're looking at a career in Adult Nursing The criteria of work experience for universities can differ between different universities and even intake years depending on the other applicants in the same year. The reason uni's look for work experience (whether it be a paid job or unpaid volunteering) is because nursing and medicine is a big commitment and they want to make sure you're prepared to make that dedicated commitment to the career. They generally look for work on your application which involves caring and looking after people, but this doesn't necessarily need to be shadowing. For example, you could work on a weekend in a care home, entertaining the elderly residents and making them cups of tea. This isn't directly nursing experience or shadowing, but the experience will allow you to reflect on the skills and knowledge you've gained as a result of this, and also reflect on how this will benefit you in your chosen career path.

In terms of how easy it is to get shadowing experience, this depends on your Local Authority and NHS Area. Every hospital and practice is different - some easier to get into than others - so the best thing is to make some calls and drop in some enquiry letters.

Hope this helps - give me a shout if you have any more questions

Thanks,
Lauren

Hi Lauren,

Thank you for your detailed response and for explaining why unis ask for work experience! I hadn't considered volunteering at a care home so I'll begin to look for opportunities in this area. I also have one more question. In the past, I've volunteered as an ESL teacher and delivered lessons to refugees, worked as a student ambassador (where I had the chance to talk to people from a variety of backgrounds) and was a peer mentor for a year. Do you think it might be worth mentioning these experiences in my personal statement?

Thanks again

Hi @IK95,

You're more than welcome!

When you come to write your personal statement, you should start with the most relevant work experience and reflect on what you learned there first. You can then mention additional experience you have and what additional skills and findings you got from this, without repeating on what you have already explained (if this makes sense?). Each one should build on another - so if you have some very similar situations, you may not need to mention both of them separately.

Remember, you don't have many words to write, so make each one count

Good luck.
Lauren