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Questions About Nursing

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
I'm hoping to go to university in 2009 and study nursing and have some questions about it:

- What's the difference between the degree & diploma? I'm looking at the degree (as there's a chance to go abroad for a few months) but I know I'm going to get at least £2k less in busaries/loans and will probably end up poor.:(
- I self harm. What are the rules about this (if any) and nursing? I was going to try and stop before I went, but I have no idea how long it would be before I stop completely.
- Hopw many hours per week (including placements) is the work?
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Officially they can't discriminate against you for self harming, although you have to be a safe person to work in a variety of situtations, so depending on your reasons and methods it could make nursing difficult. There's also the obvious increased cross infection risk to both you and your patients.

    As for the work load, I'm not a student nurse but have a couple of friends who are and am pretty sure their placements are full time (40 hours/week), although fairly frequently finish late and then there's uni work to do on top of that.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I qualified as a paediatric nurse nearly 4 years ago. I did the degree, but cant really comment on funding cos Swansea uni deals with the funding itself, current bursary here is around £6,500 a year! The course was full full time. Currently the students are in uni and alternate placement blocks of 7 weeks. When i trained i was generally in uni 5 days a week 10-4, and then full time working weeks during placement. With regards to the diploma, i thought it was all degree entry now *shrugs*, but that might just be Wales :) As for the SH issue, i dont remember being asked anything along those lines, just the general "do you have any disabilities...." Hope that helps. Good luck. It's a tough course, but really rewarding :D :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Melian wrote: »
    I'm hoping to go to university in 2009 and study nursing and have some questions about it:

    - What's the difference between the degree & diploma? I'm looking at the degree (as there's a chance to go abroad for a few months) but I know I'm going to get at least £2k less in busaries/loans and will probably end up poor.:(
    - I self harm. What are the rules about this (if any) and nursing? I was going to try and stop before I went, but I have no idea how long it would be before I stop completely.
    - Hopw many hours per week (including placements) is the work?

    Hey, thought I'd answer some of your queries am I am a student nurse :yippe:

    The main differences between the diploma and the degree are that at degree level in year 3 of the course you go up a level and therefore when you qualify if at a later date you want to take a manager role you already have the qualification. However if you do the diploma you can top up to a degree on a year course once you have qualified and therefore are at the same level. Both diploma/degree jobs start at the same level. The other difference with the diploma/degree is that the diploma is funded by the NHS and therefore you get a bursary and fees paid, whereas if you do the degree it is the same circumstances as if you were doing a 'normal' degree. From personal experience most people I know do the diploma because of the money prospects and the fact that you can easily top up once qualified.

    With regards to the SH, this may be a problem. When you apply you need to have a full health check from your doctor and therefore if you have any depression etc they will need to know about it. In the past I had depression and therefore when I applied had to be assessed to see if I was 'mentally suitable' to undertake the course. Occupational health are pretty good with mental health issues, however if you SH there may be issues with the fact of open wounds and if they think you are stable to deal with the emotional pressures of the course.

    Finally the course is pretty demanding work wise. You spend 50/50 time on placement/university. When on placement you work 37.5 hours a week, including weekends, long days and nights. When at university it is less demanding and usually 3/4 days a week. However your holidays tend to be all over the place - you get less summer/easter/christmas holidays than usually universities.

    Sorry if this has disencouraged you! xx
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hello!

    Not sure I can add much to the former post, but best of luck with your course. I'm a first year Degree nursing student.

    Degree students get less money then diploma students in terms of bursary, but don't let that put you off.

    Occupational health might be concerned about the self harming. They were going to stop me from going on placement for biting my nails!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Melian wrote: »
    I'm hoping to go to university in 2009 and study nursing and have some questions about it:

    - What's the difference between the degree & diploma? I'm looking at the degree (as there's a chance to go abroad for a few months) but I know I'm going to get at least £2k less in busaries/loans and will probably end up poor.:(
    - I self harm. What are the rules about this (if any) and nursing? I was going to try and stop before I went, but I have no idea how long it would be before I stop completely.
    - Hopw many hours per week (including placements) is the work?

    You can also go abroad with the Diploma for your elective placement which is normally either at the end of your 2nd year of in your third year. My friend who is also doing the Diploma has just been to Ghana for 6 weeks!
    Although university rules are changing due to insurance. It is becoming harder for stuents to take placements abroad :rolleyes:

    I do the diploma and get £500 a month bursery all non means tested and I don't pay anything back. People I know doing the degree only get slightly less. They do still get a small bursery at a set rate but their loan is means tested so that depends on you and you do pay that back :(
    If you do choose the diploma in your third year you can do a top up. This is where you can do degree modules. You do three in your third yead which equals half of your degree then when you qualify you can either be seconded or pay yourself to finish the toher 3 degree modules :) . Hopefully thats what I'll be doing when I start my thrid year in May.

    Over the 3 years you have to have 2300 hours of placment hours AND 2300 of university time before you can qualify! Haivng time off is a no-no. There aren't many allowences and evey time had off HAS to be made up. Next year my placement and study times will be split into blocks of six weeks. So six weeks solid uni 9-5 then six weeks placement.
    For the past two years it has been mixed though. So on my last placement I had one day in uni which was a Tuesday then the rest of the week to fit my placement hours in.
    Placement hours can vary depending on the clinical area. Most ward I have worked on I've done 12 and a half hour shifts, so quarter to 7 til quarter past 7 at night. Your breaks are counted as hours too. You can do half shifts so like 6.45 am till 3.00 pm or 12.45-8.15pm. I find if you do longer shifts you get more days off in the week than doing 8 hour shifts :)
    It is manageble to have a part time job too. I've done it for the past year, it's only now I don't have a job but thats due to my last one just being a xmas temp.
    The coursework can be hard and at times it seems that it is all thrown at you at once with like 3 assignments, placement profiles and reflections for your placment. Othertimes there is nothing. This trimester I am doing my elective placement so no coursework just 2 presentations and one learning profile which is pretty easy to do.

    Sorry if this has put you off. I hope it hasn't. I just think people don't realise how hard it can be...but also rewarding and good at the same time!!
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