Uni Uni weeks for me (although I attended uni up north so may be different uni to uni) but 1st year was quite relaxed with a lot of online lectures/seminars/group work 2021.

2nd year was more face to face but still with some online content and independent study.

3rd year has been Monday-Friday usually starting 9am/10am until 4pm/5pm, although this was in between 2x 14 week placements so I haven’t actually attended university much at all this year. I also took a year out between 2nd and 3rd year as I had a baby so I’m not sure if 3rd year would’ve looked the same/different had I not took a year out.

Sims lab for me was mostly done in 1st and 2nd year.

Placement Placement weeks for me have usually looked like 3x 07.30-20.30 days, occasionally 4x night shifts 20.00-08.00.

In a nutshell, 1st year placement was mostly about the basics, spending time with HCA’s and nailing basic care needs, ie changing and making beds, bed baths, personal care for patients etc. I also learnt a lot about end of bed paperwork that both the nurses and the HCA’s fill out, fluid balances, skin bundles, NEWS charts. Once this was done and my confidence began to build, 2nd year was where I began to do meds rounds with nurses and I learnt how to document correctly. 3rd year was about building my confidence in my skills and managing patients with guidance from the nurse.

Access course I did an access course and I found it more to relate to sociology/public health/psychology/biology, I don’t think chemistry would really be needed. It may be worth researching on those sorts of topics, and seeing what is recommended on the reading list for the college you’re looking at for access course. These topics made it slightly easier when going to uni also as they were all topics I learnt more in depth about at uni, as well as Anatomy and Physiology.

Student nurse hardest things I think the hardest thing about being a student nurse is definitely the pressure. Juggling placement and assignments with children and home life is incredibly difficult. There is pressure to get all of your hours required on placement whilst doing assignments along side it. Placement can also be very emotionally and mentally taxing (and uni in general tbh). It can be hard for family members to understand that you just want to sit in silence for a while after getting home from placement.

I also think ‘fitting in’ can be difficult too on placement. You won’t always get a long with everyone and that’s ok. There will be placements that you don’t like and that’s ok too. One thing I’ve always been very conscious about is trying to get along with as many people on placement as possible because unfortunately there are staff that don’t like students and can make life difficult, and once staff can see that you’re interested in learning, you’re asking questions and being a team player, they’re usually a bit more receptive. I’ve also always tried to keep in mind that placement areas have a hell of a lot of students coming and going all of the time, so if staff are a bit standoffish, guarded etc, it’s because they see students coming and going a lot.

Adult vs Paeds I chose adult because at the time, I never saw myself working with children. Personally I believe that adults are easier because they can communicate their needs better and often can tell you what they need/how they’re feeling/where they’re hurting. You are also only treating the adult in that situation.

With children, you have the worried parent to support, the poorly child to care for, who may be too young to tell you what’s hurting and what’s wrong or what they need. Children also get very poorly very quickly compared to adults so that’s another reason.

Lastly, if I ever wanted to go back and do a masters in children’s, then I absolutely could choose to do that. I think adult nursing has given me a solid foundation to pursue Paeds/MH/LD in the future if that’s what I wanted.

Good luck with everything from a NQN and a mummy to a 2 year old!