Nursing
Is Nursing right for me?
If you are interested in caring for others then Nursing is an option you should consider. You will need good time management skills and good independent thinking as well as a passion for care, working with ill and vulnerable children, young people or adults, in order to get the best out of this degree. Additional requirements will be a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, an occupational health check, and you will need to make sure all your vaccinations are up to date. The skills you can gain from a degree in Nursing are wide ranging and provide a good basis for employment or postgraduate study.
Are all Nursing degrees the same?
The structure of your degree will depend on the University you choose. Most universities will start off by giving you a good knowledge base to improve on through study. Clinical placements will make up a significant part of your degree. Each university will provide information about how their degrees work in their prospectuses and on their websites.
How will I spend my time?
Most Universities schedule from 15-20 hours of actual teaching per week for nursing degrees. This will be complemented by 50 weeks of placement across the three years of your degree. This teaching time is usually split between lectures, small group work, tutorials and also some practical and fieldwork. Lectures will often be with the whole year group of around 100 people. Lecturers will usually give their view on a subject or text and no participation is usually required other than note taking.
Small group work and tutorials are a little different in that they often require you to do some sort of preparation beforehand. Small group work will generally have around 20 students and tutorials are smaller again. Both small group work and tutorials are more discussion based, allowing you to share and develop your ideas. With these, the more time you put into preparation of material for the tutorials, the more value you will get out of them.
What can I get from a Nursing degree?
Skills identified as those you gain from a degree in Nursing include:
• Specialist care knowledge
• Critical, analytical and evaluative thinking
• Good self management and organisational skills
• Coherent and concise written and oral communication
• Research and analysis skills
These skills can help you gain work in teaching, as an independent practitioner, or for the NHS.
Nursing at Swansea University
At Swansea University there are three nursing courses:
• Adult Nursing
• Mental Health Nursing
• Child Nursing
Student Viewpoint: Lauren Piercy, Nursing Student
Personal background
Hello, my name is Lauren. I am a first year nursing student and want to share some of my experience with you. I will endeavour to give you a realistic view. Before I begin I must admit that nursing was never in my prospects. I did not consider it growing up nor would I have believed anyone who told me this is the direction my life would take. My initial career and study choice, before nursing, was not what I expected it to be. I felt like I was treading water, getting nowhere and lost all enthusiasm. I knew I could not go on, I was unhappy and I felt it was futile to persevere. Fast forward 7 years, one child, a husband and several job roles in customer services; I found myself craving more. My sister had just qualified as a nurse at the age of 38 and I began to toy with the idea. It grew even stronger when my dad became unwell and I witnessed both good and questionable nursing practices during his hospital admissions.
The good inspired me while the questionable made me want to take a stand and improve patient care. How could I possibly do this? Become a nursing student, educate myself and pledge to make a difference! I was overcome with a drive that I have never experienced in my life before. Having been out of
education for quite a while, in October 2012 I applied and was accepted onto an access nursing program at college. I worked hard and pushed myself; the more I learned the more I wanted to learn. However, with my dad being unwell I was travelling between Wales and Scotland a lot so I put off applying for university with the fear that I would miss out on study time. On the 30th December 2012 that all changed … the time had come to say goodbye to my dad. The very next day on New Year’s Eve I sat down and finished my UCAS application with a steely determination. Almost a year on I cannot tell you how much that decision has changed my life and how proud I am to be a student nurse! Lectures and Lecturers
Lead lectures take place in a large lecture room. My year has around 160 nursing students from three different nursing areas: Adult, Children and Mental Health. Lead lectures in our first year are generic and focus on the key aspects applicable to all fields of nursing, ranging from infection control to providing dignified care. The lecturers at Swansea University are inspiring, engaging and supportive. This comes across in their teaching and I always feel comfortable enough to ask a question; ‘no question is a stupid question’.
We also have small group work classes, where issues raised during lead lectures are revisited, reinforced and we can discuss ideas with fellow students. These classes tend to me more tailored toward our specific branches, looking at the issues from a particular perspective. We also have practical classes where we learn to implement what we have been taught- linking theory to practice. Furthermore, we are assigned personal tutors who will support us throughout our studies. I cannot speak for every student, but my personal tutor is fantastic and has an open door policy making it easy to seek help if needed.
Student Input
Having stated how supportive lecturers are, I must make it clear they will not spoon feed you. Be prepared to read and read a lot! Academic books, journals and online
publications can all be easily accessed at the University library which is well stocked and well-staffed. The librarians are always on hand or just an email away for help. I read for hours on end at times but the more used to this process you become, the more you find yourself reading out of intrigue and enjoyment and not just because you have to.
There are essays and exams where you will have to demonstrate your learning but please do not be put off by this. I had been told many times throughout my education I was simply not academic enough but nursing has driven me to
improve and to continue to do so. To achieve good results you have to work hard, but the feeling of achievement when you pass an assessment or exam is worth every second poured into research and revision.
Not only this, once the first lot of assessments and exams have been passed and completed you are introduced to placement- hands on learning, in a real setting, with real patients. You will be assigned a placement mentor and it is your job to make sure that you get the most from this by attending all required hours, asking questions and getting involved in the day to day care of patients. Again, I cannot speak for all students but I am currently on my first placement and absolutely love it. I have learned a vast amount in a short period of time with the feeling that my inquisitive nature has aided this.
Campus Facilities
Campus facilities at Swansea University on a whole are really very good. As previously mentioned there are library facilities with internet access. There are also several PC labs, a well-stocked campus shop, coffee shops, cafes, and restaurants
Extra-Curricular Activities
At Swansea University you will find a variety of extra-curricular activities to become involved in. There is an array of societies offering great social interaction and introducing new hobbies. This year we have the first ever Swansea University Nursing Society (SUNS) set up by a fellow nursing student. This demonstrates that if there is something that you are interested in but does not exist, there is no reason why you cannot create your own. During my first term I signed a pledge to make a difference in Mental Health, my
particular nursing branch. A lecturer urged me to take this one step further and actually do something. What unravelled was a charity evening hosted by myself and fellow nursing students, with help from all three branches, lecturers and the university in general. In 6 weeks we created a fun filled evening of musical entertainment with guest speaker and raised awareness of mental health issues and quite a bit of money for a local charity. This was yet another first of its kind from nursing students at Swansea and I am sure it will not be the last. Please take our enthusiasm and drive as a sign of how much we all love what we are doing.
To sum up…
Nursing is not easy- be prepared to take the good with the bad and work hard. It may not be the best paid job in the world, but I implore you to ask any nursing student or qualified
nurse with their heart in the right place and they will tell you that it is the best job in the world! Not many people have the privilege to hold someone’s hand at their darkest moment, nurses do … If reading my experience has compelled to find out more, nursing might just be the right path for you!
Student Viewpoint: Claire Sulley, Nursing Student
The Reality of being a Student Nurse
The curriculum for nursing students consists of the week being shared between University and your placement. For example; on Monday and Tuesday you could be in University having lectures, each day counting as 7.5 hours. This means that you have to do placement days to make your weekly hours up to 37.5. The majority of nurses work shifts. Here is a variety of shift times that you will work (these may vary):
Shift Time
Early 7:00am – 15:00pm Late 13:00pm – 21:30pm
Long Day 7:00am – 19:30pm or 21:30pm Night Shift 19:00pm – 07:00am
Community Day 9:00am – 17:00pm The Decision
The decision to start a Nursing Degree at University is not one to be made lightly and don’t expect your University life to be that of a stereotypical one. Research the role of the nurse as much as you can to make sure that it is definitely for you. You also need to choose between the Adult, Mental Health and Child Branches. Look up the placements that you might be going on for each university you apply for and travel arrangements. You need to be hard working, pro-active and organised!
Careers
Nursing is a way of life and not just a career. You will feel a responsibility to care not only in work but outside of work also. Job prospects are quite high and Nursing can open up many doors later on in life such as the opportunity to work abroad, charity work and in the community. There are career prospects such as becoming a clinical specialist nurse, a sister/charge nurse of a ward, or becoming a ward manager.
Placements and Work
• If you are applying for Adult Nursing, expect the majority of your placements to be in either Singleton (right next to the university) or in Morriston (north Swansea). These placements could be on a respiratory, cardiac ward or surgical ward, in the community with a district nurse, in theatre as a scrub nurse or in a critical care setting such as
intensive care when you are in your third year.
• For Mental Health Nursing, the majority of your placements will be around and close to Swansea. Cefn Coed is the local Mental Health Hospital
with a number of wards and beds. There are also four Adult Community Mental Health Teams that you will have the opportunity to go out with. The hospital is within walking distance from the campus and village. Your first year will be based in Swansea and your second and third years will be shared between Swansea and Carmarthen. Students normally lift share so if you don’t have transport, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. • Child Nursing placements could be on General Children’s wards, out in the community with a health visitor or school nurse, in the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) or in your third year could go on a critical care placement on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, SKY oncology ward, Ty Hafan and more. The placements will be in Morriston, Bridgend, Carmarthen, Haverford west, Aberystwyth or critical care in Cardiff so be prepared to travel and stay in a B&B for at least one placement.
• Alongside the placements you will have assignments and essays to hand in on such things as Dignity and Respect, Reflection or a Care Study ranging from 2000 to 4000 words for each one. The university library has plenty of books and journals and support from personal tutors and lecturers is great.
• You will also have competencies to sign off for each year while you are on placement. These need to be signed by your placement mentor.
• During each placement you will get the opportunity to do short placement i.e. on day out with a clinical specialist nurse, with a physiotherapist, GP etc, to increase your knowledge and understanding of the multi-disciplinary team.
University Life
If you are going to be staying in university accommodation you will almost definitely be living with other nurses/healthcare students and you will be in the student village. The student village is about a 30 minute walk away from the campus. There are regular buses and a taxi to town is just a phone call away. There is also a small shop where essentials can be bought, a launderette, a small diner and a student bar called The Wonky Sheep where many a Sunday night can be spent on the Karaoke, a Tuesday night for a quiz, or a quiet drink and a game of pool.
During the summer months your free time can be spent in the sea in Swansea or the Gower, having a BBQ on the beach/in a park or having a relaxing coffee or ice cream down in the Mumbles.
In Conclusion
• You will be tired.
• Make the most of your free time.
• You need to come into the degree expecting to work hard. • There may be times when you are stressed.
• The key to survival is organisation.
• Don’t leave your assignments to the last minute.
• Hand in any necessary paperwork as soon as you get it and fill it out.
• There may be a time in the three years where your motivation is low but support from the university is great.
• It is one of the most rewarding degrees you could ever do.
• You will have an incredibly unique university experience that will stay with you forever.
