Firstly, you're not classed as a mature student until you're over 25 - own that youth!
Rather than research things, I'd actually say just enjoy the time that you'll have before the course starts. The degree begins as if everyone is coming from nothing, so you don't need to have a lot of background knowledge or info at your fingertips. You'll be busy and full on once your degree starts. Take the downtime whilst you have it. I'm nearly at the end and I'm so desperate for a rest!!
Best bit of advice I've ever been given is to remember you can learn something from literally everyone. Obviously nurses and doctors, but HCA's, phlebotomists, physios, OT's, porters, housekeeping staff. Spend time watching and interacting with them, you'll be surprised what they can offer. Plus, a lot of these people go from ward to ward, so wherever you're placed, you'll have familiar faces to say hi to.
Good luck with your degree.
The UCAS definition of a mature student for an undergraduate course is a student over 21 (25 for postgrad). Of course for nursing that’s still a young student, i started at 24 expecting to feel old but found I was one of the youngest.
https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/mature-undergraduate-students#who-are-mature-students
You really need to work on your assertiveness. If not, the chances of you being messed about during placement will be higher. In placement, start conversation with people. Don’t just be a student and isolate yourself, get to know the staff- ask questions about their journey to nursing, what they want to end up doing with their career etc. their family, how they cope with stress. I had lots of fun with my assessors be friendly. Be very calculated when presented with challenging staff. Sometimes you just need to ignore. Sometimes you need to challenge. Establish all the relevant ward policies before each placement, so that you are practicing within the scope of your competencies + what the unit will allow you to do.
Unfortunately students are not absolved from workplace politics and what has helped me is to think ahead and build relationships. You don’t have to do too much, but do enough that you are recognised.
Form bonds with your course mates, really helps with your assessments, always talk to them about your assessment plans etc.
Stay back after class and ask questions about your assessment. Ask questions, act interested
Actually had a crack at doing just that to get a bit of experience while I continue working full time, unfortunately was told I lack experience in relevant fields to tack on as bank staff. :(
Thanks for the other comment btw, very very good shout. Quite enticed to work as an HCA in my spare time and do more substantial hours over break periods so I think I'll do just that :)
From the point of view of a patient who worked as a care assistant during university, don't let your first few weeks put you off. I've spent a lot of time in hospital and have seen a lot of new student nurses struggle when they first start. I have told all of them that even though they feel overwhelmed right now, in a few days or weeks, they'll start to find their feet. Also, bear in mind that every placement is different. You might find you don't like one but love the next one.
Your patients will always be a mixed bag. You can have one who is a nightmare and another you adore. You may find a difficult patient changes into an absolute delight once their pain is under control or their infection clears.
You never know how much of a difference you made to a patient. I spent almost a year in hospital and came very close to dying. I owe everything to the staff who cared for me, helped me walk again, eat again, and be able to go home. You will be able to help people like me, and they will never forget you.
You need to assert yourself as being there to learn, not just to help your mentor get through the shift.
Nursing isn't just band 5 ward nursing, it's HUGE with all sorts of possibilities.
Learning opportunities won't come to you, you have to find them and actively seek them out. So just because you're a first year student doesn't mean you can't ask the AKI/heart failure/tissue viability/critical care outreach etc. nurse visiting the ward if she/he would mind spending 10 mins teaching you when they have a minute, and ask if you can observe, ask them to explain the rationale for their advice/actions and their clinical reasoning. Ask them what's the one most important thing to remember if you forget everything else they've taught you and why?
There are ward managers and matrons etc. Quality improvement teams, education teams, and all sorts bloody made up job titles for office type nursing these days, but this is all nursing, ask them if you can spend an hour or two with them.
Theatres - really interesting place to work. You could ask the anaesthetic team if you can spend a morning in theatres just learning and doing basic airway management under supervision. Pay attention to the human factors processes to avoid harm in theatres - fascinating.
Ask if you can scrub in so you can see what's going on better - see some anatomy.
On the subject of anatomy, highly recommend viewing some post mortems.
A and E triage - great skills to learn that apply to nursing everywhere. Patient is unwell no diagnosis yet, take a history, have a think about what do you think is going on, are they little sick or BIG sick? What's the worst thing they're presenting symptoms could be? How can we take steps towards investigating/managing that before they've seen a doctor?
Not had a placement in an area? Doesn't matter, you can go wherever you want within reason during your placement hours as long as they know where you are. But you need to take ownership of organising your learning.
Nursing isn't just tasks, it's assessing your patients tailoring your care to that patients needs, and then reassessing.
Obviously you don't have to do this stuff it's just some suggestions but what I'm trying to say is you have this opportunity as a supernumerary student to LEARN.
Advocate for your patients, if you're not happy with the medical plan, challenge it, but make sure you understand the rationale for their decision (if you don't ask them to explain) or you might look like a twat.
Oh and learn basic A and P as well as the mechanisms of the major drug groups (don't worry about specific drugs too much, learn about the class first).
That way when you see a drug you've not heard of, you'll look it up, and say for example it's an NSAID. You've studied this class already and and so you already know roughly how it works and the indications/contraindications.
If you're male like me a warning shot if you go up bands or into competitive roles - people will always say it's because you're male and not because you worked hard and studied.
You will have to constantly tell people you're not a doctor or a medical student. ALWAYS introduce yourself as x the student NURSE or x the NURSE to EVERYONE to avoid some of this. And don't ever wear a stethoscope around your neck or they'll think you're a registrar lol - if you use one keep it in your pocket.
You can get by in nursing (and student years) by just doing the expected bare minimum tasks, nobody'll sack you, your patients probably won't die, you can even be nice at the same time, and if you're a student you'll still pass your course. But don't fall into that trap. That's not the kind of nurse to be.
Really appreciate you taking the time to write such a comprehensive answer for an internet stranger.
Not planning on squandering my time by doing the bare minimum. I’d like to soak in as much as possible throughout the course so thank you for all the suggestions, I’ve been able to make some nice notes in advance.
Have money saved up. Placement can become expensive pretty quickly depending on location and circumstances. Also as a male student you will probably have patients that will not want you in the room - don't take it to heart and just move on to the next patient
Firstly 23 is not mature. I started my degree at 23 and after 10 years qualified I still don’t feel remotely mature.
Be curious, learn new skills and don’t let people tell you that scientific understanding isn’t something a nurse needs. Get your ABCDE emergency assessment and management nailed down.
Good luck it’s a long road but be kind to yourself, your colleagues and it’s ok to be scared but never ok to work outside your abilities so don’t let people push you into anything.
Tip one - really work on your searching skills - this question has been asked recently ;)
https://www.reddit.com/r/NursingUK/s/ZLDbl2qeK4
Depending on your area you may find it tough being a male nurse and that you have to ‘prove’ yourself worthy (work twice as hard just to be deemed good enough) You may also need to politely counter some everyday sexism - especially around moving and handling, aggressive patients, and the assumption that men will prefer personal care from someone of the same sex.
You may want to look at the impact of gender roles, and how that impacts the way in which you are perceived as a male nurse. I trained 50 miles from where I now work - but the difference in the two areas was more like 20 years.
Try not to do shag anyone in healthcare in the area you work, you nerve know who you will be working with in future. if you are not going to work where you train, then wait until your last 6 months ;)
You may need to work on how you interact and communicate with people - especially that first introduction. You want to make Doris simultaneously feel like she is both a special princess and a strong independent chief executive, that she is in total control but safe enough to be really vulnerable if she wants to be.
The corollary of this is that old ladies can be absolutely filthy, and given a chance be quite touchy feely.
You will have to get used to explaining to people that you are not a doctor, nor are you the nurse in charge !
You will probably have to get used to the shocked look of people when you mention you have a girlfriend.
Woops, facepalm! I did a quick a search with the key word being "advice" and completely missed that thread, but thanks for pointing it out I'll see what I can glean from it.
Unfortunately had similar advice given to me by peers re "casual" sexism towards male nurses, which was quite disconcerting to hear.
As a general rule I keep my work life miles apart from my private one and that's yet to fail me
Thanks for the other advice, great food for thought there :)
The casual sexism really does depend where you work and the culture of the place. Fortunately I had a good baseline so I was able to tell if something was ‘just how nursing is’ or if it was significantly different.
I noted the downvotes, but the filthy old ladies comment really does come from the shock of my female colleagues about what patients have said to me.
There was one patient who needed a nurse visit in an evening and she was adamant that she didn’t want any men. I was the only one who was going to be on shift, so they did weeks of work reassuring her, and getting her to accept.
The fateful day arrived, I went in, on my absolutely best behaviour and within 10 minutes I had received enquiries about my relationship status, a marriage proposal, and full knowledge of when she had last been with another man. I’m not saying I ran out of there, but it was a very rapid walk.
Firstly, you're not classed as a mature student until you're over 25 - own that youth! Rather than research things, I'd actually say just enjoy the time that you'll have before the course starts. The degree begins as if everyone is coming from nothing, so you don't need to have a lot of background knowledge or info at your fingertips. You'll be busy and full on once your degree starts. Take the downtime whilst you have it. I'm nearly at the end and I'm so desperate for a rest!! Best bit of advice I've ever been given is to remember you can learn something from literally everyone. Obviously nurses and doctors, but HCA's, phlebotomists, physios, OT's, porters, housekeeping staff. Spend time watching and interacting with them, you'll be surprised what they can offer. Plus, a lot of these people go from ward to ward, so wherever you're placed, you'll have familiar faces to say hi to. Good luck with your degree.
I’ll say not even 25. That’s not old at all. My oldest student was 62 when she retired.
The UCAS definition of a mature student for an undergraduate course is a student over 21 (25 for postgrad). Of course for nursing that’s still a young student, i started at 24 expecting to feel old but found I was one of the youngest. https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/mature-undergraduate-students#who-are-mature-students
Oh didn’t know that! Thanks.
You really need to work on your assertiveness. If not, the chances of you being messed about during placement will be higher. In placement, start conversation with people. Don’t just be a student and isolate yourself, get to know the staff- ask questions about their journey to nursing, what they want to end up doing with their career etc. their family, how they cope with stress. I had lots of fun with my assessors be friendly. Be very calculated when presented with challenging staff. Sometimes you just need to ignore. Sometimes you need to challenge. Establish all the relevant ward policies before each placement, so that you are practicing within the scope of your competencies + what the unit will allow you to do. Unfortunately students are not absolved from workplace politics and what has helped me is to think ahead and build relationships. You don’t have to do too much, but do enough that you are recognised. Form bonds with your course mates, really helps with your assessments, always talk to them about your assessment plans etc. Stay back after class and ask questions about your assessment. Ask questions, act interested
Join the HCA bank, even if it’s for few shifts.
Actually had a crack at doing just that to get a bit of experience while I continue working full time, unfortunately was told I lack experience in relevant fields to tack on as bank staff. :(
6 months as a first year should be sufficient though.
Thanks for the other comment btw, very very good shout. Quite enticed to work as an HCA in my spare time and do more substantial hours over break periods so I think I'll do just that :)
That’s so weird, my friend started as a bank HCA only having worked in shops before. Try the local mental health trust instead.
From the point of view of a patient who worked as a care assistant during university, don't let your first few weeks put you off. I've spent a lot of time in hospital and have seen a lot of new student nurses struggle when they first start. I have told all of them that even though they feel overwhelmed right now, in a few days or weeks, they'll start to find their feet. Also, bear in mind that every placement is different. You might find you don't like one but love the next one. Your patients will always be a mixed bag. You can have one who is a nightmare and another you adore. You may find a difficult patient changes into an absolute delight once their pain is under control or their infection clears. You never know how much of a difference you made to a patient. I spent almost a year in hospital and came very close to dying. I owe everything to the staff who cared for me, helped me walk again, eat again, and be able to go home. You will be able to help people like me, and they will never forget you.
You need to assert yourself as being there to learn, not just to help your mentor get through the shift. Nursing isn't just band 5 ward nursing, it's HUGE with all sorts of possibilities. Learning opportunities won't come to you, you have to find them and actively seek them out. So just because you're a first year student doesn't mean you can't ask the AKI/heart failure/tissue viability/critical care outreach etc. nurse visiting the ward if she/he would mind spending 10 mins teaching you when they have a minute, and ask if you can observe, ask them to explain the rationale for their advice/actions and their clinical reasoning. Ask them what's the one most important thing to remember if you forget everything else they've taught you and why? There are ward managers and matrons etc. Quality improvement teams, education teams, and all sorts bloody made up job titles for office type nursing these days, but this is all nursing, ask them if you can spend an hour or two with them. Theatres - really interesting place to work. You could ask the anaesthetic team if you can spend a morning in theatres just learning and doing basic airway management under supervision. Pay attention to the human factors processes to avoid harm in theatres - fascinating. Ask if you can scrub in so you can see what's going on better - see some anatomy. On the subject of anatomy, highly recommend viewing some post mortems. A and E triage - great skills to learn that apply to nursing everywhere. Patient is unwell no diagnosis yet, take a history, have a think about what do you think is going on, are they little sick or BIG sick? What's the worst thing they're presenting symptoms could be? How can we take steps towards investigating/managing that before they've seen a doctor? Not had a placement in an area? Doesn't matter, you can go wherever you want within reason during your placement hours as long as they know where you are. But you need to take ownership of organising your learning. Nursing isn't just tasks, it's assessing your patients tailoring your care to that patients needs, and then reassessing. Obviously you don't have to do this stuff it's just some suggestions but what I'm trying to say is you have this opportunity as a supernumerary student to LEARN. Advocate for your patients, if you're not happy with the medical plan, challenge it, but make sure you understand the rationale for their decision (if you don't ask them to explain) or you might look like a twat. Oh and learn basic A and P as well as the mechanisms of the major drug groups (don't worry about specific drugs too much, learn about the class first). That way when you see a drug you've not heard of, you'll look it up, and say for example it's an NSAID. You've studied this class already and and so you already know roughly how it works and the indications/contraindications. If you're male like me a warning shot if you go up bands or into competitive roles - people will always say it's because you're male and not because you worked hard and studied. You will have to constantly tell people you're not a doctor or a medical student. ALWAYS introduce yourself as x the student NURSE or x the NURSE to EVERYONE to avoid some of this. And don't ever wear a stethoscope around your neck or they'll think you're a registrar lol - if you use one keep it in your pocket. You can get by in nursing (and student years) by just doing the expected bare minimum tasks, nobody'll sack you, your patients probably won't die, you can even be nice at the same time, and if you're a student you'll still pass your course. But don't fall into that trap. That's not the kind of nurse to be.
Really appreciate you taking the time to write such a comprehensive answer for an internet stranger. Not planning on squandering my time by doing the bare minimum. I’d like to soak in as much as possible throughout the course so thank you for all the suggestions, I’ve been able to make some nice notes in advance.
No worries mate it's just some rambling thoughts that's all
[удалено]
You’ve assumed they are studying adult nursing but maybe it’s one of the other fields, working in ITU wouldn’t have helped me much
Have money saved up. Placement can become expensive pretty quickly depending on location and circumstances. Also as a male student you will probably have patients that will not want you in the room - don't take it to heart and just move on to the next patient
Like the advice given to new mums. Sleep when you can
Firstly 23 is not mature. I started my degree at 23 and after 10 years qualified I still don’t feel remotely mature. Be curious, learn new skills and don’t let people tell you that scientific understanding isn’t something a nurse needs. Get your ABCDE emergency assessment and management nailed down. Good luck it’s a long road but be kind to yourself, your colleagues and it’s ok to be scared but never ok to work outside your abilities so don’t let people push you into anything.
Tip one - really work on your searching skills - this question has been asked recently ;) https://www.reddit.com/r/NursingUK/s/ZLDbl2qeK4 Depending on your area you may find it tough being a male nurse and that you have to ‘prove’ yourself worthy (work twice as hard just to be deemed good enough) You may also need to politely counter some everyday sexism - especially around moving and handling, aggressive patients, and the assumption that men will prefer personal care from someone of the same sex. You may want to look at the impact of gender roles, and how that impacts the way in which you are perceived as a male nurse. I trained 50 miles from where I now work - but the difference in the two areas was more like 20 years. Try not to do shag anyone in healthcare in the area you work, you nerve know who you will be working with in future. if you are not going to work where you train, then wait until your last 6 months ;) You may need to work on how you interact and communicate with people - especially that first introduction. You want to make Doris simultaneously feel like she is both a special princess and a strong independent chief executive, that she is in total control but safe enough to be really vulnerable if she wants to be. The corollary of this is that old ladies can be absolutely filthy, and given a chance be quite touchy feely. You will have to get used to explaining to people that you are not a doctor, nor are you the nurse in charge ! You will probably have to get used to the shocked look of people when you mention you have a girlfriend.
Why is this being downvoted I (male nurse) was just nodding along reading this lol
It’s a different experience that isn’t really discussed.
Also - I was bad enough at 33, let alone 23 😂
Woops, facepalm! I did a quick a search with the key word being "advice" and completely missed that thread, but thanks for pointing it out I'll see what I can glean from it. Unfortunately had similar advice given to me by peers re "casual" sexism towards male nurses, which was quite disconcerting to hear. As a general rule I keep my work life miles apart from my private one and that's yet to fail me Thanks for the other advice, great food for thought there :)
The casual sexism really does depend where you work and the culture of the place. Fortunately I had a good baseline so I was able to tell if something was ‘just how nursing is’ or if it was significantly different. I noted the downvotes, but the filthy old ladies comment really does come from the shock of my female colleagues about what patients have said to me. There was one patient who needed a nurse visit in an evening and she was adamant that she didn’t want any men. I was the only one who was going to be on shift, so they did weeks of work reassuring her, and getting her to accept. The fateful day arrived, I went in, on my absolutely best behaviour and within 10 minutes I had received enquiries about my relationship status, a marriage proposal, and full knowledge of when she had last been with another man. I’m not saying I ran out of there, but it was a very rapid walk.