Re Training Nurse/Teacher?

EverTheOptimist

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Nurses don't just change the sheets these days - they calculate doses of potentially lethal medicines, keep important records and so forth. We are talking about someone with effectively no qualifications here.

I know, I'm a nurse.

But a 21 yr old straight out of uni with great grades isn't necessarily going to be any better a nurse, all i'm saying is it isn't all about grades and academic ability.

The OP will still have to do an access course and then nursing qualification so she will not become a nurse based on qualifications completed 20 years ago, we cannot write every one off who didn't do very well with GCSE's. If her academic ability remains poor then she won't get through the course anyway. But she may have lots of other relevant qualities to bring to the profession, and can be given the support and training to improve her maths/ english etc.

suseh97

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Sorry but if those results are indicative of the OP's academic ability - rather than of some personal catastrophe that occurred in the OP's GCSE year - then I don't think the OP should even consider going into teaching or nursing. The kids and patients deserve better. The OP would be better off doing some kind of 'return to work' course then looking for office admin work.

You are very ignorant. I went to university with many mature students who did not achieve good grades or indeed many had no qualifications at school. I would say they did better and were far more motivated than any school leavers. Indeed my father went to university in his mid 30's after an access course. He got a first class degree in Iberian languages and went on to further study. He has contributed to the Oxford dictionary of Portuguese and was a university lecturer. He now works for the British council in Rio de Janeiro What a shame he did'nt meet you before he did any of this and you could have pointed him in the direction of office work :rotfl:

storminbalder

bristol_pilot wrote: »

My own profession involves safety-critical work and we wouldn't even consider someone who doesn't have a string of A's, a first class hons from a proper university and probably a masters. Why shouldn't parents, kids, patients - the customers - expect to be treated by someone with some sort of proven basic ability?

Utter rubbish! Yours is not a profession. Teaching has been since the 70's. Nursing soon will be.

RobertoMoir

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Nurses don't just change the sheets these days - they calculate doses of potentially lethal medicines, keep important records and so forth. We are talking about someone with effectively no qualifications here.

Which would actually be a cogent argument against her trying to become a nurse, if you didn't need years of training and studying on which you'll be carefully tested before you can become a nurse.

KT1985

No one else has pointed out that there is quite a difference between teaching and nursing- surely the OP needs to decide which they are vocationally called to before making a decision- they are completely separate professional groups, with different educational requirements.

Oldernotwiser

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Sorry but if those results are indicative of the OP's academic ability - rather than of some personal catastrophe that occurred in the OP's GCSE year - then I don't think the OP should even consider going into teaching or nursing. The kids and patients deserve better. The OP would be better off doing some kind of 'return to work' course then looking for office admin work.

Whilst I understand what you're saying, don't forget that the OP took these exams 20 years ago when standards were higher. These grades, whilst not brilliant represent a higher level of achievement than would be the case for anyone who got them more recently.

Oldernotwiser

storminbalder wrote: »

Utter rubbish! Yours is not a profession. Teaching has been since the 70's. Nursing soon will be.

I think that most people would say that teaching was a profession before it became all graduate and the same can be said of nursing.

Ask most people whether they'd rather be nursed by a young, university trained graduate or someone who entered before training went into the universities and I think you'll find that most people would prefer the latter.

Making everybody have a degree doesn't necessarily mean that entry standards have risen if it takes place at the same time as educational standards fall.

storminbalder

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I think that most people would say that teaching was a profession before it became all graduate and the same can be said of nursing.

Ask most people whether they'd rather be nursed by a young, university trained graduate or someone who entered before training went into the universities and I think you'll find that most people would prefer the latter.

Making everybody have a degree doesn't necessarily mean that entry standards have risen if it takes place at the same time as educational standards fall.

Definition of Profession - Degree is required for entry at lowest point.

Oldernotwiser

storminbalder wrote: »

Definition of Profession - Degree is required for entry at lowest point.

That may be your definition of a profession, but it's not the usual one, which normally refers to specialist education, rather than a degree. It's perfectly possible to be either an accountant or a solicitor without a degree and I think that most people would call these "professions"!

Robothell

I think there are many opinions being bandied round here - not all of them that well informed. I think I'll add mine also!

Exams are not the measure of an individual's worth - for those that think they are you need to look at yourself in the mirror and ask if you've ever done a bad paper. Plenty of people take more than one go at passing things, some never pass things. I personally have failed a few in my time for one reason or another - I have passed them all since that though.

With regards nursing - there are still State Enrolled Nurses working inside the NHS that have gone through more of an apprenticeship model of training and the level of care they give is in my experience excellent.

I have to say that in the hospital I work in the nursing staff do not calculate doses of potentially lethal medications - the medical staff do that. Granted the nursing staff will make up and dispense the regular medications but, certainly by UK law, the calculation of the dosages is firmly in the hands of the doctors (rightly or wrongly), apart from those meds found in the Nurse Prescriber's formulary.

With regards the definition of a profession - I would agree that it refers to firstly the need for specialist education (be that degree level or otherwise) but also refers to the self regulation of the training and validation of it's individual members. Nursing, teaching, law, accountancy, medicine and others all tick these boxes.

OP - I say your ambition is a good thing and would encourage you to pursue it. I don't think your possible choices are that different as others do - both involve caring for people in a different aspect, health or education. I would be less likely to be deterred by the current financial/job prospects unless the financial end acts as a specific barrier to you, although there should be financila aids to help you out. For one thing, education in any form is something that can't be taken away from you and will improve your chances applying for any career. In addition, by the time you have gained your qualifications the job market in either teaching or nursing will likely bear absolutely no resemblence to its current shape.

Good for you!