Daughter wants to be a nurse or Paramedic

chipbeck

Wish she'd told me three years ago.

My daughter got a 2:1 in communications last year, she has now decided she'd like to be a nurse or Paramedic. I appreciate there are sites that tell you what to do but are there any MSE'rs with personal experience.

:beer:

frannyann

Hi
I trained as a nurse, quailifing 9 years ago now. The fact she has a degree will serve her well as the course is quite academic. For me its opened up a whole different career path, as from starting on the wards I have worked my way up into a management role which uses my nursing background quite a bit and has been an interesting and varied career so far. I aim eventually to go into policy which will help me work toward shaping the services provided. Its been hard work and of course there have been times when I cursed the NHS and all who sail on her, however the reward gained for being able to reassure a frightened patient in the middle of the night can never be measured in money.

Oldernotwiser

She needs to get some careers advice (and possibly work experience) to decide which of these fields she wants to pursue. The jobs and training are very different so she'd need to make a choice before she takes any further action.

chipbeck

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

She needs to get some careers advice (and possibly work experience) to decide which of these fields she wants to pursue. The jobs and training are very different so she'd need to make a choice before she takes any further action.

Sadly after paying a fortune for Private Education, careers advice was, to say the least, minimal. Probably thought mummy and daddy would look after her.

MrsTinks

As mentioned the two jobs are hugely different... Nursing itself can be as broad a field as you could wish for! I live next door to 2 nurses and know a fair few through other channels and they couldn't be more different: Palative care (dying patients basically), childrens nurse, one has trained ot be a MW now, one is into research (wound care with leeches, honey and other fun stuff) and another is an A&E nurse. All HUGELY different.
Paramedic... My ex is a paramedic - this is NOT for everyone - it looks glamorous and exciting and what could be better than front line saving of lives. But she needs to ask herself how she might handle the death of not only adults but children... sadly she will come across them and I know it was the hardest thing my ex had to face... both the infant that died in his arms walking through the doors to A&E, and the 9 year old who hung themselves and he couldn't revive... the nightmares were not pleasant
I don't want to put her off being a paramedic - I think it's a fantastic career IF she feels she can handle the stress. And when you have to stand and make a decision about who might live and die at an accident then trust me... it's stressful

elsietanner71

She can get careers guidance from the Careers Advice Service on 08080 100 333 8am - 10pm everyday, which is government funded so completely free.

I'd really recommend she speaks with someone who offers guidance at any rate because from what you've said it seems to be a significant change of direction.

The work experience idea is excellent. I'm not saying it's the case with your daughter but a lot of people who have the best intentions and want to work in a 'helping' profession, often find it's not all they expected it to be.

Savvy_Sue

chipbeck wrote: »

Sadly after paying a fortune for Private Education, careers advice was, to say the least, minimal. Probably thought mummy and daddy would look after her.

And evidently they still are ...

Seriously, if she's interested in these things, she's a grown up now, pass on the information from this thread and let her get on with it. Let her find out whether she'll get an NHS bursary for training, and work out how she'll live on that etc etc etc.

savingmummy

I am a nurse and advise i can give is to become a healthcare assistant to get an idea of what it involves. If she has a certain speciality then that is a good start. Once you are in a department you can Then be seconded to do nursing training.
Some of the student nurses we had hadn`t had any experience and really struggled. Others who had been a care assisitant done much better and were also guarenteed a placement upon completion of the nursing degree due to being seconded.

Paramedic is completely different. Again it would be wise to be working in the environment prior to taking up the career. I know a lot of A&E nurses switch to become paramedics. It is very different and training is difficult.

Good luck x

chipbeck

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

And evidently they still are ...

Seriously, if she's interested in these things, she's a grown up now, pass on the information from this thread and let her get on with it. Let her find out whether she'll get an NHS bursary for training, and work out how she'll live on that etc etc etc.

Boardguides should leave assumptions to the likes of me Sue!

She's unhappy in the job she's currently in and is looking into this by herself. I'm just trying to help.;)

debbie_debt

I'm a nurse too and specialise in public health of school-age children, so spend my time doing sexual health education, working in child protection/abuse, dealing with kids who self-harm, talking to primary children about healthy eating etc etc. It's a fabulous job but one of the more specialised areas to get into once you've been qualified a while.

The nurse training now is quite prescriptive so she must be the type to roll her sleeves up and really get stuck in to the job. On a ward, this can mean (quite literally) cleaning up excrement and vomit quite regularly during a shift, people coughing up phlegm on you and dozens of other pretty disgusting things. However, the rewards are massive and there is a real sense of achievement. It all depends on the type of person she is as to weather or not she's suited for the career. The opportunities the basic nursing degree affords are also probably one of the most wide possible and the qualifying pay is pretty decent these days.

Hope she can read this and it might help!

fatou256

hi chipbeck i was too motivated to go into nursing ( i had even an offer for a Bsc nursing until my work experience) until i got a job as healthcare assistant ! i dont wish to demoralize it but i think she will benefit from work experience in a real ward as a carer of health assistant so she cant decide fro hersel if it si her real calling , i am glad i had this work experience as i had found out that it is not for me too many red tape to my liking ! lol