General Nursing

brian1991

Hi,
does anyone here study General Nursing? The course has always appealed to me, but I was never sure if I was intelligent enough for it. I am also told that there is too much beaurocracy in the profession etc. How do you personally find the course? How did you find your work experience? Will you do a follow-up course?
So I would really appreciate your view on the course and the profession of Nursing in general.

Thanks,
Brian

happy_feet

brian1991 wrote: »

Hi,
does anyone here study General Nursing? The course has always appealed to me, but I was never sure if I was intelligent enough for it. I am also told that there is too much beaurocracy in the profession etc. How do you personally find the course? How did you find your work experience? Will you do a follow-up course?
So I would really appreciate your view on the course and the profession of Nursing in general.

Thanks,
Brian

Hi Brian,
I am a first year studying general nursing in UCD! Personally, I love the course, however one thing I will say is that it is a lot more academic than I had expected. We study science (biology, chemistry physics), anatomy, physiology, pathology, psychology, and then a module specific to nursing. There are many other modules that you take in first year aswell. Theres a few essays to do which can be tricky at first but grand once you get the hang of them.
We start clinical placement in January for 5 weeks and your first placement is very much just shadowing the nurse and watching what she does. We have another 6 weeks to do around march aswell.
The lecturers in UCD are very good, as are the facilities as the health sciences building is relatively new!

so basically, I say go for it!
hope this helps! Pm me if you wana ask anything.

brian1991

happy_feet wrote: »

Hi Brian,
I am a first year studying general nursing in UCD! Personally, I love the course, however one thing I will say is that it is a lot more academic than I had expected. We study science (biology, chemistry physics), anatomy, physiology, pathology, psychology, and then a module specific to nursing. There are many other modules that you take in first year aswell. Theres a few essays to do which can be tricky at first but grand once you get the hang of them.
We start clinical placement in January for 5 weeks and your first placement is very much just shadowing the nurse and watching what she does. We have another 6 weeks to do around march aswell.
The lecturers in UCD are very good, as are the facilities as the health sciences building is relatively new!

so basically, I say go for it!
hope this helps! Pm me if you wana ask anything.

Hey, thanks for the reply.
The modules sound okay then I guess. Did you ever feel completely lost though? How are others finding the modules? What were the essays like as well? Was it like ''Write two-thousand words on white blood cells' etc?
I went to my career guidance counsellor today to talk about nursing so I'll see how things go and will ask more questions if I think of any.

happy_feet

emm well I personally find the anatomy quite difficult, as we do it to quite a high level! i think most people find the anatomy difficult but like, no matter what degree you do there's gonna be things you find hard

the essays are on different things, one was on caring for a patient with a hospital acquired infection and his care priorities etc. Another was on caring for patient who had returned from surgery with altered vital signs. We had to pick one in psychology and I did mine on Bowlby's theory of attachment in children and how this relates to grief in adults essay writing in college is way different to seconday school, so it can be hard to get your head around at first!

Riveta

Hey there Brian, I'm a 4th year general nursing student in UCD so I MIGHT be able to help!

Basically I'd agree with what the first poster said about first year, it's more academic than people expect, it sounds to me like they've changed the course a little since I started! Feeling a bit old now! You'd need a good foundation in biology chemistry or physics to get your head around it as second year involves pharmacology and other sciences.

The course itself is divided 50/50 equally between uni and clinical. You need to be prepared for the sheer amount of placements you'll be put on, something I hadn't really bargained for when I began the course.

The course itself is quite interesting as you study such a breath of topics.

As regards the bureaucracy within the profession that you asked about..... I'm not really sure what you mean! It's quite a structured job in the sense that there's specific grades of staff i.e. students, staff nurses, CNM1's CNM2's and the like... I dont' know how to answer you to be honest!

As regards placement it depends on where you are, some wards are really really lovely some aren't. Some staff nurses are great teachers, some aren't. there's so many variables. Overall I've mostly liked the placements some I really didn't like others I quite enjoyed.

I'm graduating next year with no hope of a job so most of class will be shipping themselves off to the UK or go on to do masters! I'm not sure what I'll do right now! Nursing is a great degree to have as it opens lots of doors into other health professions, other areas of study and other types of careers.

Hope I answered some of your questions!

pencilsharp

Hi, I'm a general nurse and I can't really tell you anything about what the studying is like now as when I did it it was a diploma course and its completely changed. Although I will say in relation to the clinical placements that they did come as a shock to the system- I thought it would be at least a yr till I was out on the wards but you are kind of thrown right into the wards although you are supervised closely. But if you've never worked in that area before it is kind of a shock to the system! Saying that I love nursing I'm qualified 6yrs now and I couldn't see myself doing anything else! I know what you mean about the beaurocracy it is annoying and frustrating. There is a lot of hierarchy and recently its all about saving money and patient care has really suffered. As a student that shouldn't affect you too much and hopefully by the time you're finished your course that'll all have passed and the health service will be in a better state than it is right now!! If you any further questions feel free to pm me, best of luck!! Oh and I have done a further course I've just completed my post grad in care of the elderly nursing so hopefully that'll open a few doors for me!! And I will just say that there is plenty of opportunities to advance in nursing!