From design student to student nurse: How far I have come

11 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment

by littlenursey in Being a student nurse Tags: art, being a student nurse, design, manchester, nurse, nurses, nursing, qualifications, student, student nurse, university

This post is for all the people who have spent most of their lives so far doing something completely different to healthcare and are thinking of going into nursing. 

So after a long wait I finally received some good news from university last week. They’re not removing me from the course and I can continue with my studies. This was all down to an essay and a technical error , but I will write about that another time as it’s a long story and involves a lot of personal stuff.

This post tells my story about how I came to be a student nurse after doing completely different things with my life. Anyone out there who wants to be a nurse too but is too worried/scared/doubtful to become one will probably appreciate this.

Primary School & High School: 
A career in art was always something everyone (including myself) thought I was destined to do. From a very early age I was constantly drawing, painting, designing and crafting. People liked my art and I was always encouraged to develop my talents – my parents always bought me art and craft materials and my friends were always asking me to draw for them or make them things. I won art and design competitions and had my work displayed in newspapers, shops and some exhibitions.

I managed to achieve an A in GCSE art, despite how much I began to rebel against being told what to do (I always preferred doing my own thing and my teacher who tried very hard with me told me I could have achieved an A* if I was more compliant).
During high school my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. You never think it’s going to happen to your or someone you love. She had a mastectomy and was treated with radiotherapy, which made her feel very ill and fatigued. This was my first real taste of seeing what nursing and health care was all about.

I began working at the age of 15, serving food at the kiosks at Manchester City football stadium whenever I could, then started working weekends at Gregg’s bakery when I finished high school. I only lasted a year because I hated it.

College:
I went straight to Bury college after high school with the hopes of doing A levels in graphic design, English and photography. They encouraged me to do the BTEC National Diploma in Art & Design instead for 2 years, which I absolutely loved. It was a lot of paint, sand, sketchbooks and camera film. I discovered my love of photography and based my entire final major project on it.
I had another very short job working as a waitress in coffee shop in a garden centre during college. I hated it.

University (First time):
My college portfolio featured a lot of my photography work and got me into Salford University straight after college. I began a HND (Higher National Diploma) in Graphic Design which was to last for 2 years. I decided to do Graphic Design because I’m good with computers and technology and because I knew I wouldn’t earn what I wanted with illustration. I started the course with several of my close friends from college. I also started a part-time job at Mothercare in Manchester city centre, which I loved.

I hated the course and soon realised that I hated the idea of being sat at a computer for hours everyday, designing things that I didn’t like or care about for clients. I learned how insanely competitive the industry is, that my work was not good enough and that I did not have enough drive or motivation for a career in graphics. I was no way near as passionate as my friends on the course were. I found using design programmes like Illustrator and Flash frustrating.

Stepping in to nursing:
I decided to quit the graphics course after 18 months and do lots of overtime at Mothercare. I began driving lessons and started thinking about what to do with my life. Nursing had been on my mind for the past year but I never felt mature enough to do it until then. I talked about it with my parents and my mum was very keen on the idea – she works as a health care assistant at our local hospital and healthcare is a big deal in the Filipino side of my family. The mother of my boyfriend at the time was a high band registered nurse and gave me lots of encouragement and advice.
I was working on the clothing department at Mothercare and found myself being quite good in the maternity section. I learned a lot of health information on babies, children and pregnancy, and found myself able to give advice to parents. I learned how to fit bras for pregnant and breastfeeding customers, which required me to gain their trust and go into fitting rooms with them. We were in quite intimate situations as the customer needed to be topless, and they often told me all about their problems and worries.
It doesn’t sound like much, but it was enough to persuade me to start doing something about nursing. I decided that I wanted to start with adult nursing as I felt that I was more able to communicate with adults than children. Working with children or in maternity would be something I could do later on in my career.

I didn’t think I would be able to get into university to do nursing with my background in art, so I began a one year ‘Acess to Nursing & other Allied Health Professions’ course at a college near my area. I studied English, psychology, sociology and human biology (which I LOVED). I applied to 3 different universities and had interviews at the University of Manchester and at Salford University. I didn’t turn up at the MMU interview (I wasn’t keen on it at all after visiting their awful facilities on an open day).
I managed to get into both universities… unconditionally. Meaning I was accepted just from my past qualifications and that I did not have to pass the Access course at all (which cost money). Eventually I began having several problems with money and ended up leaving the Access course to do more overtime at Mothercare. I believe that I wouldn’t have been able to get into university without being on the Access course for that short time.

Starting the course:
I left my job at Mothercare in September 2009 and a few weeks later I started the 3 year course at the University of Manchester (I decided not to go to Salford Uni as I had already been there and fancied a change). I had already been driving for over  a year, owned my own car and had already decided to stay at home with my parents. I applied to do the diploma because it offered a non-means tested bursary (with a degree it is means-tested, and my parents earn enough to mean I would receive almost no bursary). I stopped working because I knew that I would most definitely struggle to have a job that would accept me working extremely flexible shifts whilst I am on placement, and because the thought of working, being on placement, having all the paperwork, exams and essays at the same time would be too much for me.

So here I am today, about to finish my 2nd year and all I have left to do is re-submit the essay I mentioned earlier and I have an exam next week.
Getting into the University of Manchester was actually a dream for me and I honestly didn’t think I would get in, purely because I knew it was a very academic uni and because I didn’t think I was smart enough. For some crazy reason, they let me in.
If you’re genuinely thinking about going into nursing because you have a genuine passion to learn and to make a difference in healthcare, then my best advice is to just go for it regardless of what qualifications you have. I won’t lie; you will need some smarts about you to do this, but that is something you should be willing to work on.

I will be writing a post on what the course is like later for those of who want to know more I hope this has helped so far!