Personal Reflection on career in Adult Nursing

I have chosen the career path of Adult Nursing because I have always been interested in health care. This began when I worked in a Pharmacy a few years ago and I felt great achievement when helping people. I gained a good understanding of medicines and was fascinated with the wide range of health care options available to people. I enjoyed liaising with the many different professionals who worked in the community.

Working under pressure as part of a team was very rewarding. Also I found that I could easily undertake important tasks on my own. During this time I spent quite some time summarising medical records for a Nurse Practitioner where I quickly picked up medical terminology and processes. The Nurse who tasked me with this job was very encouraging about the quality of my work and his role in the community appeared very satisfying to him.

Recently my wife has developed a debilitating condition and I have become her full time carer. This has been challenging but rewarding and has renewed my interest in Health Care. This has now given me the confidence to go back into education so that I can achieve the career that I know I will be suited to.

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I did some researching on the (NHS Careers) website and found that I have the qualities needed to become an Adult Nurse. It states that “Adult nurses work with old and young adults with diverse health conditions, both chronic and acute. They juggle numerous priorities and use caring, counselling, managing, teaching and all aspects of interpersonal skills to improve the quality of patients’ lives, sometimes in difficult situations.”

Also on the (Prospects.ac.uk) website where it lists the “typical work activities” of an Adult Nurse, it has given me the understanding of what a typical day in the life of an Adult Nurse would be, from writing care plans and maintaining patients record to such tasks as administering drugs, drips and transfusions. I realise that there will be many sensitive situations which I know that I have the qualities to deal with. Not just qualities derived from my work experience but also my life experiences. I’m caring, empathetic and I can easily prioritise my workload. I can easily deal with time sensitive pressures.

When working with people in a caring capacity, for example my volunteer work for Age Concern, I get a great sense of fulfillment that I can make a difference in somebody else’s life.

I have experience of teaching people whilst being a Driving Instructor which has given me great communication, numeracy and time-keeping skills. This also involves working with people from many diversities. It has become clear to me that ever person that I meet is unique and require different levels understanding so that I can carry out my profession effectively.

I am looking forward to starting my new career and I know I will be hard working, conscientious and dedicated to my career choice.

References

nhscareers.nhs.uk/nursing. 2010. Explore by career/nursing [online]. [Accessed 19th October 2010]. Available from:

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/nursing.shtml#a01

http://ww2.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/adult_nurse_job_description.jsp

Section 2

Courses and Institutions.

I have done a great amount of researching on possible Nursing courses. I did my first research on the (ucas.ac.uk) site and found there were many different types of Nursing courses available. I have identified nine possible courses that may be appropriate for the career choice that I want to follow.

They are:

Adult Nursing

Mental Health Nursing

Child Nursing

Learning Disabilities Nursing

Midwifery

Professional Studies in Nursing and Social Work

Paramedic Practice

Operating Department Practice

Occupational Therapy

I have selected these nine courses using the UCAS course search facility concentrating on Institutions which are easily accessible to me. The explanations for choosing these are as follows:

Adult Nursing

I chose Adult Nursing because this field of Nursing seems to be the broadest one. I feel that if I chose this one then I could easily branch out into one of the other fields because of the wide knowledge base of Nursing that I will learn from it. I also know that I have the qualities required to be an Adult Nurse. The Institutions that offer this course are:

The University of Central Lancashire

The University of Chester

The University of Cumbria

Edge Hill University

Liverpool John Moores University

The University of Manchester

The Manchester Metropolitan University

The University of Salford

Mental Health Nursing

I have looked into Mental health Nursing because after researching on the NHS Careers site I found that this field of Nursing seems very interesting and demanding. It would require a great deal of empathy and will require excellent communication skills and strength which are some of the qualities I possess. The Institutions which offer this course are:

The University of Central Lancashire

The University of Chester

The University of Cumbria

Edge Hill University

Liverpool John Moores University

The University of Manchester

The University of Salford

Child Nursing

This course interests me because of my nature of understanding children. I have three children myself and have acquired skills in how to communicate with them on their level. It will be a very demanding career because it will be probably be sometimes distressing but also I hope mostly satisfying. It may also involve working in the community which I would find interesting. The Institutions which offer this course are:

The University of Central Lancashire

The University of Chester

The University of Cumbria

Edge Hill University

Liverpool John Moores University

The University of Manchester

The University of Salford

Learning Disabilities Nursing

This field of Nursing interests me because of the challenge it brings. After researching it on the NHS Careers site I found that this branch of nursing can be stressful but rewarding because it can be a slow process of teaching people with disabilities new skills. It will also be mainly community based where I may have to support family’s who need help with someone in their home who has a disability. This would probably be a very varied career. The institutions which offer this course are:

The University of Chester

The University of Cumbria

Edge Hill University

Midwifery

This field of Nursing interests me because of the wide ranging work involved. From when the parents first find out about their pregnancy up to after the child is born. I was present at all three of my children’s births and attended all of the antenatal appointments which were an amazing experience for me. To share other people’s experiences being their Midwife would be extremely challenging and rewarding. The Institutions which offer this course are:

The University of Cumbria

Edge Hill University

Liverpool John Moores University

The University of Salford

Professional Studies in Nursing and Social Work

This course combines Social work and Learning Disabilities Nursing. I researched this new course on the salford.ac.uk site and it seems to offer the opportunity of being able to enter wide ranging choice of Nursing and Social work. It may be a Staff Nurse or based in the community dealing with young and older people. It is interesting to be because of the varied paths that I could follow once qualified. The institution that offers this course is:

The University of Salford

Paramedic Practice

This course will give me the qualification of being a Paramedic. This would be a fast paced career with many different scenarios and experiences to deal with. It could also lead to work in the community or even the Air Ambulance service. The Institutions which offer this course are:

The University of Central Lancashire

Edge Hill University

Operating Department Practice

This course will give me the qualification of an Operating Department Practioner. This would be an extremely interesting job with opportunities of progressing into management or other roles in the clinical setting. It would be an extremely interesting role and require good communication skills alongside practical knowledge. The institutions that offer this course are:

The University of Central Lancashire

Edge Hill University

Occupational Therapy

This course will give me the chance to work in assessing and evaluating people’s conditions so that the best care can be provided for them. Also according to the University of Cumbria’s website, could lead into working abroad. One of my main ambitions in the future would be to emigrate and work abroad. The Institution which offers this course are:

The University of Cumbria

My first choice course is Adult Nursing and I would prefer to study this at The University of Salford. My reasons for this at this University are from studying the University website (Salford.ac.uk) and finding out about what they offer. I have found they have excellent facilities in their Faculty of Health and have invested £22 million into this.

It has a new hi-tech simulation laboratory with six patient simulators. It also has clinical practice wards:

“There are 4 rooms designed to give the look and feel of a hospital environment. The rooms are furnished with patient’s beds, lockers, chairs, sinks and curtains as well as audio-visual equipment, internet and a teaching area.

We also have a number of clinical skills rooms that enhance student learning from taking blood pressure, to giving CPR and more complicated procedures.”

Reading this I realize that I will do some my training in University in a hospital environment. This will give me an insight into what it will actually be like working in a hospital. Also the course offers not just training in university but also will be 50% outside placement which will vary my study and give me actual hands-on experience in hospitals and communities. I have read reviews from students and they give an interesting and glowing insight into the course, University and the actual Tutors. Also the University is local to me so I will not have any problem travelling there and I will be able to fit the studying around my home life easily.

This course will support my progression into Adult Nursing because of the Degree qualification which I will achieve when I have completed it. I intend to work in a hospital around the Salford area so I may have already had placements in hospitals and clinics and discovered which ones that I would prefer to work in. This will make it easier for me when applying for nursing jobs in the area.