Blended Learning: A Flexible Route Into Nursing

Laura takes us through the main things to remember when applying to become a Nurse through part time study.

Topics covered in this article

Introduction

Where To Start

How To Apply

The Interview Process

When A Place Is Offered To You

Time Management

Other Advice

Final Thoughts

Introduction

Hi, everyone, welcome to today's video; my name's Laura.

I'm currently a healthcare support worker and a student Nurse, and I'm gonna be talking to you about how you can prepare for your Nursing degree.

I'm currently studying to become a Nurse via the part-time flexible route.

So what this means is I'm currently employed and supported by my trust to undertake my training as a Nurse.

So I work part-time and I study part-time.

So this route will take me four years to complete, and at the end I will be a registered nurse. So I've made some notes on some of the things that I think will help you in your journey to becoming a Nurse.

Where To Start

So firstly, if you are currently a healthcare support worker and you're wanting to progress and develop and become a registered Nurse, the first person I would say to speak to would be your line manager, and also every trust has an education facilitator.

Now, if you get in touch with them, they're very, very helpful in explaining to you how the course is run and what you need to do to apply for the course.

You do have to have support from your manager, so as long as your manager's able to say they're willing for you to apply for the course, that will be fine.

And also just explain to them your reasons for wanting to do the course.

So, the course is run over 23 hours a week.

So, if for example you're a full-time healthcare support worker, you'll go and study and do your course 23 hours, and then the remaining hours, the 14 hours, you'll work in your current role as a healthcare support worker.

How To Apply

When applying for the course, you need to apply in the same way as a full-time student would apply.

So the same things like references, criminal record check, and an occupational health questionnaire needs to be completed.

You also need to provide a personal statement to the university.

A tip while writing your personal statement is to keep it simple, keep it clear.

Get somebody to proofread it before you send it off to make sure all your grammar is correct.

Also tell them a bit about yourself, explain why you want to become a nurse, why you chose that university, and also speak about what you're currently doing and how that will enable you to become a good student Nurse and Nurse in the future.

The Interview Process

Once you've done all that, hopefully you will be called for an interview. Now, when you have the interview, it's very important for you to be able to express why you want to be a Nurse and why you chose that university.

So just bear in mind that they might ask you, well, why do you want to be an adult Nurse as opposed to a children's Nurse, and why did you pick this university as opposed to a different university?

So make sure you can answer those questions.

Also, have a think about what skills you can offer.

If you're a healthcare support worker, I'm sure you've dealt with a range of different situations in your current job, and also perhaps you might have additional skills, such as venipuncture, where you take patients' bloods, and also carrying out ECGs on the patient.

So any extra skills you've got, just make that aware to the person who's interviewing you.

Some of the things I researched before having my interview was the six C's of Nursing.

You can find this information online, and they're the values that we need to look at and we need to be practicing when we're out there as a student Nurse.

So have a read upon them, and also The Code, which are the professional standards, which Nurses must adhere to and uphold when they're working with their patients.

And also, you need to uphold them out of the workplace as well, so have a read through them and make yourself aware of the, because it's very likely that they will ask you questions regarding this.

When A Place Is Offered To You

When you've been offered a palace, when all that's done and hopefully you get accepted onto the course, some things I would recommend doing before starting.

So I've made a list of these.

So first and foremost, invest in a really good anatomy and physiology book. There's loads out there to choose from.

I currently have the Ross and Wilson book, which I think is incredible, but don't feel pressured into buying them new.

You can get, there's loads advertised online, which people sell pre-owned, and also the local library.

And if you are obviously a healthcare support worker, the hospitals have libraries, so perhaps you could borrow one of them before undertaking the course and just have a good read through that.

Also, I tried to brush up on my maths skills because we do have certain tasks we need to carry out, drug calculation tasks, and just brushing up a little bit on your maths skills, that's a very important thing to do.

Don't panic in regards to maths.

Like, you don't have to be absolutely incredible at maths, but just if you've been out of school for awhile and you haven't studied and done maths recently, just, I did a course locally in an adult learning centre and it just familiarised myself with everything again.

Time Management

Another good tip before starting is to plan how you're gonna manage your time.

So obviously you're gonna be working part-time as a healthcare support worker and you're gonna be studying, so just perhaps buy a planner or invest in a noticeboard and just plan out how you're gonna manage your time and have set, like, tutoring times or study times.

Just have a think about when you're gonna be able to study and do reading and carry out assignment work.

So that's what I do.

I've got a planner and I set specific times for when I'm gonna switch off from everything and just concentrate on my studying, so that's another tip I would give.

Other Advice

Also, I would have a read up on some reports.

So two I would recommend would be the Francis report and the Andrews report.

Now, these reports were where there was a public inquiry into poor care provided.

So basically there was poor care provided to people, very, very poor care, and these reports came after the inquiries had been done and there have been significant changes and improvements to the Nursing since these reports have come out.

So I would have a good read of them and just familiarise yourself with them, too, because they will help you look at Nursing and look at how we need to be working today as a student Nurse.

Final Thoughts

So that's some of the main things.

Since I've started the degree, I have found I'm able to manage the studying alongside working very well.

It's all new to me at the moment.

I'm still learning obviously with the studying side of things, but I'm really enjoying it.

And I think for anyone who is a healthcare support worker who wants to progress and wants to do more and become a registered Nurse, this is a very good route for you to take, especially if you are unable to give up work and take the full-time route.

So I hope you found this video useful.

If you've got any questions regarding the flexible route and getting into Nursing, please comment below.

I'll be more than happy to reply to you.

And if you are looking at applying, good luck and I wish you all the best.

Bye!