Becoming a nurse

[Lola12]

- has anyone done the nursing training with a toddler at home

- does the universities provided free places in the nurseries or at least at reduced cost

- and how much does that training might cost

Many thanks

[ClaireinSE22]

Hi Lola,

I started my nursing training in Sept 08, fell pregnant (after over 2 years of trying - in case anyone feels inclined to question my timing!), had baby in Oct 2009, took a year off and then completed the course in 2010 when my little boy was 1yr old. It costs nothing to train - if you get on a pre-registration nursing course the NHS pays your fees and, yes, there is a childcare award available depending on your household income. You choose the childcare - so long as it is OFSTED registered, the NHS Business Services Authority pays you the money directly and then you pay the childcare provider.

Hope this helps - feel free to PM me.

Claire

[duchessofdulwich]

Qualified in may 2007. Completed the nursing adult diploma branch. We received a small wage every month im not sure if they still offer this?

[Lola12]

duchessofdulwich thanks for that I will ask for that little wage, maybe they are still paying something.

Like they say every little helps

[minimac]

Forgive me jumping in on this thread but I've often thought about becoming a nurse ( a childhood dream that has never really left) but how do families work things out if a mother is on shifts - is it a total nightmare of balancing acts or is it more manageable than i think? ( my husband works normal office hours if that makes a difference.

[HannahG]

I have just completed training as a paediatric nurse however it is all changing now that they have introduced it as a degree only programme. What this means is you won't receive a full bursary i.e. if your husband/partner has a reasonable salary you won't get anything. Hope this helps!

[duchessofdulwich]

I did the training before I had children. Now i have my own kids I don't know how the other students managed it. We had essays presentation and portfolios to complete. On practical placements we were given skills books to get signed off however I think this has changed slightly now.

Its exhausting and full on but its so rewarding.

Some of the other students worked as HCAs for agencies or hospital bank in spare time to top up money.

[ClaireinSE22]

Oh no Duchess - they still have the bloody awful skills books, pages and pages of them - Practice Assessment Documents or PADs is the current nomenclature.

Minimac - shifts are a nightmare with small children coz they screw up your sleep pattern even more......I do mental health nursing, which has 8 hour shifts instead of 12hrs (because we believe in promoting mental wellbeing!) but there are still night shifts and late shifts that finish at 9pm and early shifts that start at 7am. That might sound awful but I see my son more working shifts than I would doing 9-5. BUT let's not forget that some nursing posts are in the community so you can do 9-5! My childcare arrangements are a constant juggling act between Grandmas, nursery and husband - but I think that's true of lots of working parents and if your husband can do pick-ups and drop-offs then you're sorted.

I think all awards are means tested now - they have scrapped that degree/diploma distinction in terms of the bursary. Which makes so much sense, why oh why didn't they do it sooner?

This is for the NHS bursary calculator so you can see how much you might get;

http://www.ppa.org.uk/StudentBursariesCalculator/reset.do