To put in a mum on my personal statement?

[Beesandhoneys]

Have 2 kids and I'll be a 'mature student'. I want to apply for nursing and I thought that me putting that I'm a mother could actually benefit my application but I don't want to look silly. Would it help or should I leave it off? TIA.

but they aren't relevant for professional training

She isn't in professional training though.
She is showing what life skills, experience and qualifications she has that would make her a good professional in training.

I wasn't arguing that she should go on about it in her PS.
I was arguing to QueenofPain that parental experience provided bugger all to help whilst training.

It was the poster who was going on about dealing with nappies and vomit etc being a useful experience to highlight that triggered my post.

Like come on, are we really as naive as to think that previously having dealt with a poo and a bowl of sick is an asset to an application. These might be things you can write in a statement for an access course, but the bar is much higher for undergrad and beyond.

I mentioned it on mine (and got in).

We had no say whatsoever on where placements were.

Midwifery is much harder to get onto and I think they tend to take qualified nurses above new applicants.

Like come on, are we really as naive as to think that previously having dealt with a poo and a bowl of sick is an asset to an application.

Exactly. Most applicants will have experience dealing with this in a different context, for example as a HCA.

QueenofPain made a valid point though.

It's the equivalent to what we see sometimes in trainee teaching applications where people think that "I've had children so that shows I have all the skills to be a good teacher. I've helped them with their homework so have an advantage understanding how children learn". On the whole we are more interested that an aspiring trainee has researched the field, has an understanding of the role, ideally has some work experience or relevant volunteering in some way etc than we are that they have parented their child.

From friends in healthcare I get the impression that it's similar in that mentioning a career break or change of career and parenting is fine, a sentence explaining how a parenting experience affected your decision to retrain is good too, but taking standard life tasks and trying to big them up as organisation/teamwork etc is less fruitful.

@Beesandhoneys

Placement. My local trust is 3 hospitals.. you can put your preference in (one of the hospitals is opposite the university). They may not be able to honour it but you can ask.

Access Course.
Check the midwifery entry requirements. If the access course has enough biology components then that is absolutely fine.

No don't. It is irrelevant.

I did access to health online to meet the requirements for my degree. My friend got in with access to science which incorporates a lot more chemistry then a biology. It doesnt have to be a specific access to midwifery, you need to have the right number of science credits though. My course wanted 15 credits in science and my course had 30.

*than biology

No don't. It is irrelevant.

It's not irrelevant in the slightest.

If there was an 18 year old with no work experience applying, or a mother of 4, maybe one has a disability or a long term health condition, then sure as heck the mother of 4 will have more life experience.

I know this for a fact, unless my lecturers were all talking out their butts.

It was an ongoing conversation when they scrapped the bursary and the next lot came to interview. Hardly any of them had the life experience they previously did when they had the bursary.

My lecturers are children's nurses (and above) though.
Still nurses!

Make sure you relate absolutely everything you say back to nursing....

So.. while studying for the Access Course, I have managed to work X hours a week and run a home and look after 2 children. I feel this demonstrates that I am well able to manage even the most demanding of placements while continuing to study.

Yes exactly that! That's how I mentioned it in my PS.
Brief, to the point and move onto the next bit.
Mention the 6 C's maybe mid staffs and the Francis report

I’m a mature student and a mum of three, I didn’t bother putting it on mine.

In a personal statement when applying to uni, I would mention it. Not from a "because im a mum I'll make a good nurse" but personal statement being personal I would mention it. For cover letter/CV for work I wouldn't mention anything.

@HowDoIhelp321 But in that scenario at a university with particularly rigorous academic requirements (because they do vary from uni to uni) they might think that the 18 year old was best placed for academic success because they have no other demands on their time or childcare commitments dictating what shifts they can do on placement, etc.

It’s all swings and roundabouts, but no extra credit is awarded for being a parent, and rightly so. Much like all oncologists not having had personal experience of cancer. Not all general surgeons have had abdominal surgery, I could go on and on.

If you’re a kind and empathetic person then you just are, that isn’t exclusive to parenting.