To think Nursing is one of the hardest degrees?

[UndertheCedartree]

I did a nursing degree as a 2nd degree as a mature student. I actually felt sorry for the 18 year olds starting it as they didn't get the usual Uni experience. No Freshers - as we'd already started a few weeks before and were in back to back lectures/classes. Social life was limited due to work load and placements with early starts and long hours.

I found it very stressful. Long hours in Uni due to hours needed to pass the professional qualification. Half the time spent working full time while having to write assignments and study for exams. Also the OSCEs (practical exam) and VIVAs (oral exam) that were so different to anything I'd done before.

So AIBU than Nursing is one of the hardest degrees?

bobbypinseverywhere your view is interesting. My own experience is that I'd rather see the nurse practitioner at my surgery. I went through a horrible couple of years with GP telling me I was depressed. I was by the end of it as no one would take my health seriously. I saw the NP once, she said, "I think I know what the problem is." She took a blood test, 24 hours later I got a phone call to say GP wanted to see me immediately. Could have crowned him when he said, "Well you must have been feeling awful, I don't know how you've coped."

When my child was knocked down by a car I was there when the paramedic handed her over to A&E, he showed them exactly where he judged her leg to be fractured. We were sent home and told she was exaggerating the pain. Three days later I got a phone call asking me to take her back in, on review of her xrays they had found a fracture and guess where is was? Yes it was exactly where the paramedic said it was.

So maybe there is a gap but it might not be the way you assume.

it was a very academic course

I wonder what your basis for comparison is.

It's a different skill set with doctors and nurses. We learn a lot from the FY1&2 on the wards and we teach them a lot too as we have picked up different skills from our courses.

It's not really an academic discipline, and IMO shouldn't be delivered in the form of a degree for that reason.

It' has more in common with a trade in that it's a hands on, practical, learn on the job kind of thing.

X post...'very academic' in comparison with what?

You can get onto some nursing courses with 2 alevels and Cs in English and Maths.

Perhaps why it is deemed hard for some if they haven't obtained many qualifications or top grades in quite frankly very easy 14 and 16+ exams

I'm not sure what these threads are about. Wanting recognition that your degree is the hardest. What are you going to get out of that?

My DS did Chemistry which was a time consuming course .9 to 5 most days ! Also The Masters Degree was also a lot of work too .(He did it in a year!) The point is no degree is "easy" or it wouldnt be worth doing! I think its a worthwhile degree but Medicine, Vet Sciences ,Dentistry ,Chemistry ,Sciences all quite hard !

@UndertheCedartree - but your opinion of what is very academic is subjective, and probably would differ from what my definition of very academic is. And regardless of course variation, i wouldn't call nursing 'very academic'. Thats not discrediting it, or saying it has less value. nursing is extremely tough in lots of ways other than academics - exactly as you said- a different skill set. And yes i agree FY1&2 barely know any 'real life' skills which is what nurses have a lot of, but have a lot of 'text book' knowledge -which is largely useless until they learn to put it into practice.

@1forsorrow im glad you've had good experiences with ANPs. I do think they have great value and I'm not discrediting them. Often they are nicer, and being nurses can have a better bedside manner which patients respond to. They are often brilliant for minor illness or injury as well. However, for complex medical cases, polypharmacy and etc they have been trained differently to GPs and therefore aren't as practised, usually, in that area.

@Surfer25 - my first degree was Maths. I am comparing to that and degrees others have done. I'm not saying it is the most academic but yeah it was level 4-6. There was a high workload. Lots of academic essays on Law & Ethics, Sociology etc Exams on anatomy, physiology and pathology and VIVAs on a heart attack scenario etc.

@UndertheCedartree im a nurse, who did my qualification at Kings College and did it as a separate degree.

I dont think it was particularly academically challenging, nor one of the hardest degrees.

*did it as a second degree

So what do you want out of this?

TBH its a gateway to get to the Nurse Practitioner stuff, which is harder and more academically challenging.

Ok so perhaps you didn't word your op well then? I think if you had said stressful instead of hard, you may have got very different responses.

bobbypinseverywhere she didn't diagnose my condition, which a GP had failed to do for 2 years, because she had a better bedside manner or is nicer than the GP. How patronising. The GP was useless but very nice. Our daughters went to the same school and I met him many times at orchestra performances, however, being nice didn't help me in the slightest.

@Surfer25 - I'm getting an interesting discussion and hearing others opinions. I have my opinion but I am interested to hear others - those who have done a nursing degree and those on the outside. But I will reiterate I don't mean one of the academically hardest - although my Nursing degree was definitely academic - I mean the whole packgage is one of the hardest.

Stressful id agree with, I have never been so tired as when I was after my 1st placement.

Which university did you do yours at OP?

@Letsallscreamatthesistene - universities do vary a lot regarding academic, work load and as I've found out lengths of holidays! I didn't find my degree academically hard (got a first) but I would say it was academic comparing to a Maths degree.

@Letsallscreamatthesistene - what other degrees have you done out of interest?

@1forsorrow I’m not sure why you’re getting snippy and calling me ‘patronising’. My post made it clear I was glad you had a good experience and echoed that ANPs can be very good, and as I said, have great value. You have your experience, I have mine, which is based on working with many of them. And I probably have more insight as to how their training differs. I’m sorry your GP was useless but that’s not anything to do with me!

I'm starting a mental health nursing degree in September as a mature student, I haven't been to uni and I have a one year old.

I've got an extensive background working in mental health but I have to say, I'm nervous to juggle it all with joining an agency to earn some money and manage to not go insane!!

So you did it. You thought it was the hardest. Most people say not.

Want your back scratched or your ego massaged

DS2 is a nurse. He went to uni at 18 with A*AB in his A levels. He started the same weekend as everyone else so did get to experience Freshers. He didn't get a reading week, ever, in the whole three years. He probably got less holidays in 3 years than his best friend, who did history, got in 1. He worked really hard throughout his degree, and works fewer hours now, because he had a part time job in a pub too.

Nursing is a very hard degree. People can argue up hill and down dale that it's not but getting chucked in at the deep end and dealing with death in all ages, terminal illness, rape in children, domestic violence, stabbings etc is incredibly and I take my hat off to everyone who does it.

Maths and Nursing degrees are two EXTREMELY different things. Id say they're not a great basis for comparison.

At Kings we got shorter holidays etc etc, then if we fell behind in hours we'd be expected to work the 'holiday' period to make up for it, so no holiday. However tbh after being in the working environment for about 4 years prior to starting nursing the long holidays seemed a bit ridiculous anyway. I think its all about context.

We has essays/vivas/OSCEs/more essays. Kings College expected a lot, however was the content academically challenging? No.