4 year or 3 year Nursing degree?

[FirTree31]

I have unconditional offer for 4 year Nursing degree (Hons, or Masters) and a conditional offer for 3 year degree.

The conditional offer I hold is with a university I have been with since 2013, undergraduate, then postgraduate, then working there 2018. They need me to complete 4 higher modules.

The 4 year programme has summer off, the University is very new (2007/08) and academics research during this time.

I have spoken with a senior Nurse who mentors post and under graduates, she said the 3 year university students are practically better, but not as academic as 4 year students (), and the summer break means that those students have lower confidence and have to essentially start again.

3 years feels like a better length of time, I have children and I'm conscious that I won't have a 'job' during this time, meaning less security and no pension contributions. But I think It would be good to get away from my current institution. I am also working, so very difficult to complete prerequisite modules in time!

Any advice would be great!

There will be pros and cons to both. I did the 3 year degree and felt ready to get going after that and financially another year of student finance v salary is a pro! It is intense Over 3 years as you don’t get the university holidays like other courses but then you have the continuity of placements and you aren’t going to get long holidays once qualified. I wouldn’t worry about the academic comment too much, I have gone on to do a lot of postgrad study and the the 3 year hons degree set me up well for that. I have been to 3 diffident unis- undergrad then a masters at another and CPD post grad modules at another and I liked seeing how different places worked and what they had to offer. For me 4 years would feel like a long slog when you could get your registration and be working at the end of 3. Another thing to consider which worked for me was joining the bank or agency where you do your placements I did lots of healthcare assistant shifts around uni and placements and this helped financially but also gave me a good grounding with the basics and let me scope out specialities where I wasn’t lucky enough to have a placement but was interested. Good luck!

I agree, 4 years seems like a long haul and I don't know if there's much benefit, if any in doing Hons or masters when I will be back in some years to specialise.

But, I get summer off to be with my children, and I can leave my current institution and start a new chapter, and campus is closer to home. But it's a new uni, and 3 years is better than 4!

When I qualified it was the ‘diploma v degree’ age of nursing qualifications. I went direct entry degree as had the A levels to do that but at the end of the 3 years ultimately we all qualified as RNs but some of us had degrees and some had diplomas so I think initially it’s about getting your grounding and registration rather than the highest academic qualification. The difference being around 2010 most trusts wanted people to top up to degree level so many had to ‘top up’ while working full time. Also doing a degree I didn’t have bursary support of my diploma colleagues had I realised this I might have approached it differently! It may be worth working out the financial difference of 3 v 4 years of being a student as in the position I am now (2 children and a mortgage) that would probably be the overwhelming factor for me.

3 years would he easier financially, I don't really know that there is any benefit to do doing 4 years. The only benefit personally is I could go to a different institution.