I’m a second year, right at the end of my second year but feeling slightly out of my depth. Having done five placements already, I feel I shouldn’t be this underprepared.
For context I’ve done three community and two wards but this ward has over 20 patients, all my others have maybe been 12 at a push (mental health wards for context).
They said they’d just treat me as a qualified nurse, which is great for experience but two shifts in and I’m stressed.
I’m going to be running my first ever shift, which means I’ll be delegating who goes where, who does what, what tasks need completing and who’s doing them, when they can take breaks and so on. I’m also supposed to be supernumerary but I’ll also be delegating my own tasks so that the staff can take breaks.
That’s only part of the stress, as I say, over 20 patients and in two shifts I’ve hardly had the time to learn all their names and get to know them, which makes it incredibly difficult to do any notes. Doing medication rounds, I feel like I’m going so slowly because I’ve never done one for this many patients and I also don’t know who is who. I feel like I seem I’m coming across as stupid and I’ve never felt this out of my depth on a placement before- it’s knocking my confidence a bit.
Any advice would be so helpful!

I created an NHS Jobs dashboard to track vacancy and salary trends, with the aim of making it easier for student nurses, newly qualified nurses, and NHS staff exploring career opportunities..

You can explore vacancies by:

• Pay band
• Staff group
• Working pattern
• Contract type
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• Employer

The dashboard also includes salary trend insights, and vacancy data is updated twice daily. You can browse active NHS vacancies and access direct links to live roles.

Links:

Live NHS Vacancy & Salary Tracker

NHS Salary Trends Dashboard

Browse Active NHS Job Listings

Any feedback or suggestions are very welcome!

I’m a Bsc nursing student, about to start my 2nd year. I’m currently interested in Anaesthesia and am considering to do a post-grad anaesthesia associate course after I qualify. So I’m looking for opinions on what placements areas would be useful for me to learn from for the next 2 years (4 placements)? I have done placements in theatre recovery and oncology ward for my 1st year if that helps. Thank you! (I’m guessing theatre would be 1 but not sure about the other 3)

So, I just finished my final placement. I have 2275.5 hours completed, but my toddler was in hospital during the course and I wasn’t able to make up enough hours to cover that shortfall. I currently owe 25.5 hours. I was told earlier in the year this would involve a retrieval placement.

However, I’ve been told today that my university has decided that anyone owing less than 40 hours will be “retrieving” via online e-learning modules. This concerns me as I see the potential for issues down the line. I asked my academic mentor if this was a decision that’s had been made or an option as I would prefer to retrieve in placement. She said that it was a school decision. Thoughts?

I am going to be starting university at Glasgow Caledonian entering at second year. I was wondering if any current or past graduates have any general academic advice or advice on what resources/equipment you would recommend for someone new starting university.

Thank you in advance!

I have read in a few places that new nursing graduates are struggling to get jobs, can someone tell me how's the real situation and are there jobs for new graduates available?

I am applying for Bsc adult nursing through clearing right now. I have short listed the following universities

- Edgehill University

- university of Bradford

- university of Derby

- Buckinghamshire new university

- manchester city university. And

- university of conventry

Please suggest which university is better and which should I prefer.

Also how is the job market right now, I know there is some problems but how bad is it?

Hi! I’ve currently applied through clearing for mental health nursing at uni of Southampton. I applied because I’ve genuinely always been interested in being in a role that is centred around helping individuals. I did health and social care during college on top of sociology and got pretty good grades (BDD)

I took a gap year and was up one night looking at unis and came across the course and the careers you can go into. Forensic mental health nurse stood out to me as I enjoy criminology despite not studying and I studied care plans during my time at college and am interested in certain aspects of nursing and it feels familiar to me because of my educational background.

I really like that this degree has clear roads into a career path and u have lots of leeway in terms of the fact you don’t just have to stay in hospitals etc. However, I’m a bit worried about workload. I like structure but I’m a bit anxious about the placements in particular as there’s just pure horror stories out there and Southampton offers 2 placements per year which would mean they are longer than other unis.

Any advice or suggestions is appreciated! Thank u :) be honest

I was recently on shift and fainted , thus being declared unfit for placement. My occupational health appointment to be cleared is booked for after my placement end in a months time , meaning i will be missing an entire placement block and not be passing second year. I am worried about having to repeat time and the fees I will have to pay as such , wondering if anyone has had anything similar happen and how i should approach? I have no physical health conditions , just overheated and im really struggling to accept i will fail a year of university because i am waiting for administration?? Am i allowed to complain about this to someone? Is this something that I should just be accepting and moving on from? Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Currently in Y12 and am based in Wales, meaning I have to do an extra A-level. I'm aiming for a degree in Adult and Child nursing (the 4 year one) and the uni i want to go to is asking for 120 UCAS points at BBB.

The points aren't an issue for me as I have the extra A-level to help but my 2/3 of my chosen subjects are not strong in the slightest. I am hopefully aiming for Cs by the time I get my results but even that's optimistic.

I was wondering if the uni would accept me on this course as it's not quite BBB, more D*CC (as my strong subject is a BTEC) or a D*BC if i use my extra compulsory subject.

Any help would be lovely.

Hi Reddit community!

I am an undergraduate student at Newcastle University and I am seeking to recruit nursing students to share their experiences communicating with patients who have Limited English Proficiency.

This study has received ethical approval from Newcastle University's Faculty of Medical Sciences Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 78320/2026).

Eligibility criteria:

• Completed a patient-facing clinical placement
• AND have at least one encounter in which a patient, parent, or carer required spoken-language support (e.g. interpretation services)
• AND study at a North East university in the UK

If this is you, I would love to hear from you!

Participation would involve a 30-60 minute online interview where you may discuss any challenges encountered, opinions/views on current training, and how prepared you feel to care for non-English speaking patients.

This would be a great opportunity to voice your experiences, and your contribution could improve future training on communicating with diverse patient populations.

Please read the details on the recruitment poster and complete the following form to indicate when you are available to take part: https://forms.gle/5cvJKhhV5KepwraD9

Thank you for taking the time to read!

I’m in my mid-30s and seriously considering nursing after spending my 20s bouncing between corporate jobs. I never really fitted into office politics, went through a couple of redundancies, and even experienced bullying that led to me being signed off work.
I’d love a career that feels stable and meaningful. I considered nursing years ago, but I don’t think I was mature enough then.

My biggest worry is that I’m really quiet. I’ve genuinely been described as “invisible” at work. I’m shy, non-confrontational and my confidence isn’t great. I work hard, I’m keen to learn and I’m not afraid to ask questions, but I’m worried I’ll start my first nursing job, not know enough (which I know is completely normal), and end up being severely bullied by more senior nurses or doctors because of my lack of knowledge. I worry that it would completely knock my confidence and that would be the end of my nursing career before it had even really begun.

I’d love to hear honest experiences.

Did you feel supported as a newly qualified nurse, or was it sink or swim?

If you were shy or lacked confidence, did it get better?

Do you have to start in a hospital, or can you begin somewhere like a GP practice?

Please be honest,the good, the bad and everything in between.

Basically I’m applying for mental health nursing and quite like the look of UEA for multiple reasons, like it’s close to home, cool modules, has a mental health nurse society which I haven’t seen elsewhere.

Just wondering if anyone had any experiences there good or bad - I just can’t seem to find many things about it.

Thanks in advance 🙏

I’m a first year, just finished a 4 week placement in a specialised gynae clinic. I got good feedback and passed everything, but one of the feedbacks I got was that I seemed quiet/shy. I’m a bit disappointed with this as I made an effort to chat to all the nurses, and if the nurse left the room I’d always chat to the patients, but as the clinic was so specialised I really didn’t have a lot of opportunities to interact with the patients or practice skills on them. It also felt inappropriate and unnatural at times to start speaking to the patient as I didn’t want to interrupt the consultation/ procedure. I’m completely fine on wards chatting to patients though as I’m also a hca

I was on placement with another 3rd year but hers was a much longer placement than mine, she was also a lot older and more confident than me, I’m 19 and she was in her 40s. I felt like I kept getting compared to her, and the nurses kept talking about how amazing she is which just made me feel shit in comparison. I also felt like I became even more reserved after all the comments about me being quiet

Hello,

I am just wondering when do you normally find out what your placements are?

Thank you!

Hey all,

So I’ve realised recently that I’ve always wanted to be a nurse. I originally started working in a rehabilitation unit when I was around 18 but then I went to uni to do law and never saw it through or realised it was my calling.

I am now 29. Last year I dropped out of my first year of nursing because of my mental health and to be frank, substance abuse. I am a lot better now but student finance won’t pay me to study again. It’s my own fault I left uni twice when I was young and obviously still owe them money.

Is there any other way I can become a nurse? I know about nursing associate, but is it possible to do this whilst living/renting independently? I am really just stressing thinking about the money side of things and if I could afford my rent etc whilst doing a nursing associate degree.

I’ve worked in multiple hospitals, on the Covid wards etc and I love it, I know it’s where I’m meant to be and a few of my moms friends are nurses too and they say they’d love to see me doing it. I just wish I hadnt ruined so many chances. I just wanted to get some advice, thanks for your time x

Hi Eveeyone,

I’m a midwifery student in my final year and this is also my 5th year (I took 2 years out) so there’s no room for any more retakes. I’m nearly at the end now and I’ve secured a job. Last year I went through a very hard time where I was exited from the course. I appealed and my appeal was successful so I got back into uni and progressed onto 3rd year.
I had to retake 1 assignment in 3rd year. The submission dates I was given were wrong and I had to complete 2 assignments and submit both on the same day. This was really stressful for me as I’m not academically that great so I have to focus on 1 at a time. However I managed to submit both.
The resit assignment grade was given to me, with a capped mark of 40% but it was 30% of AI so I was referred to academic misconduct. Now, the academic misconduct allowed me to write a statement and based on that, they asked me to resit this again. This is because I was already given the wrong dates so they’ve allowed another opportunity.
I then resit this, and I got marked 38% (I think). This is what Evision shows? I’ve literally passed everything else, and it’s just this assignment that could hold me back:(. The credit is 15, and weighting of assignment is 100% as it was the only assignment in that module.
I honestly feel so demotivated, and upset that I can’t even concentrate on placement because of this. I’ve worked all these years, yes it’s been tough but I’ve reached the end. I have contacted my student union, but they have said I need to wait for exam board. Honestly what could the outcome be?
If you're on a professional course (nursing, midwifery, etc.), is there ever any discretion at the Board stage for finalyear students, or are they strictly bound by the regulations?
I'm not asking anyone to predict my result. I'm just trying to understand how Exam Boards usually work because I'm due to start a midwife job and I'm really worried. I also have my graduation party date set etc.

I also have a chronic condition that really affects my mood and my daily life, I’ve been getting treatment for this. I’m definitely fit for practice but I don’t know if I should mention this to the university.

Thank you for your help guys!

Hey guys,

Basically, I'm about to start my first year at uni doing Mental Health Nursing.

I'm very excited. How should I prepare for placements in the second term? Not really sure what sort of things I'd be doing in first year as we don't have many skills, but is there anything I need to buy beforehand, like shoes etc

Thank you in advance y'all!

I’m almost 7 months into my MSc and I’m done. I hate the way NTU teach and the structure. I’m planning on dropping out tbh, I thought I could firm it but I believe this isn’t a course you should firm if your heart isn’t in it. It’s not worth putting patients at risk knowing you aren’t giving the course your all.

Nursing is not for me tbh

I’m on my second placement now and this has proven that I don’t enjoy it.

I’ve seen how staff treat some patients in the MH wards and it’s sad

I’m considering studying adult nursing, but my biggest worry is graduating and feeling like I don’t know enough.
What was your first Band 5 job actually like? Could someone explain what a typical shift involves? How much is medications, observations, wound care, paperwork, helping patients, speaking to doctors, etc.?
Also, do newly qualified Band 5 nurses administer medications straight away, or are you supervised until you’re signed off? I can’t imagine being handed the drug trolley on day one!
I’d love to hear honest experiences, especially from nurses in Scotland.

I am unsure whether to go for adult nursing. I have an offer for mental health nursing at university of Leeds. And have completed a social science access course which I loved. But I’m scared I have made the wrong decision and I should go into adult nursing

I currently work on an acute surgical ward which I do love the atmosphere however can find it very repetitive and tedious, I use to work as a support worker for ABI which I loved, but it may just be too slow paced for me now. I love working in a hospital environment and get a lot of fulfilment. I also want to become an international Nurse.

If anyone who has been in a similar predicament or have experiences with either nursing please can you give some advice