HCA to Student Nurse
Hi! I’m 21 and currently studying adult nursing in a September 2020 cohort. I love sharing my experience and helping other students where I can.
Studying nursing was never something I planned. My mum is a senior clinical assistant working in gynaecology and my dad is an orthopaedic theatre scrub practitioner. However, I always protested that nursing was not for me and I took no interest at all in the subject. When I left college at 18 I had my eyes set on other pursuits but through a series of events it somewhat fell through. So at this point, I was 20 and I was working part time in a shop. Getting pretty desperate to start making a real wage my dad said there was a job going in theatres. Having no other choice I applied and after interviewing successfully I was given the job.
To put it bluntly, it was a means to an end and I was adamant that it was solely or the money. Or so I thought. I started at 08:00 and by 09:00 I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I loved it. Fast forward 7 months and it’s March 2020. I know I’m not alone in saying no one could have expected what was about to happen, with the pandemic and the lockdown.
At this point I had already had my interview for nursing and all of a sudden it was all in question. Would I be going to university? Would I be starting in September? When will this be over? But I looked around at my colleagues and decided that those questions would have to wait as this was a time to step up. It was dark at times and everything seemed so far out of reach but come August 2020 I did my last shift in theatres and left to start my university training. I have loved every second so far of my course and know that I have made the right decision. The first placement I have just completed has been in a Nuclear Medicine department and was a fantastic opportunity to put the anatomy and physiology theory into practice. Unfortunately, I didn’t gain Hulk level strength or Superman abilities but I did get to develop and hone skills and knowledge while on placement.
It often surprises people when I tell them I’m a student nurse as the course is often associated with females more than males but I haven’t received any different experience and have made a great group of friends so far. If I were to speak to a group of younger males I would definitely say don’t say no to nursing just on account of the male to female ratio of students.
Post graduation I’m wanting to do my masters and advanced clinical practice. The areas that I’m most interested in are anaesthetics, emergency medicine and cardiovascular medicine. The dream is to be an advanced clinical practitioner in either emergency medicine or cardiovascular - both if I’m really lucky!