Becoming A Nurse

[evie314]

Hi,
I am currently studying a graphic design uni course & I'm sort of falling out of love with it. I am thinking about becoming a nurse more & more. I was wondering what my options are? Am I able to become a nurse with a graphic design degree? or am I waisting my time & apply for a nursing uni course now?
Thanks!

[Buenchico]

Nursing is a degree subject in its own right, so a degree in graphic design isn't going to help much, if at all (although it's possible that you might get a small amount of 'accreditation of prior learning' credit from it).

Relevant links
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/we-are-the-nhs/nursing-careers

https://targetcareers.co.uk/uni/degree-subject-guides/314679-becoming-a-nurse-course-and-career-guide

https://www.nmc.org.uk/education/becoming-a-nurse-midwife-nursing-associate/becoming-a-nurse/

[joko]

a GD degree will get you nowhere in nursing, other than to show them you are capable of studying & completing a course - its not remotely relevant to nursing so not sure how you can think you'd be able to be a nurse without studying nursing.
there are no shortcuts when it comes to saving lives etc, so it doesnt bode well that your first thoughts are about 'jumping the queue'.
how would you feel knowing your nurse was untrained but had a degree in GD?

so if youre sure, drop out and start another course.

Youre too late to start a new year so assuming it wont cost you any more money etc you may as well stay on the course if you want to & leave to start in september, and spend your spare time swotting up on nursing so you can be sure its what you want.
i semester in GD wont allow you to start in the middle of a term either since it is a completely different unconnected subject.

[calmck]

You could see if you could do some volunteer work in a hospital or home though in this current climate it might be difficult

[woofgang]

Giving general advice....why are you falling out of love with graphic design and what is it about nursing that attracts you?

[Buenchico]

I think that you might not have fully understood just how much there is to learn on a nursing degree course (and thus why a graphic design degree isn't going to help much).

Take a look at this document. It's from an Indian university but it still provides a good indication of what you might encounter on a nursing degree syllabus:
https://www.aiims.edu/aiims/academic/aiims-syllabus/Syllabus%20Nursing_Hons-Post%20Certificate.pdf
With the obvious exceptions relating to the English and Hindi languages, almost everything from pages 1 to 42 is likely to be duplicated within the syllabus of a British university. There's a hell of a lot of it!

[rowanwitch]

From an ex nurse..... DON'T
Plenty of other roles you could train for, Graphic design wont get you credits but pay would be better, hours would be better and you wouldn't end up broken like so many.

Consider things like occupational therapy, art therapy, even physiotherapy if you liked science at school. You will probably need to do an introduction to healthcare course whatever you choose. Local colleges do these and they often start at intervals during the year.

The alternative would be to work in a hospital as a health care assistant, go through the nvq route over about a year, getting hands on patient care experience and then apply for nurse training if you still want to. It's something you really shouldn't do unless you have a proper handle on the reality of it.

[follyfancier]

my niece changed career and trained as a nurse after she had her children but it took 5 years at college to get the degree

[TonyV]

Good suggestion from rowan. You will see whether it's something you really want to do. My partner was a nurse for 20+ years and enjoyed it. You also need to consider the amount of debt you will end up in.