5 Simple Reasons Why You Definitely Shouldn’t Study Nursing

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with studying nursing, certain traits and characteristics of the degree/career make it difficult to sustain in the long run.

Nurses often complain to each other about issues that they face while on the job, however the general public usually ignores what seems to be a cry for help.

It’s a degree that leads you straight into a career which is why it’s so appealing.

This however may be overshadowed by the negative experiences you may face if you choose the nursing pathway within the field of healthcare.

Let’s explore 5 simple reasons why you definitely shouldn’t study nursing.

Entry requirements are high

While this is more of a complaint than an actual reason not to study nursing, many perfectly qualified students might fail to enrol on a nursing degree because the entry requirements are so high.

This is usually attributed to the high number of applicants going for the same nursing positions.

Usually, once people reach a certain age, they may want to stay in their original field of interest.

While not as competitive as medicine or the physician associate course, nursing degrees are increasingly becoming popular, especially among older individuals.

However, nowadays, more and more adults are choosing to go back to university and contribute to the healthcare system by training to become nurses.

This had been made more accessible through access courses and the introduction of the postgraduate nursing degree which only takes two years to complete, rather than three.

Nursing interviews can also be pretty annoying. Finding the best answers for your motivations to study nursing can be a frustrating deal.

Most interviews only want to know whether you are capable of doing the job well, however, the whole process seems like somewhat of a grilling session for what should be a pretty respected decision by a student to undertake a nursing degree.

Overwhelming course content

Most degrees nowadays are tough.

Nursing is tougher!

Nursing degrees have course content comparable to that of a human biology degree, combined with a demanding placement period.

Nurses train via a different module to medics, however the course content and lecture material can be very similar!

Juggling lecture material, exam revision, coursework, placement, and personal life can be a nightmare for most new nursing students.

This is why it’s important to understand what you’re getting yourself in for when deciding to study nursing.

The degree itself isn’t always geared towards patient-facing roles, and could therefore put a lot of strain on students who simply wanted to work a job helping people.

If you have been outside the education system for a while and are considering studying nursing, you should definitely seek career guidance before pulling the trigger.

Student satisfaction and happiness

As with high stress comes a loss in motivation, satisfaction, and overall happiness.

Nursing degrees are an incredibly stressful undertaking that can often cause burnout in students lacking motivation.

The same thing happens to students studying courses like biomedical science; If you aren’t motivated, you aren’t going to enjoy anything related to nursing.

Wage disputes

Even though trainee nurses have to carry out long unpaid periods of placements, this isn’t the worst situation they have to deal with in terms of being paid.

Often, after nurses gain their license and are able to practice, their wages still don’t reflect the work put in.

Newly qualified nurses are paid roughly £24,000 a year which equates roughly to band 4.

Some job roles in healthcare and STEM research don’t even require degrees on that wage!

While this can be higher depending on your locality, experience, and overall demand for nurses, this pay often reflects the best case scenario.

Nurses may be expected to work overtime, enduring several hours of unpaid labour in certain situations, and do all this on an already low Salary that is nearly comparable to minimum wage!

The future however looks promising since initiatives and agendas to increase NHS staff pay are always in effect!

The one thing nurses have is that they can work anywhere and still be able to sustain themselves which is always a good thing.

Limited job mobility

Nurses typically remain in their profession for the entirety of their working lives.

Likewise, many individuals choose to study nursing as mature students in order to facilitate a career change.

In these situations, the ability to move to another profession is greatly limited.

There have been reports of nurses going back to school to study courses like biomedical science, physician associate courses, or even medicine!

These are however far and few between, and therefore shouldn’t be taken as airtight examples of job mobility within healthcare.

Once you become a nurse, you may only progress within the nursing framework.

This might not actually be entirely bad since the nursing framework is incredibly varied and multifaceted.

Nurses can specialise in different fields of expertise, work within local communities, carry out research, work in public health, be involved in surgery, and so much more!

Summary

The scope of a nursing degree is truly endless, however students must be aware of the downsides to the degree before making a commitment.

Studying nursing simply for job security is not at all wrong, however if you aren’t willing to endure the hardships that come with your career training, it might not be the course for you.

You may end up taking someone else’s position who could have potentially made a better nurse!

You should however do what seems right, and don’t let anyone including this blog post determine your future.

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