I applied on somewhat of a whim (I blame my ADHD). I’ve got a psychology degree and have been working in mental health/wellbeing for the last ten years since graduating. I love what I do but became frustrated with the career ceiling as I don’t have a professional registration. Well (hopefully) in two years I will! The initial pay cut will hurt but long term I hope will open up more options for me.

Is anyone else on the January intake at York? The imposter syndrome of being a late thirties applicant going back to school is starting to set in… I’d appreciate experiences from people who have completed or are currently enrolled in the programme

Hello,

I’ve always wanted to be a nurse since I was very young.

I’m now 22 and really keen to get into nursing..

However, I can’t get into uni because of my UCAS points and I can’t really afford to do an access course as my local is priced at £3,500

I’m super lost and looking for advice.. is there any other ways of getting into the line of work?

I’m currently NHS admin but looking for HCA roles in my current hospital.

Any advice would be great or any company recommendations for the online access HE courses that are slightly cheaper.

Thanks in advance x

Mills

I hate my university. I hate my placement. I hated first year (although I loved my second placement).

I’m just feeling so frustrated and crappy and demotivated. I work as a HCA and I love my job and I want to work as a nurse on my ward or in a similar ward but the idea of doing this for another 2 years is really depressing me. I’m terrified I won’t pass the year.

I applied for the NHS LSF bursary on the 7th of september, but my application is still pending approval, and i belive the first payment day is coming up. If my application isn’t approved by then will I miss part of the grant, or will it be payed once it’s approved?

Also does anyone happen to know how much it is total that it provides?

I’m a F/25 currently working as an autism practitioner on a skilled worker visa (expires 2028) in the UK for 3+ years. Completed my MSc Clinical Psychology(2023) degree in UK. I wish to now pursue a BSc nursing degree (learning disability or mental health). I’m looking at joining 2028 intake just before my work visa expires. Any thoughts, tips, advice or ideas?

I’m concerned about my qualifications. Would I need to do something like a higher education diploma to qualify?
I know I’ll have to switch to a student visa and I hope to continue to do my current job as relief staff or any other suggestions to make more money while I can only work 20hrs a week?

I would really like to understand my options clearly as an international student specifically. There’s seems to be multiple pathways to go about this. I should also mention that I’m in Scotland and would like to continue living here. I know it makes it more limiting but I’m dead sure I don’t want to move to England.

Hi,

I have an interview at edge hill for mental health nursing and I’m hoping someone who has already had one can let me know what they will ask. Thanks!

So anxious for my placement starting next week, I've been given A&E, its an 8 week placement, I'm in 3rd year, placement number 7 for me, never been so scared to go somewhere! I just feel like I don't know enough to go there, we've done cannulation in clinical skills, catheters, bloods, but I've never done it on a patient, so feeling like I won't be very useful there.

I just want to make a good impression too, I don't want to be just stood about being told, I want to be proactive has anyone had an A&E placement? How did it go? Any tips? Was it hard to get signed off because its so busy?

To all 1st year students in England, why did you choose nursing even though we all know that there won't be enough jobs after graduation? (And, of course, that NHS is collapsing)

Does anyone have any good nursing resources, i.e. websites, books, YouTube channels that are useful for a year 3 nursing student?

Hey!

How are you feeling about the lack of Jobs? Currently in year 3 and panicking that I wont have a job at the end of this! Especially after it feels like I financially upheavaled my husband 3 little ones!

How have those just qualified in 2026 found the job search? Was you successful or still looking?

Blows my mind universitys are still taking on 300 students a year with the promise of job security and theres very little out there!

And tips for us qualifying in summer 2027?

Just putting this out there to see if anyone has happened to make a similar mistake to me and turned out fine. Please comment if you have so I know what to do/expect.

Basically I am due to start the preregistration MSc in Jan 2027 and read that it is best to apply for the nhs learning support fund as soon as possible.

I started my application today (thinking I was being super organised) and saw I could apply for the 2026-2027 academic year. I started my application and submitted it but have only mow realised I wasn't meant to do an application until I fully start the course. I know it sounds like no biggie but I'm worried that they might put me down for fraud because I "agreed" to the declaration saying that I am currently enrolled onto the course. At the time when I read this I thought "yeah I'm enrolled" as I have been offered a spot on the course (which I have accepted) and completed all my dbs checks but as soon as I submitted I realised they mean fully started the course and have an ID card.

Has anyone else done a similar thing? That being applied a bit too early for the learning support fund and submitted the application with the declaration? If anyone has did it turn out okay for you? Do they just see it as an honest mistake and allow you to reapply when your course starts or do you get struck off?

To add, I contacted the learning support fund office and have I formed them about my mistake and asked them to cancel my application but any how I'm still quite worried.

Thanks in advance!

Hi there folks, I'm a first year Mental Health Nursing student and I have my first placement in an acute inpatient MH ward on Monday. I'm really looking forward to it aswell as being naturally nervous but I am quite fearful of being useless when I get there. I know I won't know a lot of stuff as it's my first placement but for example I don't know how to wash people, I really struggled with manual BP in the practical, among other practical skills. I aboslutely love talking to people and got on well with the MH specific tutorials, but I'm not confident in "medical" stuff. I'm aware that many patients in MH can wash and care for themselves to a decent degree but I think there will probably be a few who can't on this ward. Anyone have any advice for me before I go out? Thanks

As the title says, I'm looking into how to become a mental health nurse, but I'm not sure where to start.

My current situation:

I'm currently studying a postgraduate conversion course in psychology (I initially thought this was the only route available).

My questions:

1. Are there any specific courses I could take to become a mental health nurse?

2. What pathways can I pursue with my psychology degree to get to where I want to be?

3. Does my postgraduate conversion course help me, or would I be better off applying for a nursing degree directly?

4. What are the entry requirements for accelerated/graduate-entry mental health nursing courses?

5. Do I need care experience before applying, and if so, how much?

6. Are there any funding options available for graduate-entry nursing students?

7. Are there alternative routes into mental health nursing, like apprenticeships?

8. How competitive is it to get onto a mental health nursing course?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

So i had my 5 week well nearly at the end of my resit of tear 2 placement, im trying hard to get my pad signed i am asking people, im writing down what im doing skills wise and getting signatures from staff. But struggling to get it on the epad because its so busy next week wont be long enough for my pa to sign everything at once as its a high demand area. What can i do maybe ask to go in on my days off,

hi, i've spent the last 2 years doing a T-Level in animal science and management because i thought i wanted to be a vet nurse but honestly ive changed my mind completely and have been looking into physiotherapy (for humans).

if i did my access to nursing, would this allow me to go into uni for a physiotherapy course? i've heard it's pretty competitive and im sure they'd prefer a levels in sciences but ngl i dont really want to do those. would the access to nursing be enough ??

pls offer any advice!!! thanku
(i'm in the UK)

Hi guys, im in 6th year and I want to study midwifery but i have nursing as my second option
Could anyone help me with factors to consider when choosing between the two of them?
I know Im more passionate about pregnancy, babies, delivery, women care but its a harder to get into midwifery than nursing so
In all honesty, i think what im trying to understand is that ill be okay if i get into nursing then do a post graduate

Id love to hear from people who did nursing then went into midwifery and also just gather any useful information
Thank you 🤍

Hi student nurses
I’m in my first year, I was wondering if missing lectures will count towards the 2300 hours of theory
Or is it only simulated practice which counts towards the 2300?
Thanks guys

I need some honest opinions because I’m genuinely stressing myself out over this.

I’m in my third year and currently doing my first placement of the year. I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately due to being a final year student, and today things just went wrong. I overslept and missed my train. I spent around 20 minutes trying to get an Uber, but I live somewhere in middle of nowhere and nobody accepted the ride.
My next public transport option would have got me there around two hours late. I ended up calling to explain what happened and asking if it would be possible to swap the shift for tomorrow as I will be super late. I spoke to someone from the team (not my assessor), who said that should be okay, and I updated my assessor with an email.
The thing is, this was only my second day, which makes me feel even worse. I’m in my third year, so I’m fully aware that I can’t just miss placement whenever something goes wrong, and I’m not expecting people to excuse me being late every time. I know it’s my responsibility to get there on time.
I think I’ve just been feeling so overwhelmed that this happening has sent me into a bit of a spiral. I’m now worrying that I’ve made a terrible impression before I’ve even had a chance to settle in, or that my assessor will think I’m unreliable. Till now I only had great feedbacks and always had brilliant placements even when they are tough.
I’m not trying to justify missing the shift. I just genuinely couldn’t find a way to get there earlier, despite trying.

Be honest, how bad is this? If you were supervising a student, would this seriously affect your opinion of them? Has anyone else messed up early in a placement and managed to move past it? I think I need some perspective because I’m stressing about it way more than I probably should be.

Hi everyone, I’m not quite sure how to go about this. I’m a first year nursing student, 19yo as I took a gap year. At the very start of September, it was quite overwhelming mentally for me with all the information they were throwing out but I managed to stay on task and made new friends. Recently, the realisation hit me that this will be my life for the next 3 years til I complete this degree. I was close to dropping out as my anxiety has gotten worse. I feel really stupid in class compared to everyone else as they all have some level of healthcare experience whereas I do not, in my gap year I just worked at my job in retail to save money. I didn’t even learn to drive which was on my gap year bucket list. I’ve been beating myself up a lot and I am constantly anxious about the next thing. I have an essay due in November and I have to get used to academic writing and researching which I am finding difficult. Presentations also scare the hell out of me and we’ve been doing small ones just in our seminar group but I am so scared for the future graded ones. I feel as if I’m not good enough for this career, not smart enough, not capable especially if I’m feeling this broken just at the start. But I am trapped here now and dropping out is no longer an option for me as I feel like it will set me back even further. I feel like I’m running out of time. It’s getting to the point where I’m crying every day and struggling to relax. Not really sure what I’m looking for but I guess I was wondering if anybody has been in a similar situation. If anybody has advice that would be greatly appreciated. I feel very immature compared to everyone else, like everyone has learned how to be an adult and I’m stuck.

I’m currently studying at napier and not enjoying the lack of in class learning/teaching. I’m really considering either trying for a transfer or withdrawing and starting again next year at Queen Margarets. So if anyone here studies at QM whats it like for first years? Right now i’m in uni 3 hours per week, whats the timetable like for you?