leadingsteward

Hi oldbean and Silverdragon102 - that certainly did help So am I right in thinking that A levels are definately needed now as two of my cousins are nurses and the time until they reached 17 1/2 they studied A levels but they were not needed but this was 5-8 years ago Jonathan

Hey everyone - I decided to post this in here instead of the Student forum as I feel that nursing students or nurses from the UK would be able to help me out better My name's Jonathan, I'm 15 and in my last year of cumpolsary high school education - after this I'm thinking of going onto college to study Health and Social Care Vocational A Levels & Social Care - successful completion of this programme awards students two A Levels I've chosen not to go to Sixth Form as I feel that College would make me feel more motivated and would help me to take the course more seriously than I would at school with my friends - also - I know that at sixth form you can't just take one course - you have to take others aswell...I think you take 4 and then drop your weakest one after your first year which means you'd gain 3 a-levels overall and I think I'd prefer the college option anyway The health and social care courses open are:- - BTEC Level 1 Introductory Diploma - BTEC First Diploma - And the one I'm thinking of taking - Vocational A Levels Health & Social Care Now the first two are one year programmes and I know You cant do your Nurse training till you are 17 and a half which means I'd have around 6 months of doing nothing whereas I'd gain more qualifications if I did the third one My cousin who is a nurse said that I can apply now for an intake, it is 3 years long and at the end of it you have a "Registered Nurse Diploma in Higher Education" - is this what you study at University and then you can go onto seeking employment or is this something completely different? what are the other options? I know that In order to be a nurse you need to have 5 GCSE's C and above and one has to be English, Maths or Science - now I've already took my science GCSE which I got a D in so I need to get a C or above in English and Maths and I feel that English is my stronger subject and I know that if I keep on top of everything I will hopefully achieve this. The other 4 GCSE's I need I was thinking that because I do a GNVQ in Health and Social Care already and because it is worth 4 GCSE's would this be suitable if I successfully complete my GNVQ Intermediate level Health and Social care I'm a bit confused about the options in nursing - two of my cousins are nurses and one specialises in Renal and dialysis etc but in programmes such as Holby City nurses in there deal with many things and don't really specialist in one thing - also in Casualty as it is the emergency department you deal with a variety of things in there aswell - how do I know which option would suit me best? I guess I need to do lots of research My cousin told me The best thing I can do is ring my nearest hospital and ask to be put through to "Registry at the School of Nursing" then ask them to post me an information pack and an application so I think that's what I'm going to do I've always been interested in becoming a nurse since I was little and I think now it's time for me to finally go for it I would really appreciate as many replies as possible about my options and questions I've asked and what you chose to do to become a Nurse - It would really help me out and as I've said I would very much appreciate it Thanks in advance Jonathan