Iona
Carter

"Though NTU hadn’t previously had an Adult Nursing course, the universities reputation was extremely positive for supporting their students with not just managing their education but also support outside of lessons. It was hard to visit for an open day during the pandemic but having attended a virtual open day it was evident that the facilities we would have access to were good. When also going through the interview process it was a positive experience, you could hear the passion the lecturer had for what he was doing and everything they wanted the course to be. Although in its infancy that was something that appealed to me about joining NTU’s first cohort of Adult nurses."

"They’ve fought tooth and nail for us to still be able to attend placements in Nottingham trusts, despite other universities having to pull first years from nursing placements. The practical element of nursing is what a lot of us are here for and it means a lot that we have been able to do it even in the current circumstances. They’ve gone way beyond just giving us structures for assessments but going into detail about what is required, they’ve heard us when we’ve said we might be struggling and given more information when it is needed. They’ve still taught us safely and made it engaging when we have had clinical sessions so when we have gone out on nursing placements, we have some skills to take with us that allow us to access more learning opportunities on placement."

"It’s a little different to having the expected student life, but this being my second degree I already feel way more supported by NTU than I did at my previous university. Sure, there have been hiccups but there’s bound to be some teething problems when you’re organising an entire course in the middle of a pandemic, especially one so heavily involved with it! None of this is easy but I can honestly say if you want to feel like a person and not just another student then chose NTU."

"They guide us when we get stuck, listen to us when we have concerns even sometimes sending us a reply outside of their normal working hours to offer us advice and guidance when its needed, even when they aren’t our personal tutors. With assessments they feed us more and more information to help clarify what we need to do. All the teaching staff are approachable and accessible to every student if they need it and most of all they’re passionate about what they are teaching us which reflects in the way they teach and improves our learning on a subject."

"If I were to put a statistic on it, I’m certain the university would match up with most educational settings or even most companies that have had to move to remote learning, with the situation we’re in currently they can’t get it right 100% of the time. To be honest though, they’ve done well to keep us engaged in the learning especially when for a lot of us its language we may not have seen before. Remote learning has offered some more flexibility too so even if you’re not there in that moment they record the sessions and they’re accessible to watch as many times as you want or need, and I think that can sometimes be a downside to the normal lecturing!"

Definitely comfortable about my prospects, it is still early days being only in first year but honestly, they have done their absolute best to move a very practical course to remote learning and still give us enough skills & knowledge to manage out on clinical placements. I think ultimately, you’ll get as much out of any learning as you want out of it and we’re very lucky to have the lecturers we do! Like I’ve said before they are approachable and that does make it easier to seek out guidance and if one of the staff aren’t available another will happily help you.

"Currently in the middle of my first placement, it’s a little crazy at times with the pandemic but it has been brilliant. There has been a hell of a lot to learn and engage with being on a neurology ward so you’re never short of things to do or see. I’ve already put into practice the skills taught in clinical sessions like medication management, personal care, observations etc. As well as picked up a few specialist skills like GCS observations and tracheostomy care, I could probably write an entire essay about my experience there and I will be sad to eventually say goodbye, but I’ve got so much out of the experience that I can use in the future."

"In Second year, there’s an opportunity to do placements abroad if we want to which is an exciting prospect for anyone that wants to see how nursing is in other countries!"

"If you want to become a nurse, but you’re worried about whether you can handle it or whether you will be good at it (much like I was when I first started) then pick a course with staff that will support you, nurture you and tell you an anecdote or two about their time as a nurse. Our lecturers are passionate about not only sharing that knowledge and wisdom to help us be good nurses but also being nurses themselves, learning from people like that makes you feel so much better about your own capabilities and perks of the stories mean you’re a bit less surprised about what sort of world you’re walking into!"