Alvin Said:

can i still do my nurse training if im sacked from the nhs for 'gross misconduct'?

We Answered:

The allegation has not been proven. Your union should have an attorney who will be able to advise you if you can legally be prevented from attending a university./

Edith Said:

Advice on changing career from nursing to I.T?

We Answered:

You could try and persue a career in nursing informatics. This way your knowledge of nursing will not be wasted and you will get closer to IT.

Laurie Said:

career in the Nhs? Which job suits me?

We Answered:

Well, as a nurse there are different avenues. It makes it difficult if you dont like the site of blood. There are long term care facitlities where you dont see much blood. However, if someone should fall or have a cut you would have to deal with that. In a doctors office you dont see too much blood especially if the office has its own lab to draw blood. The other alternative is homecare...where you are looking after one indidvidual for a period during the day or night. Sleep labs are an alternative as well. Then there are case managers who dont have real direct patient care contact. There may be positions in radiology for nurses as well. Good luck

Keith Said:

How do I become a nurse?

We Answered:

You apply to uni through UCAS. http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/coursesea…

The NHS pays your tuition fees & also provides you with a monthly bursary to live on. You may also be entitled to a student loan. I'm a student nurse & most of the people on my course work as bank health care assistants at the hospitals where we are training. Gives us more ward experience plus we can fit the shifts around uni.

If you haven't worked in care before then I'd suggest getting a job either at a hospital as a health care assistant or in a nursing home to get an insight into the work.

Surrey Uni is one of the hardest to get into but it is one of the best for nursing. Have a look at different uni's on UCAS & check you have the minimum qualifications.

I'd also recommend this site. http://www.studentnurse.org.uk/ The forum is full of all kinds of help & advice. Good luck. :)

Hilda Said:

Question about the NHS?

We Answered:

Hi, I am in a similar position as you are. When I qualified as a nurse in 2000, I could go working in any hospital I wanted but now I am having difficulties getting any nursing job ! For every ward job advertised there are about 30 - 80 applicants and unfortunately newly qualified nurses are given a priority.

It seems that my years of experience don't mean a thing in the NHS at the moment. I have worked on medical wards, surgical wards, A&E and clinics but I just can't get a nursing job. I personally think its an age thing. They would rather take on a 19 year old newly qualified nurse than an experienced 38 year old man like me. I think the only nursing job I could get would be in a nursing home because nobody wants to work in nursing homes.

A few years ago the NHS took on lots of foreign nurses from Africa, India and the Philippines.

Now the NHS Trusts have money problems and can't afford to take on too many nurses. As a result the medical and surgical wards across the country are DANGEROUSLY short staffed and nurses like you and me can't get a job. Fundamentally I think it is an age issue. They want to give jobs to young nurses who they don't have to pay as much . Sadly. In a way I don't really want to work on a badly organized and dangerously understaffed ward that puts patients lives at risk but I need to be paid just like anyone. I could end up working at a nursing home.