I’m currently suffering from a relapse of anorexia and have spent three weeks in hospital correcting electrolyte imbalances and a week NG fed. Home now and will be accessing outpatient ED support shortly.

I completed my third year in June and now in a “fourth year” where I just have to make up my placement hours, I missed a lot in second and third so currently have around 700h remaining. I’m unable to go on placement at the moment due to my health and have been honest with uni who have referred me to their occupational health. Haven’t heard much off them for a few weeks. I’m too unwell for placement due to low BMI and fatigue/exhaustion.

I’m a tad concerned I’ll be made to take a Leave of Absence due to this, which I’d be okay with if it didn’t mean losing my student finance which I rely on to pay my rent. I live alone and have no financial support from anyone. Currently unable to work and no sick pay as my job is bank so it’s tight right now. I had to take a LoA for a year 2024-25 as my mental health was awful and received no finance or bursary so I’d really like to avoid this.

A student on my ward caring for me, also at my uni (LJMU) mentioned she has a seven week online placement coming up but didn’t know anything about it, id definitely be open to doing this option. A nurse also mentioned uni can set individual assignments that count as placement hours. These two options would make completing at least some of my hours more accessible whilst I’m physically unable to right now.

Has anyone been through something similar and could share their experience?

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?

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)

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.

🩺 UK nursing employment petition: https://www.change.org/InvestinFutureNurses

I’m a final-year Mental Health Nursing student in the United Kingdom.

Despite ongoing nursing workforce shortages, some newly qualified nurses are finding it difficult to secure permanent entry-level positions within the NHS.

After completing a three-year nursing degree and extensive clinical placements, graduates should have a realistic opportunity to enter the profession they’ve trained for.

I’ve launched a petition calling for more funded graduate nursing positions and better support for newly qualified nurses.

I’m also interested in hearing how this compares internationally.

Are newly qualified nurses struggling to find employment in your country, or is this particularly a UK issue?

If you support the campaign, I’d be grateful if you could sign and share. 💙

Been having horrible experiences with placement and honestly wonder why I keep getting placed in horrible places.

I honestly need kind words.

Thank you .

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?

Hi, I am a Male nursing student here on his final year. I must say, my whole journey in studying nursing was not what I hoped it to be. Sure the facilities, equipment, and resources are well adept and is more available compared to other countries, however, the learning and practice in itself is very limited.

In this field, there is a grey line in where students are allowed to do some procedures that unto a real patient that is relevant to their own level. Being unable to be fully exposed to these kinds of actions would end up with nurses that are not so experienced. For example, i have a senior of mine that is currently employed and I happened to stumble upon him in one of my shifts while doing my OJT (on the job training) since he is a newly grad who happens to follow the "standard" he needed to prick the patient for SIX times before succeeding in placing a cannula. Bear in mind he had a 6 month training period before actually being employed.

The gaps in the skills of nurses that graduates here is so wide that its not even a joke anymore when compared to students who graduated in the far eastern and western side of the world. Its even more frustrating to think that they are trying to fix this gap through mannekins and AI simulations. It may help to some extent but its not the same thing. Furthermore these pracrices unto a mannequin and AI are sometimes not widely available to nursing students. Its usually limited to MD students.

In my experience, for students who plan to study here for an undergraduate program in the nursing field, its not worth the trouble nor the fees. Your better of studying somewhere else then do the internship in this country if you really want to practice here

Another thing, for men. Studying for this field is not really recommended. There are cases where even your own peers (mostly women) would gatekeep important information for your growth as a nurse. I understand it to some extent because they have a strict culture and i am just a foreigner who is studying here. However, if your gonna think about your own personal growth in this profession. Its better to take it off somewhere else

P.s. sorry for the grammer and to anyone who got offended