Why study child nursing?

Caitlin came to Manchester to study on the BNurs Children’s Nursing course. Here she gives us an honest insight into the often tough, but extremely rewarding parts of her course. Read about the special moments she witnessed below.

“I could never do what you do, it’s much too sad”.

A phrase that I have heard more times than I can count when asked what I am studying at university. It is an inescapable fact that some parts of the degree and subsequent career are heart-breaking.

Happy and sad times

I’ve sat with parents as their child’s life support is withdrawn, shed tears with patients and families as they’re delivered the worst possible news that you could receive and then had to collect myself and carry on with my day. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.

For every sad moment that will stick with me, I can recall countless happy ones. Watching parents that have tried for years and years to conceive, finally get to take home their baby from the NICU to start their new life. Watching parents’ eyes light up as their child’s sedation is weaned off and their little hands reach for them for the first time in months. Watching families gather round, in person or on Facetime, to watch as their little one rings the bell that means they’re finally cancer-free. Curling the hair of a teenage patient as she gets ready to go to her Year 11 prom for the night. Nursing is one of the toughest degrees you could choose to undertake, but ultimately one of the most rewarding.

A surprising start

One of the first ever courses that you will take if you choose to study nursing at The University of Manchester talks about the importance of play. Amongst the first memories that I have of starting my degree is running around my flat in student accommodation, trying to find my flatmate. Our lecturer had asked us to play hide-and-seek in preparation for our seminar (try telling your friends from other courses that) but in an isolating flat in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, playmates and hiding spaces were limited. For those 20 minutes or so though, we laughed harder than we had all week. It was the perfect simulation for a hospital environment.

The art of looking after children

A lot of the children that we care for in hospital must be away from their home, their families, and their routines for long periods of time. They must undergo painful procedures, take medicines they don’t like, and be surrounded by people that they’ve never seen before at all hours of the day. So, we use play. It’s simple things.

Before taking blood or putting in a cannula, we often demonstrate on the child’s teddy bear. Teddy gets a cannula, then you get one. Teddy has an injection, now it’s your turn. With the older kids, we use a lot of game consoles. I’ve been absolutely annihilated at Mario Kart and then gone next door and painted nails and plaited hair, all on one shift.

Whilst these children are on the ward, we as nurses become part of their life. We laugh and cry with them, get to know their families, and try to make their stay as comfortable as possible. It is one of the most intimate jobs that you could have, and one that I have never taken for granted.

Career paths

I was always aware that there were numerous career paths that you could take within nursing, but it was not until I got into practice that I realised just how many paths there are. As the importance of nurses’ experience and knowledge is recognised, more and more roles are becoming available.

Advanced nursing practitioners can assess, diagnose, and prescribe treatment for their patients. Research nurses are at the front of medication development and clinical trials. Specialist nurses for diseases like diabetes, cystic fibrosis, asthma etc. are shaping children’s lives first-hand as they learn to manage their conditions. Health visitors get to navigate the addition of a new baby with parents, supporting them all the way through that critical period. Nurses are needed all over the world as well, meaning that it is the perfect career for people that want to travel.

In your second year, the opportunity to travel overseas for one of your placements is offered, where you can experience first-hand what it is like to work in other countries. Whatever you are passionate in, there is an area of nursing that can accommodate it.

The decision to start nursing is one of the biggest hurdles. The three years at university will be gruelling, at times disheartening, and exhausting. But it’s all worth it to get to witness first-hand the change that you can make to a child’s life. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.