Choice of careers

by Maureen Vincent
CAREER opportunities in nursing are many and varied. So wide is the choice, in fact, that it may, at first sight, seem rather confusing for anyone who simply feels that she (or he) has a vocation to nurse and wishes to find out how to set about training.
For a qualification in general nursing, training courses are taken at hospitals recognised as nurse training schools by the General Nursing Council. You can obtain full details of any hospital's educational requirements from the matron.
To qualify as a State Registered' Nurse takes three years. The minimum educational requirements for entry to training are normally five years' secondary education to GCE standard, with two '0' level passes or the passing of the General Nursing Council educational test. Some hospitals ask f or higher qualifications. The training course covers all aspects of nursing — practical. theoretical and scientific — which are necessary for the nurse of today, when medical techniques are rapidly expanding.
Training begins with an introductory course lasting eight to twelve weeks. During this period the student becomes familiar with the functions of the many hospital departments and their personnel. There arc lectures and work is done in the classroom.
After the introductory course the student begins work in the wards and hospital departments. Training is a combination of theory and practice, the theoretical studies guided by the tutor, the practical work supervised by the ward sister.
Lectures by medical consultants and other senior hospital staff, as well as by tutors, are given, not as additions to nursing duties, but as study periods during normal working time.
At the end of the three-year training period students take the Hospital and State Final Examinations which will entitle them to apply for State Registration.
There are a number of training courses called Special Integrated Courses. These last about four years and combine two or more branches of nursing. Some hospital and community health, for example — are run by hospitals in conjunction with universities or other bodies. Acceptance for such courses demands higher educational qualifications -generally five passes at GCE '0' level and two at 'A' level.
Some hospitals offer combined courses of training in General/Mental or General/ Sick children's nursing, which enable a student to obtain two qualifications in a reduced Once qualified, the SRN has a wide range of career possibilities. Inside the hospital service there are opportunities for promotion to ward sister right up to matron. An SRN can specialise in some particular branch of nursing or can teach. Outside the hospital there are careers in District Nursing, Health Visiting, School Nursing, as an occupational nurse in industry or as nurse in the prison service. Nurses interested in travel will find many opportunities available. Short-term appointments are offered by the Ministry of Overseas Development and by the World Health Organisation, for example.
Living conditions for nurses. both student and qualified, are of a high standard nowadays. Some students live out. especially towards the end of their training, and many qualified nurses are non-resident. Normal working hours, for both students and qualified nurses, are planned as a 42hour week; with 'rotating schedules' this will often mean two, three or even more consecutive free days. Paid holidays amount to four weeks a year for first and second year students, while third year students and staff nurses are allowed five weeks.
Applicants for nursing training who have no special educational qualification can choose a course for State Enrolment. A good general education is required for entry. The qualifying test is taken after 18 months of training, and is mainly practical with a minimum of theory. Many women who decide to take up nursing only after their families have grown up follow a State Enrolment course. The course lasts for two years and the successful student becomes a State Enrolled Nurse. The SEN can work in hospital or the public health service.
Psychiatric nursing of mentally ill or mentally subnormal people is becoming more and more absorbing as a profession as more is discovered about disorders of the mind, their causes and their treatment. Three-year training courses, open to men as well as women, are taken at hospitals recognised by the General Nursing Council. Two-year SEN courses can also be taken in some psychiatric hospitals. The minimum educational standards are similar to those for SRN and SEN.
There is also the three-year course for qualification as a Registered Mental Nurse or the three-year course for registration as a nurse for the Mentally Subnormal (RMN and RNMS). For students primarily interested in nursing sick children a three-year course for registration as a Sick Children's Nurse is offered at some hospitals. Some schemes enable students to qualify both as RSCN and as general nurses by taking an integrated course covering a period of four years.
Midwifery is one branch of the nursing profession which is not open to melt Courses are taken at a hospital recognised for midwifery training by the Central Midwives Board.
There is a two-year course for anyone who has had no previous training in nursing. Entry is at age 20 or over and a good general education is required. Matrons of individual hospitals will supply details of the standard required.
The course for anyone already qualified as SEN, RMN, RNMS or one who has completed training in orthopaedic or thoracic nursing lasts 18 months, and the course for a qualified SRN lasts only 12 months, or 10 if she has had three months' obstetric experience in her general training.
Midwifery is another branch of the profession which may have a special appeal for the older woman who has brought up her own family. As long as she is under 50 years of age she can train as a midwife, even if she has had no previous experience in nursing. Though pupil midwives are normally resident in their training hospitals, exceptions can be made in special circumstances.
Anyone who has not yet reached the age of 18 but who wishes to prepare to take up nursing as a career will find that the best preparation is to get as good a general education as possible by staying on at school and taking GCE '0' and 'A' levels.