social care or psychiatric nursing

mister_cc

Hi folks
I am looking for some qualified advice. I am a mature student of 45 going to college for the first time I have been accepted on to a social care course in dkit but I would really like to do psych nursing. I have done the test and did ok and I feel I might be offered the place on the course. My only concern is the difference in pay between the two jobs. From what I am led to believe nurses pay is quite poor for the first few years and as I will be 49 when I qualify I will be well in my 50's before I start making decent money. So can someone please tell me is there a big difference in pay and what opportunities are there for social care workers or am I wrong about the different pay scales. Any advice would be truly welcome

monflat

mister_cc wrote: »

Hi folks
I am looking for some qualified advice. I am a mature student of 45 going to college for the first time I have been accepted on to a social care course in dkit but I would really like to do psych nursing. I have done the test and did ok and I feel I might be offered the place on the course. My only concern is the difference in pay between the two jobs. From what I am led to believe nurses pay is quite poor for the first few years and as I will be 49 when I qualify I will be well in my 50's before I start making decent money. So can someone please tell me is there a big difference in pay and what opportunities are there for social care workers or am I wrong about the different pay scales. Any advice would be truly welcome

I replied to your other post !!

anonanon103

hey op do you mind me asking how many points you got in the assessment?

mister_cc

187 I presume you did the test aswell how did u do and where have applied for. I only say I think I might get offered the place because the highest was 213 and the lowest was 121 and I would be well in the top half

Psychstudent75

Any news?

mister_cc

Yeah i chose psych and i got an offer today which i have accepted

Psychstudent75

That's great news. Congratulations. May I ask where?

mister_cc

DKIT are you going yourself anywhere or have you already been

Psychstudent75

I did two years at Trinity back in 07-09. Loved it and was accepted back in this year. Regarding your concern of whether you should choose social work or psych nursing, I think you may really enjoy this side of it. As a psych nurse you will still work as part of mult-disciplinary team: consultants, psychologists, social workers, etc. As a nurse, you have the most contact with the client so in that sense you really get to know them and help on a first hand basis whereas the others only may meet with them once or twice a week. In addition to your primary nursing duties, I think you will find that your role also entails many social work aspects. Formulating care plans and helping them to find and access resources upon discharge if inpatient or guiding them in an outpatient setting. So, in a way you get the best of both worlds. I know it's early days but maybe look into community psych nursing. They go out on home visits to assure that the client is coping well in everyday life and assisting them in that manner. That seems to be the way the tide is going instead of long term inpatient facilities. The money may not be great at first but I'd say it's a secure career and there will always be a need for psych nurses. I really hope you enjoy the course and wish you all the best.

mister_cc

Thanks for the insight and very interesting and definitely something to think about

Sinny2

Doing psych nursing in dkit starting september too

Emily97

Hiya, do you know if the Psychiatric nursing course is over subscribed at Dkit? I know the general nursing course is but I would like to do psyc , is it a hard course to get into?
I'm not a mature student by the way.

Many thanks .

mister_cc

Not sure about the availability of course at this late stage. But there are always people who don't accept their course at the last minute, i presume you have already applied. I got in as a mature student so im not sure about the points required i think last year it was around 365 but i could be wrong. All i do know is that anyone who gets the course loves it, even those who had general as their first choice are now glad they got psych. Are you straight out of school or just under 23?. if you dont get in this year have yiou considered doing the pre nursing i know alot of my class did it and they found it very helpful, they all seemed very well prepared. just something to think about.

Emily97

Thanks for the reply, yeah I just did my leaving cert, I'm 18. I am actually doing the pre nursing course this year and was thinking then of psyc nursing the following year, I just wondered as I did hear that general nursing was very over subscribed which would have been my first choice. However, I was wondering if you could answer a few questions I have about the psych nursing, what kind of people do you deal with on work experience? And can you specialise in a certain aspect like I would be very interested in self harm and suicidal patients as I have a bit of experience with that, from friends etc