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help! please help! really in need of advice!

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Author help! please help! really in need of advice!

lauralisa

(offline)

  • Joined: Feb 2009
  • Location:
  • Posts: 1

Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:02 am

hello! my name is laura, i am 20 years old and i have a 2 year old daughter.

i plan to apply to university next year to do a degree in midwifery but am really worried in about not being able to do the clinical placements that are compulsory for practice in the degree. what if i am given night shifts, holidays or weekends? what would i do during hours or days that my daughters nursery is closed?

i am getting really upset the more i think about it as i have always wanted to be a midwife and really have a passion for it.surely there must be some kind of flexibility for people with children?

did you have children when at uni and if so, what did you do?
are you a midwife now and have children? what hours do you work?

your help would be greatly appreciated!!
many thanks,

laura x x

i have no family support as my mother, sister and 2 brothers all live abroad. i live with my partener but he works with the merchant navy and so he is at sea for 4-8 months each year!

BelindaS

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  • Joined: Jan 2009
  • Location: Melbourne
  • Posts: 19

Feb 13, 2009, 09:33 pm

Hi Laura,

I thought I'd reply to you and say well done on making the choice to study, I wish I had of done it much earlier like you. I'm almost 29 and will be starting my Div 2 course (part time) next week. i do plan to continue to do div 1 and have always thought about midwifery too, but thought this would be a good entry point for both study and practical experience. I have 2 boys aged 4 and 6.5 months. From enrolment recently it looks like we have many mature age students who have children, enrolled in the course. I have been advised that clinical placements are only day and afternoon shifts, no nights or weekend or public holidays so that should bring you some relief. If you happen to get an afternoon shift why dont you see if someone at your creche would babysit your daughter (straight from creche) until you finish (maybe at your place if it suits). They are only 2 weeks at a time and its unlikely you will get afternoon shifts everytime. All areas of nursing have varied shifts. Get someone you are comfortable with and ideally who would most likely be available in the future too. By the time you finish studies and are working your daughter will be at school and you will have after school care to help out and could fall back on that babysitter should you need to do the odd avo / night shift. Also, later on night shift may actually work better for you - you can put her to bed (have a sitter house sit for you - hopefully this is cheaper just to have someone sleep over and care for your daughter), you come home take her to school, then sleep. You can then pick her up from school/ after school care, have dinner together and get ready for nights again. Go for it and take it as it comes, dont think too far ahead it will all sort itself out.
Good luck! I mostly put entries under student nursing so you may get some help by listing on there too - let us know how you go.

gogirlgo

(offline)

  • Joined: Jan 2009
  • Location: Melbourne
  • Posts: 10

Feb 14, 2009, 08:18 pm

I am studying nursing in Melbourne with 3 primary school aged children. My uni is very inflexible - having children is my problem - although I find the reality is that I can skip lectures and instead download lecture notes and listen to electronic lecture recordings online. Some things are compulsory though. But having said that, our clinicial placement allocation system is online so as long as I am very quick, I get a choice of location and there are often different time frames (weeks) to choose from.

However, I find on placement that they are often totally inflexible and hospital rosters are often not given to me until the last minute, or worse still for my last 4 week placement, on day 1. All placements seem to be different. So far, none have required night duty (unlikely that students would have to do this), but I have had to occassionally work a weekend.

On my last placement my husband had to be interstate for 2 nights at short notice so I asked if I could shift my day forward by 1 hour as before school care does not start till 7:30 am and start at 8am instead of 7am. I was told "no", but I could swap with another student (i.e. work a p.m.). This option was worse than an am, but luckily a family member was able to come over at 6:30am and take the kids to school for me.

I guess all unis are different, but these are the issues I have faced. Good luck!

Fionag

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  • Joined: Apr 2014
  • Location:
  • Posts: 1

Apr 27, 2014, 09:59 am

Nursing is shift work, but it is well worth it. You do what you need to do. invite your family to stay, work lots when hubby is home form sea. Find a uni student who can babysit for you, or a single mum, in need of money. In home care, a nanny, family day care, just keep asking. Swap babysitting for someone else. 

tashmt

(offline)

  • Joined: Oct 2016
  • Location: Marrickville
  • Posts: 3

Oct 24, 2016, 09:31 pm

Hello 

I am just reading your post from 2009. Did you manage to study with your 2 yr old and are you now. Rising?

i am applying for nursing and midwifery with two young boymai mn care 3 days per week.

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