Child nursing degree personal statement example (1a) work experience

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

At the age of 9 my brother was hospitalized with pneumonia, he required round the clock care, given by the nurses, to enable him to come home. This inspired me because although it was the nurse’s job to look after him they supported my parents and helped them understand and cope with what was happening. Knowing that the job is tough and at times emotional I feel like the rewards of seeing a healthy patient will help me to continue further into a successful career.

The course in child nursing looks interesting as along with the theory base learning you get hands on practice in a working situation. I am a caring person who finds it easy to interact with new people. I think this is an important quality as working as nurse may mean meeting several new people each day and having to ensure them to trust you. Whilst in my part time job at McDonalds I have learnt to work well under pressure and still complete the job to a high standard.

My career plans are to work within the NHS as pediatric nurse and to work within a friendly environment.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

Before I decided that nursing was a job I was capable of I completed three sets of work experience. The first was at St.Chads primary school where I would with children age 5-6. I helped them with a range of subjects and was able to work with all abilities. My second week was at Saxon Hill Community College, this is a special school for children who have some level of physical disability but the majority have additional learning, communication or medical difficulties. I found this week more challenging but also more rewarding as I was put in a group of children age 9-14 who all had communication problems but as the week went on I learnt that every child had there own way of communicating with you and this helped me further into my decision of nursing. In the Easter Holidays of 2009 I spent a week at Samuel Johnson Hospital Lichfield. I spent the week in different departments including minor injuries, renal and physiotherapy. I have found that minor injuries and renal were the most interesting as they seem to have a buzz in the department and although renal was not a new situation every time like minor injuries I found that talking to the patients and how they look at the nurses influenced me more to take on nursing.

At the current time I am taking my A-levels in Math’s, Psychology and History, although the subjects are very challenging I have found them useful as it has helped me really understand the working world.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

I have spent the last 3 years helping out Fradley Rainbows and the last year helping out at a newly set up Brownies group in Fradley. Each week I interact with the children and help them with the activities set. I feel that in a environment which is out of school the children are more relaxed and show there personalities a lot. I recently joined the two packs on a trip to Shugborough for 100 years of guiding party where over 1000 girl guides attended.

As well as going to Rainbows and brownies in my free time I am heavily involved in extra curricular activities within school such as Interact Club sponsored by Rotary club, where I have been secretary, treasurer and am currently president. Within this role I have helped organize a raffle at a local event and two bag packs at major supermarkets. I am also involved in Sixth from council which has involved me speaking on behalf of people in my year in a small group discussion to make sure that the sixth formers voice is heard and accounted for.

At the beginning of your 12 I applied for young enterprise we managed to set up a business with 14 students for event management. We held 2 successful major events and 3 smaller ones. This in total helped us to understand the meaning of teamwork and eventually we raised a total of £630 in which half we gave to a small local charity.

Within school I play in both Jazz and concert band. I have my grade 5 clarinet and have recently taught myself to play the tenor saxophone. This has let my progress and since September 2008 I have played in Staffordshire Youth Orchestra- East which has enabled me to play in places such as Symphony Hall- Birmingham.

How personal statements have changed?

The current personal statement format, with three 'scaffolding' questions, was introduced by Ucas in September 2025. This personal statement was submitted before then, using the old essay-style format. It has been carefully edited into the three-question format, with all of the original wording kept.

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