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

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

Patient and empathetic describes me; a person who is prepared to put others needs before my own. Nursing is a demanding career both physically and emotionally, I can rise to the challenges of helping children through their illnesses, with family support and confidentiality in order to maintain dignity. After spending nine days in a nursery using my vivid imagination to create relationships; I learnt how to gain psychological security when I used social perception to recognise that a child was upset when their parents left, which is a relevant skill used by paediatric nurses. I distracted them by providing stimulation with toys and games in order to gain trust.

Shadowing a team of midwives and paediatric nurses in a hospital for five days involved routine checks such as checking for jaundice, this was checking for yellow skin and I was allowed to observe and check the babies. Anti-D injections were given to a rhesus negative mother by a midwife to prevent brain damage in future pregnancies, I learnt about gaining consent in order to maintain good ethics. Working as a team alongside nurses and health care assistants, I helped take care of a hypoglycaemic new born. Due to low blood sugar levels at birth, there was a chance the baby could suffer brain damage, I fed the baby and even assisted blood sugar checks. Local anaesthetic were used to prevent pain and distress, whilst blood was taken to be analysed by a blood and glucose tester. Observing, nurses removed a cannula which was used to take blood from a baby withdrawing from a heroin addiction during pregnancy, I then wrapped him tight to prevent him shaking and knocking against the cot, this was because withdrawals are easily agitated. Whilst observing a premature baby being put on life support after a caesarean section; I worked quickly under pressure by collecting equipment so that the team were able to work promptly. Exciting and exhilarating, I know this is something I will be pleased to do in the future. Assisting a student nurse, I helped take note of the heart rate and blood pressure to make sure the baby was stabilising, this gave me insight into being part of a professional team.

Resilient and advocate, I look forward to studying children's nursing at university as I see myself gaining a rewarding career working for the NHS, where I will provide a patient and family centred approach whether the child is suffering acute or mental illnesses. With my emotional maturity, I will offer a holistic approach as I create and maintain partnerships with children and their families within a hospital, community or home setting.

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

Studying Health and Social has helped me extend my knowledge in communication; paediatric nurses use positive body language and physical speech to support families and children. I saw this when shadowing a team of midwives. On this day, a mother was due to have an induction, the delivery suite was busy so she was given the option of waiting one day or getting a transfer, giving her autonomy which reduced negative feelings. Communication was also an issue, language barriers made it difficult to gain consent for injections, so basic language and body language was used.

Gaining experience with children aged 5-12 was beneficial as I got to work with children from a variety of backgrounds, a skill I gained relevant to nursing is showing approval, this encourages adaptive behaviour, such as rewarding and praising a teenager who uses an insulin pen for the first time. Treating teenagers with respect without being patronising will help form strong bonds which would make me a suitable children's nurse.

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

During the summer I volunteered at two summer schools.

Experience with an elderly lady included tidying around her house and walking her dogs allowed me to provide social support, which is used by nurses in order to maintain relationships with children and their families.

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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