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Pre-Nursing Work Experience
If you are interested in becoming a nurse, our pre-nursing programme is a great way to find out more about what the role involves, and to get an insight into which areas of nursing might be of most interest to you. An increasingly competitive field, it is important to have as much relevant work experience under your belt in order to help you secure a place on the training course of your choice.
Our overseas pre-nursing placements can be tailored to your interests:
Our pre-nursing students can chose to work in the following departments: General Medicine, Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Internal Medicine and many more! Whilst getting a feel for what areas of nursing interest you the most, you will also have the opportunity to see cases that you may never have the chance to observe back home – tropical diseases such as Malaria, TB and Typhoid are all common in our hospitals overseas.
All hospitals in each country have a range of departments. Examples of the types of cases you might be working on include: the aftercare of neurosurgery patients in Czech Republic, the care and rehabilitation of stroke patients in Thailand, neonatal complications or Malaria patients in Tanzania.
Working in one of our partner hospitals overseas also allows you to get an insight into the difference between healthcare in other countries and your own. Facilities in some of our partner hospitals are very basic and nurses often have to make difficult decisions on which patient to tend to first, as they are often so short staffed.
Your pre-nursing placement starts here:
Students age 16 or over are welcome to join one of our programmes. Students at school or college who are currently thinking of enrolling for nursing at university, those on a Gap Year, undergraduate students in other disciplines who are hoping to get into postgraduate nursing or those in their first year of a nursing degree are all welcome to join this programme.
The average length of a placement with us is two weeks, although anything between one and four weeks is popular too, and some students choose to stay even longer! Our programmes run all year round, so you can decide when you would like to go, and how long for.
Generally, working hours in the hospitals are between 8am and 2pm. Depending what department you are in, you could be spending time on the wards or in the operating theatre. You will be assigned a nurse who will act as your mentor whilst you are on placement. They will guide you through each case, advising you on any procedures that they are carrying out, and answering any questions that you have.
Several times a week, you will have clinical teaching sessions with one of the mentors, who will go through some of the cases you have observed in more detail, as well as teaching you some basic clinical techniques, such as how to take a patients blood pressure or how to dress wounds effectively.
As well as learning lots which will help you in your future career, taking part in one of our overseas placements is a great way to see a new place and have unforgettable experiences! From going on safari at sunset in Tanzania to snorkelling on the south coast of Thailand, there is plenty of ways to make your trip unforgettable!
Supporting Our Hospitals
As part of our detailed partnership agreements, we pay our hospitals for every student they host to ensure everyone benefits from the programme and staff remain motivated. On average, around 10% of the total you pay goes directly to the hospital.
Placements
"As a student in training I found the whole experience invaluable! The depth of knowledge I gained over those four weeks was astonishing and I would always leave the afternoon teaching sessions with reams and reams of notes to study; what the doctors and nurses of Iringa Regional Hospital don’t know isn’t worth knowing, ‘Inspirational’ is the only word I can use to describe them!"