I will try and answer your bullet points:
1. When i started my nursing course i was 22 years old, and i was one of the youngest people on said course. I think with it being quite vocational, the majority of people have gained work experience in the field for a few years before committing to doing their training. There were very few people that were on the course straight out of school. The people on my course were mostly between 20 and 50!
2. When you do nursing, you dont pay tuition fees etc, you get a bursary. i dont know what it is else where in the country, but in London it was £637/month. This is a none taxed amount of money that you get because so much of the course is placement based and you are effectively working on the wards.
I also had a part time bar job in the evenings.
Dont forget, as a student, you are exempt from council tax and such so your bills are cut.
3. I cant help much on this one im afraid, i dont having scarring on my arms, but when i had my occupational health assessments, they said that kind of thing is only an issue if you have open wounds.
4. As there are a large proportion of older people on these courses, they do ease you gently back into the more academic side of things, but a lot of your tests are quite practical. (like the OSCE, which is a test where they check you can take blood pressures etc etc.) most nursing courses have an English and Maths written test as part of the interview process, and as long as you pass that, you'll be fine... Its not a difficult test at all!
5. When you apply to do nursing, you have to have an occupational health check where they will look at your medical records and ask you questions about it. I believe the criteria may have changed slightly since i applied, or perhaps it varies from uni to uni, but when i applied at Nottingham, i was told right at the last minute that i would not be able to start the course as they required that my medical record show that i was 'two years free from incident' .. that is, from trying to off myself etc as opposed to having therapy/taking medication.
However, the university that i eventually went to to do my course said that a year free from incident was fine, and they just made me very aware of the services that were available at the university should i struggle.
Im not going to lie, i found it really ****ing hard. i had been out of school for 5 years and was used to being in work and going home and not having to think about it until the next day. All the essay writing and stuff used to take me forever.
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