Why midwifery and not nursing

The booking interview and assessment is undertaken by the midwife who arranges all the blood tests and scans that the woman will need throughout the pregnancy. During labour and birth and the postnatal period the woman and her family continue to be supported by midwives who guide them through pain management options in labour, coach them through the birthing process and support bonding and breastfeeding in the postnatal period.

See this article where Louisa talks about continuity of care in midwifery as being one of the 5 things she loves most about her job. For both nursing and midwifery there is great demand for more staff globally and there are many different routes into these healthcare roles. There is now the possibility to commence an apprenticeship in nursing as well as an apprenticeship degree in midwifery. But what about your very first steps. I mean, if you are someone is still in high school and thinking of becoming a nurse or considering becoming a midwife there is the option to seek a work experience placement in the hospital in the area or nursing or midwifery that is of interest.

After completing high school or even college the option of working as a Healthcare Assistant may also help confirm or not confirm, as the case may be whether the career choice was the right pathway for the candidate.

Ask Brenda any questions below. There are job opportunities for Maternity Support Workers that can provide exposure and insight into midwifery. There is of course the option to volunteer in the NHS as a way of gaining insights into these healthcare careers.

The Nursing Associate would need to do a short course to obtain a degree in nursing to get a full Registered Nurse qualification in order to undertake the full range of duties of the Registered Nurse. Fact: One in 3 Australians will experience a mental illness at some stage in their life.

Mental health nurses focus on the needs of people whose lives are affected by mental health problems. Fact: People with a mental illness are no more violent, or dangerous than the rest of the population.

People with a mental illness are more likely to harm themselves, or to be harmed, than they are to hurt other people. Go back to Top. Skip to navigation Skip to main content Site map Accessibility Contact us. Search this site Search all sites. About us Improving health in WA Health for Open search bar Open navigation Submit search.

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As a nurse working in mental health you would work as part of a team which includes GPs, psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists and occupational therapists. Children's nursing includes babies born with heart complications, teenagers who have sustained broken limbs, and child protection issues. The work includes promoting health and development, as well as meeting the needs of those who suffer from acute or long term illness.

Family-centred care is provided in hospital, day care centres, child health clinics and in the child's home. Nurses for people with learning disabilities work to provide specialist health and social care to people with a learning disability, as well as their families and other health and social care professionals, to help people with a learning disability to live an independent and fulfilling life.

There are many reasons why you should consider a career as a learning disability nurse. It offers you the chance to make a difference, a high degree of flexibility and a career with excellent employment prospects.

Learning disability nurses also help people to develop new skills. This can be significant in helping individuals to lead a more independent and healthy life. You will be supporting people of all ages with learning disabilities in a range of healthcare settings, such as:. A range of nursing courses are available in Northern Ireland.

Contact the universities directly for the latest information on courses available and entry requirements. You may go on to lead a nursing team, become a nurse consultant or develop new approaches to nursing care. For those who are qualified adult nurses and who are registered to practise the following career pathways are available:.

District nurses visit people in their own homes or in residential care homes, providing care for patients and supporting family members. As well as providing direct patient care, district nurses also have a teaching role, working with patients to help them to care for themselves or with family members teaching them how to give care to their relatives. The role of the health visitor is about the promotion of health and the prevention of illness in all age groups. As a health visitor, you will carry out a wide range of work.

You may be working with mothers of young babies, advising on things like:. You might also work with people of any age who suffer from a chronic illness or live with a disability. Your role here will include helping them to overcome problems they may face in coping with their illness or disability.

Health visiting is open to all registered nurses and midwives and is not limited to nurses registered in the adult field.

Pregnancy and birth are major events in the life of a woman and her family. We all know midwives are extremely busy with a baby being born every minute, but do you know exactly what they get up to? Obviously delivering babies is an important part of the role but we get involved in so much more than that!

We can act as a social worker or health visitor, be involved in health promotion, deal with the discharge of women and their babies, assist with the transition to parenthood, support the mental health of women and even give advice on subsequent pregnancies.

We learn to prescribe and administer drugs and perform some roles that used to be done by doctors. Pregnancy is not an illness! Our experience of births is quite different to that.

If you manage your time really well you can do both of these things. You get an insight into the relationship between couples and then see them turn into a family as they become parents. Blood, baby poo and breast milk all become normal and usually end up on our uniforms! Read her story. Women are often scared about the idea that they might poo themselves while giving birth but we like it! Not in a crude way although nothing is taboo to us! Not all births have a positive outcome; stillbirths are particularly sad.

Some of the situations we see are heart-breaking.