Study nursing at Edinburgh Napier University: what are your options?
“You can achieve things in nursing, and in your life, that you never thought possible.” That’s the view of Dr Ray Samuriwo, Associate Professor in Nursing, who helps to inspire and encourage the next generation of nurses at Edinburgh Napier University.
The institution’s state-of-the-art facilities, including its renowned Simulation and Clinical Skills Centre, have helped to make it the leading Edinburgh university for student satisfaction for five years running.
And with so many choices available within the field of nursing, you could be among those making it your home for the next three years.
“Being a nurse is something that will transform your life,” adds Prof Samuriwo. “There are many different roles that people can play; there is a type of nursing or a job or a role that everyone can do regardless of their background, skillset or expertise, so everyone has a potential role that they can play in terms of nursing.
“Nursing is a rewarding and multi-faceted career. Wherever you've come from or whatever you've experienced, there's a wonderful opportunity for you to change your life for the better and to broaden your horizons.”
Want to work with people with learning disabilities?
Learning disability nursing is focused on the health and well-being of people with learning disabilities. "It is about ensuring that they have access to healthcare and that they live fulfilling and rich lives. They're really valuable members of our community, but for a variety of different reasons historically they have been overlooked or haven't always able to access all the healthcare that they require. So it's a really dynamic and exciting type of nursing which requires lots of skills,” he explains.
Critical thinking skills and acting as a detective to understand symptoms can be vital, but this profession is also about advocating for patients and making sure they have access to everything they're entitled to.
“Many people may actually be involved in looking after people with learning disabilities, but they don't necessarily think of it as a type of nursing that they can pursue. It's definitely one for people who are keen to build enduring relationships because you get to know the people you’re looking after and help them to live rich and fulfilling lives through diverse roles within the NHS, in hospital settings but also within the community.”
Considering a career in mental health nursing?
Since the pandemic, there is a greater awareness across our society about the need to optimise our mental health, says Prof Samuriwo. This can be an area that mental health nurses work on, or your role may involve working in partnership with people experiencing mental health crises, helping them to achieve recovery and be able to thrive and flourish.
"For many people, mental ill health is often caused by a particular crisis. It might be the loss of a job, the breakdown of relationship or homelessness, so it's about supporting people to fulfil their potential and to recover from those crises."
Roles after your studies could focus on acute care, dealing with substance use issues, or supporting people's recovery in the community, or the mental health and wellbeing of children and adolescents, or even working with older people. Mental health is important for everyone regardless of their age or background. Mental health nursing really can offer a chance to save lives: Prof Samuriwo cites research carried out by ENU’s Centre for Mental Health Practice, Policy and Law Research working with Police Scotland to pilot the use of the drug naloxone as an emergency first aid measure for people suspected of experiencing an opioid overdose.
So what makes a brilliant mental health nurse? "It's about having really good interpersonal skills, being non-judgmental and empathetic and understanding the challenges that people face. But it isn't always about treatment: sometimes it's also about prevention and sustaining recovery over a long period of time.”
Is children’s nursing the path for you?
Family-centred care is at the heart of children's nursing as sadly some children experience a difficult childhood, or ill health from a very young age, "so it's about working with them and working in partnership with their parents or guardians because the focus isn't just on the individual – the whole family's involved, particularly if they've got other siblings as well".
How do you know if it's right for you? "It's about having a sense of fun and enthusiasm, but also having really good insight and understanding of how the body works and understanding the growth and development of young people," says Prof Samuriwo. Roles can also focus on prevention and optimising the health and wellbeing of children and young people by working with parents in the community or in schools to encourage healthy eating and exercise; you could also provide additional support for children who are neurodiverse.
He adds: "It's a really rewarding profession, and it's important to say children's nursing is also for men because a significant number of children that require nursing care are boys and they do value having input from men, so it is a very good profession for men to consider being involved in to help young boys to fulfil their potential."
Thinking about becoming an adult nurse?
A role in adult nursing could cover many different areas of work, from working in the community or in GP surgeries to jobs in hospitals, "the type of nursing we'd see on Holby City or Casualty". But even within a hospital setting there's a huge diversity of roles, depending whether you want to work in surgery, intensive care or critical care, for example.
"It does offer lots of different opportunities in terms of roles that you can do: you will have the opportunities to follow different interests and specialise in certain conditions like heart disease or diabetes; you can go on to be a nurse, specialist and advanced nurse practitioner or a consultant."
Another route could be clinical research: there were many nurses involved in the development of the Covid vaccine, for example.
Why consider becoming a nurse
"It's a really good way to save lives and to change lives, and to transform your own, and to enhance the health and wellbeing of our wider society," enthuses Prof Samuriwo. For those keen to see the world, nursing can open up a huge array of opportunities, working for NGOs like the World Health Organisation or Unicef, for example in humanitarian or development projects or experience nursing in other countries in different part of the world like North America, or Australia.
"Once you train as a nurse, essentially the world is your oyster. You can choose to make a difference here in Scotland if you wish to. You can go on to make an impact across the United Kingdom and beyond, and there are lots of different things that you can pursue, whether you want to work with patients in hospitals, work in the community, teaching or research there's very much a place for you. The key thing is to just reach out, come and talk to us about nursing. Let's talk about how we can help you.
"Regardless of your background, and even if you left school without the best qualifications, there are always alternative routes into nursing that you can pursue.”
Why study at Edinburgh Napier University
"At ENU, we are very much focused on the individual and working with you closely and supporting you to be at your best, give of your best, and to fulfil your potential. We want you to be able to achieve things in nursing and life that you may not have thought possible,” says Prof Samuriwo.
"In order to help you do that, we've got a diverse range of staff with a broad range of expertise across all the different fields of nursing. We've got a variety of staff with knowledge and expertise of working in different places throughout the world, but also to help you with the sort of practical skills that you'll need to be able to deliver safe and appropriate care."
This also includes the Simulation and Clinical Skills Centre where you can learn fundamental skills like how to bathe or feed patients, as well as carry out assessments, take blood pressure, carry out chest compressions to resuscitate a person, or practise your counselling and listening skills. There are even VR (Virtual Reality) headsets that can help you understand what it’s like to live with dementia or to have a condition that affects your senses.
ENU also has close links with NHS Lothian and NHS Borders where trainee nurses undertake placements during their courses to gain real-life experience and learn vital skills. "You'll get the opportunity to work with different services to get an insight into how care is delivered to different groups of people and also different communities," he adds; these close ties have also helped to ensure that 100% of the university’s undergraduate nursing students are in work or further study 15 months after graduation.
How to find out more
For students looking to start their studies in 2025, there are two open days coming up when you can find out all about the courses and meet the academics who will teach you.
ENU's next open days will take place Saturday, 21 September, and Saturday, 26 October - visit www.napier.ac.uk to find out more and register for your place today.