Mental health nursing – what I’ve found

David Vago is a second year Nursing (Mental Health) BSc(Hons) student. He took some time out from his studies to chat about being a nursing student at Brighton.

Why I chose mental health nursing

I chose the Mental Health nursing course because I felt that it would allow me to develop myself as a person, and gain skills and knowledge to help people who need support.

Becoming a student

I was working full time for East Sussex Healthcare Trust. I have worked a number of different healthcare jobs over the course of my career.

As a mature student, the transition was quite easy from going to working full-time to being a full-time student. The university is very supportive of these transitions, and the induction week at the start of the course gave me all the information to help me feel settled.

The university helped me a lot in understanding how my learning can be focused and tailored to my strengths, and also supported through the whole process of me getting an assessment of my dyslexia, which reduced my stress around it.

What I love about my course

The course is assessed by assignment-led modules, but we also have the opportunity to provide both written and presentation work.

The favourite thing from the course is working alongside my peers (other students) to understand the real-world problems that taking place around mental health and how we can develop our skills and knowledge to support patients in the future.

The research lecture in year 1 made me feel that I had made the right choice as I would like to do research in the future, and it presented me with future opportunities that I can do after qualifying.

A typical day

Arrive at the Falmer campus, go to Students’ Union, get coffee (it’s a must!!), go to lectures.

Lectures can be anything from one hour to three hours long. Don’t worry, we do get break!!

Sometimes, between after lectures, we can independently study in the library. There is also a canteen which does great food, and that helps if the day is full of lectures.

Brighton staff

Everyone from the lecturers to course admin to the professors in charge of professional practice are amazing!!

They understand that you are at the University of Brighton, and that you want to develop and learn, but also understand that there are stresses and challenges you will face through your three year course.

They go above and beyond to be supportive!

Learn about become a student nurse at the University of Brighton.