Ned Mallalieu

At one point, Ned Mallalieu thought about giving up on his Mental Health Nursing degree in doubt of his abilities. But, thanks to his perseverance, he is now in his dream job.

Ned Mallalieu

“Graduating from university was something that I’d always wanted to do,” said Ned. “I wasn’t the most academic of students at school, so to achieve First Class Honours in my degree was beyond my wildest dreams.”

Ned studied the mental health branch of Nursing and struggled initially in his first year. “I felt completely out of my depth with all aspects of being a student nurse,” said the 29-year-old, of Hereford. “This was partly because I have mild learning difficulties and struggle a bit in new environments, so naturally I found myself questioning whether this career was for me. The turning point came from speaking to my tutors who were brilliant with giving practical advice and support. I felt that the tutors were excellent at making you feel valued.”

Due to his struggles, Ned temporarily withdrew from the course at the end of the first year, but, with support from lecturers, decided to return.

“Words cannot describe how glad I am that I didn’t give it up. Had I thrown the towel in, I not only would have denied myself the privilege of practicing in my dream job, but I also wouldn’t have met all the amazing people that I subsequently met or experienced the adventures that I have been fortunate to experience since. The process of training to be a nurse has taught me never to give up.”

Ned now works for the Crisis and Home Treatment team within the NHS and is enjoying the experience so far. “It has been amazing to put into practice a lot of the skills that I’ve learnt over the past three years, however I keep having to remind myself that I’m not a student anymore! It’s a great job because there is so much variety and you meet different patients every day.”

The former Graveney School pupil has not ruled out returning to university for further study in the future and is particularly interested in medications and pharmacology.

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