This is a guest blog by current student Marie Drayton who studies BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing and Lucy Biggs who studies BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing.

– Marie Drayton 

Studying while living in Bournemouth hospital accommodation has been a really positive experience for me. I’ve not had to worry about moving every year, and because I live on the hospital grounds, getting to work is just a short walk. All my bills (including parking, internet and more) are included in my rent, and there’s lots of different types of accommodation available. I’m living with five other healthcare students, sharing two bathrooms and one kitchen. The flat has pretty much everything you could need, and I’ve become great friends with my flatmates. We bonded quickly, and often cook together and hang out in each other’s rooms. The facilities are great and you are also well looked after – if anything breaks then I simply email the accommodation office and it is sorted out quickly – usually the same day. you even get cleaners once a week who supply toilet rolls, bin bags, fresh tea towels and bath mats for no extra charge. Living near to the hospital made perfect sense for me because I spent a lot of time on placement or working, but the university was still only a ten-minute drive away. All things considered, living in hospital accommodation has been both convenient and enjoyable, and something I’m happy to recommend to other healthcare students.

Lucy Biggs

– Lucy Biggs

I wanted the university halls experience. During my first year at BU, I decided to stay in BU halls rather than living in hospital accommodation, and I found the experience to be great fun, sharing a flat with other healthcare students while also meeting students from other courses.
The flats in Dorchester House were lovely – very spacious and comfortable – and it was handy for me to be close to the Lansdowne Campus where my lectures were. Because my flatmates were also healthcare students, we were all very respectful of each other working shifts. While students on other courses might not understand what it’s like working shifts, it really helped being with others going through the same experience. We all knew what it was like to work late and sleep during the day sometimes, so made sure we kept it quiet when our flatmates were catching up on sleep! Of course, being in halls means that as well as your flatmates from similar backgrounds, it’s easy to go out and meet new people from other courses and faculties, which I felt really added to my university experience. Travelling to work was no issue, because I claimed travel expenses from the NHS, so it’s really a question of whether you’d rather live near your lectures and travel to work, or live near your work and travel to your lectures!