The future nurses of Católica: new students of the ICS Nursing School want to learn how to help others

"Whoever chooses to be a nurse is because they like caring for others". This is what the new students of the Lisbon School of Nursing of the Health Sciences Institute (ICS), with whom we spoke, say at the beginning of the academic year. The students have not yet put on the white coat, but they already dream of working in a hospital despite knowing they still have a long way to go.

This is the case of Inês Santos Beirão. "I have wanted to be either a doctor or a nurse since I was seven years old. As the years went by, I realised I wanted to study nursing and now here I am", says the student.

She confesses that she was "undecided between Católica and another University, but after reading about this course, all doubts were gone." Although she is still at the beginning of the course that will lead her to the profession she aspires to, the student knows she is in "the right place to acquire the necessary skills to be able to care for others."

This is also the wish of Tânia Sobral, the student who sits next to her on the bench at the UCP campus in Lisbon. They have just met and already have a group of friends. They share the same dreams and the same desire to help "those who at certain difficult moments in life, such as situations of illness, need someone to look after them."

The 18-year-old student confesses that nursing came her way "halfway through high school" and that she fell in love with the course at Católica when she decided to find out more. A visit to the University during the Open Day "removed all doubts".  "I want to study at Católica so that one day I can work in paediatrics or obstetrics in a hospital," adds the student.

A year younger, Bruna Costa confesses that "Nursing was not the first option." The student applied to Computer Engineering but ended up deciding on another path. The one her parents wanted so badly. "My mother, when she applied to university, didn't get into Nursing by a tenth and my father always thought that this was a very prestigious course. I ended up agreeing with them and here I am with full dedication", stresses the future nurse.

The other youngest student in the group is Catarina Santos. "She's the baby of the course", her colleagues say jokingly, to which the student replies: "I'll already be 18 this year". The amusing tone of the conversation shows well the complicity that the group of female students shares. An environment that Catarina says is "a great surprise." Medicine was her first choice, but now that she has chosen to be a nurse, she is radiant and focused "on learning to one day come to work in paediatrics or maternal care."