Reality hits

Morning all!
 

Well, Christmas is just around the corner with just 16 days to go. The temperature has dropped, jack frost has started to make an appearance on the car windscreen and it is now a treat to see sunlight with my shifts starting before sunrise and finishing after sunset. But I can't complain, have a long weekend off to catch up with uni work and life a bit :) Feeling slightly less festive this year as resorted to doing all of my Christmas present shopping online rather than tackling town, but once this placement has finished i'm looking forward to donning my reindeer antlers and get into the spirit of the season.

So...this past week. I have had three long shifts at the hospital, 8weeks down, two to go. I also had a day working alongside the hospital's outreach team visiting poorly patients who the wards felt required extra input. Throughout this placement I have worked alongside a variety of healthcare professionals including the Parkinson's nurse specialist, discharge officer and endoscopy team. In my first year I felt quite nervous in approaching various teams and relied on my mentors to suggest people to work with, who also helped me in contacting them and arranging dates. But as time has progressed my confidence has built and I have realised that you really do need to embrace these opportunities as you will not have the chance to just take time out to observe when qualified. All wards have lists of contact numbers for each team, so there is no harm in asking your mentor whether it would be possible. Some teams may only take on third year students due to their specialist area, but there is no harm in trying. In year one I went to observe a post mortem and did not know what to expect, but in the end I found that the team in the mortuary were one of the most helpful friendly of anyone I had come across, and as I seem to learn better by seeing rather than writing, I found anatomy-wise it very useful.

 

On Thursday my class and the class 6months ahead of us were invited to attend a final year preparation session. This is where reality hit. We discussed how this current placement would be preparing us for our management placement, and management placement would then in tern be preparing us for being qualified nurses come September. During management we would be expected to assist and support 'younger' students, to be involved with the patient's full experience from admission to discharge, and to assist in the running of the ward. We also spoke about applying for jobs starting around next May time, and what the recruitment process within that hospital would be like. Preceptorship was also mentioned, which if you have not heard of this yet-it is the period of time after qualifying that you work alongside another mentor wherever you end up working to receive support in being confident in all areas of nursing until you can work independently. So basically in four months time I will be on my management placement, and five months until the jobs start appearing. Where is the time going?!

One thing I must say is when you do start your placements, don't worry about knowing everything. Yes, there is a lot to take in, but every area will have its own ways and own specialist area to focus on. You will not be expected to finish year 3 and know everything about every condition and every wound dressing or surgical procedure. So don't panic! Just take as much out of each placement as you can.

Well, on that note I am off to hunt for some more research for my degree project (the exciting life I do live at the moment!). It may be the last Christmas I have off for a while so want to get as much done beforehand so I can enjoy some much needed rest and catch up time with friends and family.

Will see you next time :)