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Evening All!
Well, this is my last post but one and I am well into my summer leave (and rather getting into the swing of it!). I have had a rather chilled past week; gardening and sunbathing, cleaning, cooking, throwing away things prior to packing my life into boxes and general helping out around the house. All of my family are getting together next Sunday as an 'end of an era' kind of thing at my grandparents house prior to putting it on the market, so it may be the last time we all have the chance to get together. I am the youngest in my family and with me moving to Somerset, my sister living on the Isle of Wight and my mum planning to relocate at some point in the future, we will be all dotted around England so it could be rather difficult to find the time to see everybody. It's sad really as I grew up living next to my grandparents and in the same road as my cousins and we were all really close but things change, sometimes for the good and other times not so good.
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, my Gran was part of the reason I applied for the nursing course and she died before I started, and my Grancher passed away earlier this year. Quite a number of other students also experienced tough times throughout the three years of study. Sometimes it was homesickness, sometimes illness to those close to them and other times loss of a loved one. On some of those occasions student's would leave the course to spend more time with their family, or look into re-joining the course at a later date. Others applied to have extensions on their work submission dates just to take a little time out. In one way I was luckier of having more time to come to terms with my grandfathers illness. I would spend time on placement then come home to help with housework to free up time for my mum to see him more. I had time to come to terms with what was happening and made a point of doing all work early as I couldn't predict what would happen. With many people there is no time to get ahead of the game so to speak.
The main thing is to know that when you start the course, there are always avenues at the University to help. There is a big team at the main campus who can assist with many issues, such as financial, extra support in study, etc. When it comes to something more personal such as a family issue the lecturers for nursing are there to support and can meet with you to discuss options such as an extensions with work. The main thing is to ask for the help before it gets too much and to know what options lay in front of you before making any sudden decisions. I hope nothing bad happens to you or your loved ones throughout the course but if you do need help, the Uni definitely can assist.
I look back on my three years and can't see how I got to this point. I still see Facebook posts from other students I have met through placement who are in a year below me writing about how tough things are and panicking about work and remember writing almost exactly the same things. We were told that from the end of Year 2 things would fly by and I shrugged that off, but trust me...it really does! The main thing to remember is you will need support at some point, so make sure you take time out for family, friends and uni mates too. They will all be going through the same thing, and everyone will have different strengths and weaknesses, different ways to tackle their workload, but at least your stresses will be the same!
And on that note, I must depart to sleep. Will see you next week for my last post!
Em x
P.s. still no news about the job I applied for....nail biting wait!
Morning all!
Well I have finally reached my countdown...Christmas leave! I finished my placement on Wednesday and had a plan to get my head down and write up my essay to then be able to switch off and enjoy Christmas.
Note to self: Plans do not always go to plan.
In the last week a close relative has been given a poor health diagnosis and went into hospital for four nights. Not only did this happen, but on the second night he was in hospital, his home was broken in to. As you can imagine, the day after this happened I was not in a very 'get my head down and write' mood so I wrote off the day.
I have learnt over my time at university so far that if my head is not in the right place, I cannot have a productive study session. In my first year I would make a plan to sit down and write, and get annoyed with myself (and everyone around me at the time) if nothing came out. Now I assess where my head is at first and then get on with it. The day after, I sat down for eight straight hours and came up with 2500words, completing my draft. I guess this makes me an 'all or nothing' person. As mentioned previously, some people can only write essays at night. Others can only work on adrenalin by completing things last minute. But my worry of that method is what happens if something...happens? What if a family emergency comes up, or you develop a heavy head cold over the days you were due to write? Any more insight on this would be appreciated-it has always mystified me!
Anyway, the draft has been done and been put aside until after Christmas, and the family are all rallying together and supporting one another. Now my relative is home we are no longer having to pay for hospital parking (many of you will be aware as to how expensive it can be!) and it is a lot easier to see him as he is fortunately only next door. It did feel a rather odd experience to visit him on the ward as I felt naturally drawn to checking he had been offered plenty of drinks, was he in any pain, had they been updating him and supporting him, etc. They do say nurses make the worse patients so maybe it is the same when visiting a loved one.
The other downside of being in healthcare is maybe knowing too much. From caring for a large number of patients with varying health conditions, I am aware of how bad it can get for some people. Even if certain symptoms are usually rare, I am aware of potentially how bad it could get for my relative.
On that note, all of this happening at this time of year makes me appreciate those I have around me, and how important Christmas is for bringing everyone together. So onwards with a day of cheesy Christmas music, baking and present wrapping!
Have a very Merry Christmas for those celebrating, and enjoy the time with your loved ones!
Em x
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