Getting the balance right

This is some balancing act!

This is my last blog post! Can you believe it?  I can’t quite!  Not that I have finished my course that is.  Whilst the rest of the university is winding down for the summer, us midwifery students continue to plough on until September.  I do have two weeks annual leave at the end of July which is equates to my summer holiday.  Not quite the three months than some students enjoy; which is why it is so important to ensure your work and social life is balanced as a midwifery student.

Every university has a student’s union, and the University of Bedfordshire is no exemption.  I remember heading over to the Bedford campus to have a look around the Fresher’s Fair and was overwhelmed by all the different societies and sports teams on offer.  There is something for everyone – no matter your interest or ability level (further details can be found at the Beds SU website).

It can be difficult to commit to a regular activity such as a sport team when you work shifts and personally, after working a 12.5 hour day, the last thing I want to do is an organised activity!  Saying that, the benefits of taking part in extra-curricular activities are numerous.

Get to know your student union

You need time to relax and unwind – to stop being a student midwife.  Working and studying simultaneously can be quite draining, especially if you have had a particularly challenging shift.  Having an opportunity to take part in something which has nothing to do with your course will give you some much needed down time.

Being a member of a society or sports team is another great way to make friends, and you can never have too many friends.  You could also approach the student union about starting your own society with a group of friends – I regret not creating a midwifery society.

Another reason to take part in additional activities is they look great on your CV!  Employers are looking for well rounded people and if they can see evidence of a range of interests and hobbies this will instantly more attractive to them.

Extra-curricular activities are central to the university experience but you also need to ensure you dedicate time to your academic studies.  It is a balancing act; just remember not to try spinning too many plates at once.

Before I close, a little update on my last few weeks and what the future looks like for me; I received a very good grade for my dissertation and am looking into getting it published, I only need two more babies to complete my 40 deliveries and having passed my presentation, I only have a short essay left.

Next stop...graduation!

And finally, I will soon be wearing a blue uniform because I have been offered a job when I qualify. All I have left to say now is ‘Thank you’ for reading this and letting me prattle on each week.  I hope it has been informative/interesting/entertaining in some small way.  If you do decide to apply for midwifery at the University of Bedfordshire (which I encourage you to do), I look forward to meeting you and perhaps being your mentor one day in the future. All the best x

Almost there!

Where is this man's oscar?!

Well the ‘D-day’ has finally arrived. Would you believe it, I was actually ready, despite pouring a fresh cup of tea over my laptop three days before the deadline!  Final word count; 10 997 words (30, 744 if you include all the appendices).  Now all I can do is wait for the results…something no student enjoys. 

Now my dissertation is out of the way, I can concentrate on filling in the gaps of my clinical skills.   I have eight babies to catch (but having two on one shift was a bonus), about 50 learning points, 7 clinical assessments, a presentation. Writing it like that makes it seem like a lot, but is hard to see anything as a challenge on the same day as you submit your dissertation.  I could probably climb Mount Everest today.  Probably. Maybe not.  I do feel like Jack from Titanic though….the “I’m the king of the world!” moment, not the freezing to death that is. 

Probably not the train she was thinking of

 One of our lecturers described our training as a train journey; in the first year you are leaving the station, excited about the trip, wanting it to gather speed so you can reach your destination.  Second year you go into a tunnel called ‘general placements’.  It goes dark and you feel like it will never end.  You start to wonder why you even started the journey in the first place. And then finally, third year; you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  But then it seems to be hurling towards you and you start to question whether you want to leave the comfort of your carriage.

Then there is small matter of getting a job.  My stomach lurches every time I get an alert from NHS jobs.  It makes the last three years of training very real and although sometimes I can’t wait to write RM after my name, at other times I think I would like to stay in my white student uniform for ever.

Interview tips; I must remember to shave

I have my first interview in mid June, so have been brushing up on obstetric emergencies and neonatal resuscitation. I have found running through these with a group of my friends on the course has been the most successful way of doing this.  Interviews for midwifery jobs also include a maths test so I have been practising my mental arithmetic.  I also have to choose an interview outfit.  A very important decision there!

I will let you know how I get on in my interview and my dissertation.  I’m now off to my cousin’s wedding, what a lovely end to a successful week!  See you next week!
 

A final farewell

Happy Weekend All!


Well, this is my last blog to you and I feel it has come along so much quicker than I had expected. It doesn't feel like long ago I was applying for this role and writing my welcome post, but here we are!

Firstly, I was hoping to have some good job news to write about today to tie up everything but unfortunately I am still awaiting news. I telephoned the contact for the vacancy on Tuesday and was told that they would be finalising the interview panel midweek so although I was hoping to hear by the end of this working week, at least it isn't bad news! The other position I applied for closes tomorrow so they kind of both are happening at the same time, I will just have to wait and see (I'm terribly impatient in these situations!)

I have started to pack up boxes and organise furniture to start the big move to Somerset with my partner hiring a van on Monday to get things going. We also need to spend a few days building our new Ikea flat pack furniture which could means make or break for us by other peoples account of the stress attached to such a task! Wish me luck!

I still have six weeks remaining leave and have a number of plans booked in. A final farewell to living within such easy access of London (we will be doing the complete tourist thing of tour bus and Harrods). I am also heading over to the Isle of Wight next weekend for the end of Cowes Week with fireworks and cocktails (again...hard life!). Other than a few things I am taking it as it comes. I have settled into the routine of running the family house making sure the housework is done and meals are cooked to take the burden off of my mum, and am spending quite a lot of time next door getting my grandparents' house ready for putting on the market, so I do have some uses.

Looking back now it feels like such a long time since I was in Uni and I guess it has been since my last lecture was back in March. I am also slightly nervous about starting work next month (if I can make a decision on a job that is) as I will be starting at a completely new Trust with new systems and ways of doing things. Not only this but after a few months off from practice I will suddenly be a staff nurse as opposed to a student which is huge!

Other students at the University have recently had their Graduation ceremonies, but we should hopefully be getting our invites for ours in November by the end of this month. It feels rather strange that I will be seeing all of my class/cohort next month for one day only, so this will both be a catch up and a good bye. I still don't know how I am feeling about this!

So yes...this is my final goodbye to you. By now you will know if you are coming to the University in September and if you are, enjoy! Make the most of your remaining time off this Summer (if you have time off that is) but I wish you every luck in the world for starting the course. Enjoy the highs, work through the lows and glory in the relief of submission dates!

Thanks for listening and Good Luck!

Em x

My first week in no man's land

Sunshine!!!

Hi All!

Well the heatwave seems to have come and gone and the thunder and lightning has set in. Anyone would think we were having a typical British summer!?

I have so far had one week off from life as a student. My hair has been chopped and coloured (rebelling to not having to tie it up for work for the next two months hoping it will grow out in time for September!) and I am settling in nicely into a routine of later nights and longer lay in's. 

Camping disaster

On Monday I set off to Wales with my other half for three nights of camping by the seaside and it seems to be a developing habit to never start our trip smoothly. On arrival at the site (and after over two hours of driving) we started to unload the car only to discover that something had been forgotten-the camping poles. Following a minor debate about what could be done (drive home or invest in a tent) we decided to buy a new one that fortunately was ex-display and was sold cheaply to us as the salesman seemed to take pity on us. After a few days of chilling out with a BBQ and driving around the countryside we headed home, then went to Thorpe Park yesterday in the random heatwave. I don't know if I am getting old, but after a morning of rides we decided that queuing for 2 hours for one ride sounded daft, so now you find me typing from Leicestershire visiting my mother in law. 

Well I'm still awaiting news from the job I applied for...closing date is on Thursday so really hoping to hear something by the end of the week just to put me out of my misery. Until then I will just need to keep my fingers crossed!

Well Graduation for us Nursing students is still four months away, so I can't really get excited about that until nearer the time I guess. We also won't be getting our official grades until September so there is nothing else to do but sit back and enjoy the time off. I managed to sell off a few of my Nursing books on eBay the other week as no longer need a student nurse handbook as have now invested in the newly qualified nurse handbook...still doesn't feel real!

Well I have a rather dull week ahead of me now...fun things like catching up with family and my washing after being away (I can only assume how jealous you must be at this description!?) I think I only have two more blogs to write before signing off from here so not long now. If you do have any questions or general comments about anything I've written over the past eight months or maybe something about your upcoming studies, I'm happy to answer to the best of my ability! Until then, have a good week and I will talk to you soon :)

Em x

And there it is...three years of study comes to an end

Hello Everyone from yet another sun kissed evening in Luton!

Well here is the post I feel I have been counting down to all year...my studies are over! I completed the last of my placement hours on Thursday and got the last of my skills signed off for submission. I passed my final essay (naff grade for me but I am rather ecstatic with a pass at this point!) and submitted the last few bits of work into University yesterday morning. I also met with my Personal Lecturer on Wednesday  
to go through my work and grades and to discuss how I have done, including her taking some notes in order to write a reference for me.

Following my submission of an application for a hopeful job in the South West come September, I decided to give them a ring for more information about the role. The lady I spoke to sounded lovely and I was told about the position and that they would be shortlisting not long after the closing date on the 21st July. Whilst I play the waiting game, I will be heading off to Somerset tomorrow and having a camping trip in Wales and fortunately the sun is due to shine! I will be mostly living off BBQ's and playing on inflatable hoops in the sea!

I'm feeling a little 'between two worlds' at the moment. My last shift in which I had been focussing on for three years and having all of my work due in came...and went. I have been so focussed on the final day I did not contemplate what would happen after this point. My partner asked me the other day when I would be officially moving in with him and I did not have a clue. I have only ever been in a relationship with him as a student, so I am trying to get my head around no more countdowns....my future is now!

Three years ago, I had been counting down to starting at the University of Bedfordshire. I remember arriving on the first day and sitting at our Induction at Park Square looking around wondering who to start up a conversation with. I remember thinking how long three years would be, and how I would be 29years old when I finished. I remember feeling like I would find it difficult to adapt back to study mode after 8years of full time working. Year One passed, Year Two arrived. I then remember thinking how long another two years would be of study, then when Year Three began last year it hit me...I'm a Third Year student  and expected to know things! This year really has been the quickest of them all. Despite having quite a lot on this year with essays, our equivalent of a dissertation, an exam, an OSCE and full time working hours at the hospital; it made things fly by.

Today I spent my day being what I call normal (others may deem 'dull'). I did the food shopping, sorted lunch and did my ironing. I emptied a cupboard to start throwing things away before relocating, and continued selling things on eBay. The main thing was it felt amazingly refreshing to just do normal things. I got to catch up with my mum and sit out in the sunshine, all things I used to take for granted until I did not have the time with study. Now all of the work is in I feel absolutely fantastic with a sense of achievement. It has felt like such a long journey but I've done it! We have a date to come back in in September to sign onto the nursing register, and our Graduation will full at the end of November.

It has been hard work, but I think because of this I feel that I have achieved so much more than I had expected of myself, and also that I have earned this summer off!

Well, I best get packing. Will catch up next week after camping and Thorpe Park ;)

Em x

Video and weekly update

Happy soggy weekend all!

Well, the weather is a tad different compared to the mini 'heatwave' of last weekend. Now is the weather to get back behind my desk and get on with my work. I say work...so far I have been browsing internet shopping websites and Rightmove, sending out a few emails and now am here with you! I know I have always been aware that sometimes it is best to start with the jobs that feel like a chore first but I need to hunt down my essay writing motivation first!

Firstly, here is a link to a video I was in back in January. I do cringe when I watch it as do not regard myself as photogenic or camera-friendly, and do find like my six year old self I do overuse the word, 'Um'. It is a short video on my experiences at the University, so I hope it comes in useful :) For a general video on the University of Bedfordshire as a whole, this one has been appearing at some cinemas recently, but if you have not managed to catch it, here it is

Nearly there...

So, my week up to now unfortunately has not been very exciting in terms of news. I have had three shifts working at the hospital and really do feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My mentors have been so supportive, so much in fact I have just sent an email to the Chief Executive of the hospital I am based letting her know how much I have appreciated the support from all staff. I had always hoped that the other nurses would be supportive, but I have also taken away so much from Health Care Assistants, specialist nurses, consultants and not forgetting ward cleaners and housekeepers. I now have until the 12th June to complete my LAST EVER ESSAY but feel good about it despite not having actually started it (well...I have a plan and some library books?!). I have started hearing murmerings of Graduation, but ours will not be until November, which will be a good opportunity to catch up with my classmates. Up to this point I didn't really think about going to Graduation as it seemed so far away, but the past three years has abolutely flown by so I guess I can start dreaming and planning my outfit!

St Mary's...place of Graduation

One thing I was thinking about the other day was whether the new plans for potential nurses to complete Health Care Assistant work first before starting the university course across England would affect whether people opt to apply for the course? If you want to read more about it, just Google the Francis Report and there is a lot of information to get your teeth stuck in to. I would be interested in any comments on this.
 

So, that is me for another week. I'm guessing those who have applied for September already know whether they have been offered a place (conditional or unconditional)? I hope all of your preparations are going well, and for those in college I hope exam prep is going well also!

Speak to you soon
Em x