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

Considering my options

Morning Everyone!

After a soggy week in Luton the sun has finally decided to make an appearance, so I am trying to face the other way and get on with this final essay (yes...the same one I said I really needed to start previously!). I'm trying to tell myself that by writing this blog it may get me into the typing mood, but it could also be seen as procrastination.

The past week hasn't really involved anything new. I had my shifts in the hospital, which included one morning working with a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS). It involved observation of various clinics in which bad news was broken to patients. I had wanted to sit in on these to see the role of the nurse in these highly emotional situations, and what support I could offer people by adapting to their needs. One thing I have never really had the answer to over my three years of study is whether you can show emotions to a patient in certain circumstances. I don't mean breaking down and crying with them, but there is a fine line somewhere between appearing cold and clinical and being too emotional, and finding that middle ground can be difficult. It is hard to sit and talk to a patient and/or their family without it occasionally really getting to you, and this is why reflections and gaining support from the workplace and even the university is essential.

In relation to this blog title I have been thinking over the last week about whether I should start applying for alternative jobs following the course finishing. As previously mentioned I was offered a job back in February, but despite being offered a job with that particular Trust I am still waiting to get a call to offer me an exact location of work. There are two hospitals within a 25minute driving commute, but others could take up to an hour to get to. So now I am left thinking....do I apply for alternative work in case I am only offered hospitals that are too far to commute, but then am also left with the dilemma of being offered a job at one and needing to turn the other down after possibly accepting the job. Either way I have tried to be organised by contacting my two potential referees; my current mentor who is happy to do this and my personal lecturer at the university who has been helpful by offering to draft up a reference now and adapt depending on who contacts her. I guess it is a 'wait and see' situation now, I may let fate decide!

Well that is me for another week. I will be playing with research for my essay this afternoon, then have six days off in a row next week to sit and write. I am sacrificing one of the days off to see my partner as if I am moving in with him in September I should really start to get used to seeing him more than once a month!

Hope you are all well and counting down to summer like me!

Talk to you next week
Em x