Bad day at the office?

We all have tough days

We have all had those days when we wonder why we are doing the job we do; when nothing seems to go to plan and it all turns to skittles.  In midwifery, it could be something simple like missing a vein when trying to take blood or something much more serious and tragic.

It takes an enormous emotional input to be in a caring profession.  Self care is vitally important to ensure you can give the very best to the women in your care, because if you constantly give without putting something back into yourself, you will soon run empty.

Oreo cookie icecream is a must

Here are my top tips for coping with those bad days at the office:

Treat yourself
Eat chocolate, watch your favourite film, listen to your favourite music, go for a run – anything that will release endorphins.  The first step is to boost your mood. This can start on your journey home
from work, turn the radio up, open the windows and let the wind blow the shift away.

Reflect
Don’t wallow, but think about the experience; what happened, how did it make you feel, what was good or bad about the situation, what have you learnt from it, what would you do differently if it happened again.  Every experience is a learning opportunity, even if it is “I will never do that again”.

Share
Find someone you can talk to, and cry with if need be.  Debriefing a serious incident is as important for you as it is for the parents, as it helps you to make sense of the situation and will aid your

We all need a help! button

reflection.  Remember, you have a responsibility of confidentiality and cannot share personal information of patients, but having another person to talk to will stop you rerunning it over in your mind.

Remember the good experiences
It can be very easy to get into a negative mindset.  The best way to break this cycle is to focus on better times; remember your first delivery, the best feedback you got from an essay.  I believe the bad experiences are made worse because they happen so infrequently, so remember to look at all the positive things which have gone before.

Tomorrow is a new day
Move on.  Practice in light of what you have learnt from your reflection, but don’t get trapped thinking it is going to happen again.

Its all worth it in the end

Hope this has helped. See you next week!

Mentors

One of the biggest apprehensions I had when starting clinical practice, aside from my lack of clinical skills, was the relationship I would have with my mentor.  I didn’t identify this as a concern during the application and interview process.  It wasn’t until the first day of my course when we were discussing our hopes and fears in groups that it seemed to be a recurring theme. 

I hadn’t really considered it until this point.  Not that I was completely naive – at no point did I think I would be left alone to deliver a baby, I just didn’t then rationalise this would mean working with a midwife.  Or that there was a chance we wouldn’t get along. 

Mentors; guiding the way

Not to boast, but I am quite a likable person.  I have over 300 friends on Facebook I’ll have you know! Of course there are certain people who I would choose to spend my time with, but there aren’t many people I can’t have, at least a working relationship with.  So, you can probably understand why I was confused as to why all my new classmates were so worried about meeting their mentor.

As far as I was concerned, midwives have to be nice, right?  It's part of the job description surely.  Why was everyone so intimidated by them?  However, as the induction process continued, I started to get more and more fixated on this as yet faceless person who I would be shadowing. 

The lecturers made us aware that are mentors would be watching us from the very moment we started working with them.  If that sentiment isn’t enough to send shivers down your spine, I don’t know what is.  We heard phrases like assessment, grading, cause for concern, and very little about the nurturing and guiding relationships I have come to know from my mentors. 

For that is what mentorship is all about.  True, they are marking your performance and assessing you against set criteria, but they are also moulding and shaping you into a midwife of the future.  Each midwife works in a slightly different way, and as a student you have the unique opportunity to soak up all these styles and create your own from the best of each.  I know for a fact that I still carry out my postnatal checks in exactly the same way as my first community mentor.

Learn from them you will

It is also important to consider what it must be like for the midwife to be followed around by the questioning and scared novice you will undoubtedly be as a first year.  And still as a third year, come to think about it.  Everything that you do, they are accountable and responsible for.  That is a lot of trust for them to have in someone they have only just met.  Perhaps they should be more scared of the students than the students are of them!

As I am nearing graduation, I have been thinking a lot about the sort of mentor I will be.  I hope I am half as good as the mentors I have had throughout my training.  See you next week.

Welcome to my penultimate post!

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!

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

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

Feeling rather positive :)

Evening All :)

Welcome to the end of the weekend...how have your been? Busy? Back at college in the morning or work? And how was your weekend?

Despite almost falling asleep as I type, I am feeling very positive. It's funny how your mind set can change completely from one week (or day) to the next.



Our company for the most of the 26miles

I've just got back from a weekend up North and we made it...26.6miles walk complete along Hadrian's Wall and it definitely was a challenge. One of the other girls I was with experienced quite a bit of pain but kept on going and we got to the end of the trek together and managed to raise around £800. My legs are extremely stiff today and I have a long shift tomorrow so I'm hoping that regular ibuprofen and muscle rub will keep me moving!

The week ahead is looking good though. Am only in for two long shifts tomorrow and Thursday which gives me a couple of days to tidy up my degree project and hopefully get it bound and submitted on Friday. The weekend will hopefully be spent writing up a plan to my next essay to get some support and then I can get started on that. I never used to submit plans of essays beforehand, but was encouraged to do so by a lecturer a while ago and it really has helped to keep me on track. I emailed the lecturer in charge of the unit for the next essay with two topic suggestions and received some really good feedback, along with the offer that if I put together a plan she would happily advise me on any key points before I start to write it. If you do end up going to the UoB, make sure you make the most of your lecturers. The unit information tends to state that you need to submit plans a minimum of a couple of weeks before the essay is due, but it is worth it as I have known on a few occasions students to submit a very well written essay but receive low marks or even a fail due to going completely off topic so lecturer advice can hopefully reduce this risk!

When you are on placement, a support (link) lecturer usually visits the hospital on a weekly basis, so if you need any help or advise regarding placement, they are always available. We also can attend a monthly student forum at the hospital giving us the opportunity to raise issues and have an hour of teaching from a member of the hospital staff (it was the blood transfusion nurse on this occasion). We were told that the jobs for the Luton & Dunstable hospital are now up on the NHS Jobs website for those qualifying in September, so there is a general buzz of excitement and anticipation amongst the students. The link for the advert can be found by clicking here, and it may be worth a look just to get some idea of what they tend to look for. As seen in the advert that despite being a public advert, they aim it at the UoB students only which was definitely a course selling point for applying to this course!

Right, I best be off as will be up early and may fall asleep on this keyboard otherwise! Hope you all have a nice week!

Em x 

Tis the season for family

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

It's good to read

Hello again!

I didn't think I would manage it, but I am back on my laptop finally getting around to writing another blog. I have been completing an audit on the ward for my degree project which has required me to be in early-which included at 5am today on my day off. Good fun!

For those just heading into their nursing training or currently applying, you may or may not have read about the press around nursing in the recent years (depending how much you watch the news and read newspapers). It is key to be aware of the on-going changes going on within the profession, as this should help towards your learning, placements and career. A lot of attention at the moment is around the Francis Report, and you can either Google this or click here for a bit more information. The Keogh Mortality Review may be worth a look as well.

Previous to starting my nurse training, I kept an eye on the papers but in truth I didn't read around until I felt I was required to, and do regret that. I had attended the open day at Aylesbury campus and my main focus after this was applying and getting in. Once I had the offer of a place, my focus was on work at the time until university began. I threw myself into every opportunity; every meeting, rep opportunity and training. After my first year I did absolutely nothing in preparation for my second year, and really wish I had read about a bit! It is so easy to put things off that do not fall into the 'fun' category. I did everything to avoid getting on with things-organising, cleaning, rearranging folders, anything but pick up a book.

For those of you just applying or about to start, I would definitely recommend looking at the RCN (Royal College of Nursing) website which has a student area, along with the NMC (Nursing & Midwifery Council) website, especially The Code which you will hear a lot about over the next three years at uni, whether child, mental health, adult nursing or midwifery.

I can assure you that you will have some tough times ahead, but I think particularly with this profession you will need that to understand how nursing really is. I started university at the age of 26, and felt that I had nothing to learn about my character. I had to learn in the first year that I did not know everything and did need to listen, observe and absorb the information, which was difficult as I had been so used to working. I had to learn to take feedback and understand that everybody you work with works in a slightly different way with their own routines. Also as nursing can be very stressful, sometimes you just need to nod, smile and get on with things rather than to take things personally (but if you ever feel you're learning is being affected and you need extra support-the university and hospital have various people who are there to help and guide).

Now I am in the third year I am trying to follow my own advice. There will be things that cause you to have a bad day or just generally feel that a long shift will never end, but then there are the patients. If you are heading into nursing as you feel you are a caring person (a necessity!) then to know you have made a difference to a patient and/or their family to bring some comfort or make things better for them will  make your day. You may even like me meet patients who remind you fondly of your own relatives with their sayings or appearance, which reminds you just why you are there. My day yesterday was non-stop and very busy on the ward, then I had some positive feedback from the doctor which made me think 'I'm getting there'. It may feel at times like you have years to go and that is never ending, but believe me; soon enough you will be saying about how quick the last year went.

 

First ever blog-hello!

Hi to anyone reading and welcome to my first post on my first ever blog :)

I am now into my third month of my last year of a nursing degree and panic has started to set in. For those new to knowing how this course is laid out, I will give you a quick overview.

Over three years you attend a combination of university and placement. During the university time you are required to complete various graded work, including essays, exams and OSCE's. I was unaware of what an OSCE was, but basically it is a type of role play examination, in which you are observed and assessed in a simulation environment carrying out a set number of nursing tasks. Don't worry-you will hear plenty more of these when you start!

For the rest of the time, you are out on placement. This could be in a number of locations-hospital, community, prison-who knows! But during this time you are assessed on your practical ability and knowledge and graded at the end by a mentor you are assigned during the placement.

In year one and two I felt a bit more relaxed coming into a placement as I felt I was a student. If I was unsure of something it was ok, as I was only a student so I had plenty of time to read up on the task or situation for next time. But going into my third year felt a bit more pressured, as surely my third year mentors and other staff would see me as a final year student, so I should know what I am doing. But what if I didn't have the answers? This time next year I will be qualified, so I should be on the path to knowing everything...but I'm far off from that!

Due to feeling my grades were strong enough, I switched from a diploma course to degree over the summer as this is the way nursing is going (or gone as those now starting the course will only have the option of degree). To cut a long story short-I now am on placement doing 12.5hr shifts while alternating on my days off between essay work, my degree project and trying to see my partner-so welcome to third year!

My future posts will be more about what has been going on that week, but thought it best to set the scene for those of you new to this area. I had not previously had any hospital or care experience, as had worked for 8years in various jobs (cabin crew, poker club valet, business centre, store work...dabbled in everything but care!). I felt inspired to apply as my Gran had experienced poor care in hospital, and I wanted to do a better job and make a difference. Unfortunately by the time I had been accepted onto the course she had passed away, but I still feel inspired by my original reasons for going into nursing-especially with the bad press the profession has received in recent years.

If I were to try to offer any words of 'wisdom' or advice for those just about to start...or maybe already have started, it would be this;

• Do any work you are given as soon as possible. Some people like to work on essays last minute and that is what works best for them as they seem to thrive on pressure, but you are guaranteed to be given random group tasks or worksheets to complete, so just try to stay on top of it.
• You may take year one for granted while you are in it. I did. I thought lecturers didn't response instantly or were not giving enough support, but year two showed me how much we did! Year two felt like we were more expected to go out and do things for ourselves, so try to take as much as you can during year one!
• If anything is worrying you-talk it through with someone. There is always support somewhere, from those you study with to lecturers and those at the hospital. I have been a course rep since I started and feel that the sooner you ask, the more time you have to sort the problem.
• When going into placements-eat and sleep well! If you go sick during placement you are expected to make up hours, so look after yourself! It'll be worth it to have the summer and Easter leave to yourself!
• Make the most of being a student. When out on placement-ring different teams, embrace the fact you have the time to observe procedures and specialist staff as you wont have when you qualify.
• Rely on your diary. It is your friend, it will help to organise your life!
•  Enjoy it x
• Read the NMC-The Code
• Be careful what you put on Facebook!

Nursing is not this...

                                                                     More this!


Well that's about it for my first blog. Hope to see you back for my next blog and if anyone at any time has a question about the course or anything I have written, please feel free to do so. I wish when I had started that we had been given the opportunity to talk to a student further in to have a little more insight of what was to come, so if you ever feel the same-hello!

Ttfn!

Emma x