Applying for the course

Morning everyone :)

Three years ago, I was eagerly awaiting my response from the university as to whether I would be offered an interview, so thought this would be a good subject to discuss in today's blog.

For me as mentioned previously, I was living away from home with a lot of my family living in the Luton area. My Gran had been in hospital and I decided at the age of 25 at the time that it was a good time to apply. I only applied to the University of Bedfordshire as I wanted to not only be nearer to family, but also did not want to leave university with further debt. Maybe if I had applied when I was leaving college I may have wanted to experience the whole' student living', but it would just not have suited me now. I also loved the fact that there was a spare study room at my mum's, so I would have the peace and quiet to study when I needed to. I also was very eager to apply then as I would be joining the last year of diploma intake. I had the GCSE grades required but as I had completed an AVCE in college I did not have enough points to get onto the degree course. If I had left applying another year I would have needed to take a year's access course to get onto the degree course. Saying that, as my grades were high enough at the end of Year 2 I was able to transfer over to the degree for this the final year which is a bonus!

I received an offer of interview at the end of January 2011 and was both relieved and ecstatic. I had put all my eggs in one basket and had no back up plan as to what I would do if I was not offered an interview. When it came to the interview day I was rather nervous. I was sat in the large reception/learning resources area at Butterfield Campus with a large number of other applicants-some with a mum or dad, some alone. There was a feeling of nervous tension over the room. We were required to bring various documents with us to prove things like grades, ID etc and the time there finished with an interview. I was interviewed by two people-I think one academic and one from the community (service user I think but I can't remember as it all was a bit of a blur!). I had attended a number of interviews previously in my life and felt prepared with questions such as, 'name a situation when...'. If you have not had much interview experience it is worth hunting the web for sites/forums sharing information. I used a website called the student room which I found useful, as there were a number of forum threads involving people applying for various courses and discussing experiences including the interview process.

Then came the long wait. After a few months  of constantly refreshing the Ucas page, an unconditional offer popped through. I was so so happy! Following this, I gave my work two months notice and started planning on my move back home.

I was fortunate to move back in with family and actually find it successful. After so much time living away I assumed that I would hate being back, but it has instead improved the relationship between us all. What you will find in either the interview stage or first week at uni will be that there is such a wide mixture of people in the class. People straight out of college either living at home or have moved away for the first time in their life and living in student accommodation. Single parents, parents who live with a partner etc who have children from 6months to grown up. Parents who are supporting their own child going to university while supporting themselves. Inbetweeners like me who have worked and returned to study but have no dependants. That is probably the main thing I enjoy about my class. There will be at least one person who is in a similar situation as yourself. Also, learn from others. Everyone will have their own techniques in approaching study, and you will be required to do group work and work with everybody's individual strengths.

Just before Christmas I was sat in the learning resources centre at Butterfield waiting to meet my personal lecturer and found myself observing the large group of applicants waiting for their interviews. The room was quieter than I had ever heard it, and it did remind me of the wait I experienced three years ago. I ended up speaking to one of the mum's and realised how much I have grown in terms of randomly starting up a conversation with a stranger. If you do feeling confident on the day of your interview, say hi or smile at the person sat opposite you. I wish I had just as a distraction and realise everyone else is in the same anxious, nervous boat as you and hey, it will speed the wait!

Well that is it for today from me! I was only in Uni two days this week and it is nice being back but know that in 12weeks that will be it for the class!

For anyone out there waiting to hear back from the university, good luck!

Em x

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy 2014 everyone!

How was your New Years eve? Mine was the usual 'try to stay awake until midnight but failing miserably' routine. I think I gave up somewhere between early twenties and being in relationships!

Well winter leave is almost over, with university lectures recommencing tomorrow morning. It does always feel a little odd going back, especially seeing as we have been on placement since the end of September 2013. This two weeks off has been lovely-have tried to make the most of my last Christmas living so near family and also trying to get used to my life that may be starting in September once qualified.


I don't usually attempt to make any new years resolutions, but after a heavy two weeks of snacking and general over-eating, I'm attempting the '5/2' diet. A few people I have known have found success with it, and it basically involves five days of normal eating with two low calorie days of 500calories. I am currently on the low calorie day and I am officially bored of water!

I'm trying to be organised and have just submitted an essay that is due in just under three weeks. For anyone new to the whole online essay submission, each piece goes from an electronic system called 'Turnitin', designed to be an anti-plagiarism thing to identify use of references and your own work. Simply put-it now means that in most cases we can submit all of our written work this way and do not have to go to the university to do so (trust me-it will feel beneficial if it means having to travel to the campus on a day off to do so!) I'm trying to work in the frame of mind that if I submit work prior to starting the next 12week study block I can then focus on the upcoming exam, OSCE and degree project presentation as I am quite poor at juggling a number of items of work at the same time!


I'm now looking forward to 12weeks not involving shift work. After this next study block and Easter leave it will just be 13weeks of placement followed by summer leave. Once that is done there will be a few days back at university before starting work, so really this next 12weeks will be the last study I have not in the hospital. Please believe everyone who says it goes quickly! I'm also looking forward to being back with my uni people and catching up with everyone. Myself and two others have signed up to do a 26mile day trek along Hadrian's Wall for charity in May (yep-during management placement and two written pieces on the go) so will need to have a catch up there to see about heading out for some walks at some point and money raising.

Well, I only have two days in next week (four the next) so will post next weekend to let you know how it went. Until then, stay warm!

Em x

Post Xmas Hello!

Afternoon All!

Welcome back to my first blog post-Christmas! I hope you all had a lovely day whatever you spent doing and whoever you were with :) I am fortunate to live at home during study, but speaking to various students who travel home for Christmas leave it was great to see how much they looked forward to getting back. After years of living away from family I now appreciate the build up...baking, the drive around to find the town's 'tackiest in a good way' lights, Boxing Day dog walk and sales shopping, eating leftovers etc.  



I'm determined to have a little more laziness before getting back to uni work. Am hoping to spend tomorrow and Monday turning my essay draft into a neat and tidy one ready for submitting and then will be heading to Somerset for a New Years getaway. Even then I will be adding a little 'work' to the break as have arranged to view a potential place of employment while I'm down there-lucky I have a supportive partner! I had in my head that I do not want to apply for any jobs unless I have seen the location first and had a look around as hopefully that will give me a bit more of a real picture of whether I could see myself working there.

Well, I'm afraid I do not having anything more exciting to ramble on about-the house has been emptied and cleaned post-Christmas so I'm looking forward to indulge in a little relaxation!

Will catch up in 2014!

Em x

Seasons Greetings Everyone!

My very first video blog... Merry Christmas!

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

Reflection

 

Afternoon all!

 

Well with 10 days left until Christmas, I thought it would be a good time of year to talk about reflection.

Reflection is something you will most likely already do, whether it be due to a positive or negative experience. Those moments when you replay a situation in your head that you either observed or were involved in, then wonder whether you could have done things differently or maybe just take something from the moment that could affect similar scenes in the future.

This time three years ago, I had made the decision to apply for nursing. I remember vividly standing in my Gran's garden telling her how unhappy I then was with my life as my then job was not going anywhere, and she told me to come home. This happened a few weeks after she had been in hospital and I had worried about the care she had received and I decided I could care for people like her better than she had been cared for then. She passed away not long after I stood with her, and less than a week after her funeral, I was offered an interview for the course. I put everything into applying for the University of Bedfordshire as I wanted to be around my people to support them. When the email popped through the following summer offering me an unconditional place, I was over the moon. I gave in my notice at work and looked towards the future.

This situation made me view care of the elderly differently. I see families come onto the ward and see peoples children, grandchildren, partners, friends and other relatives. Every now and then I see similarities with some patients or families to my own which does remind me of why I am there. I think I will always have a soft spot for those patients who you notice do not have any visitors and you wonder how they feel seeing other people around them being visited with gifts and cards in tow. Does nobody miss them? 

The reason for the above example is that you will realise once on the course that reflection is very important for your learning. You will be expected to write reflections of your experiences throughout the three year course of any event that makes you stop and think. Reflecting on such events in nursing and general life will then lead to better future experiences. Because of my close family and past experiences, I believe that I appreciate working with the older generation more than I would have done prior to my Gran's death, as I have witnessed care both good and bad and know what care I want to give as a nurse.

Another form of reflection could be maybe writing a diary of events throughout your day...maybe during placement. I did this throughout my second year and found it a valuable tool to refer back to in regards to reflection and learning experiences.

Well, I now have three shifts left before Christmas leave then am determined to get my next essay done and out of the way. The work I have done so far along with research is currently sat staring at me so I must get on!

Thanks for stopping by, will catch up again next week :)


Em x

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 :)