Hello third year!

So I have just finished my first week of my third year. I honestly never thought I would get this far. 2 years ago I started my journey as a student nurse and it's very surreal that I am a third year student nurse. It has gone so incredibly quick and I know this last year will go quickly and I'll be writing my goodbye student living blog post! 

After already having my first third year breakdown I know this year is going to be tough. On top of being away from home, which I always hate, working and trying to keep up with all the work I am trying to stay positive. But it's all so overwhelming. 

I'm also mega excited about my placements this year. In my first year I felt very unlucky with my placements in the fact that it was an anti-climax into the nursing world, and my mentor was awful. But I'm glad I didn't give up, I definitely came close a few times. Now I am only 10 months away from being put on the register, which is a very scary thought. But, I'm looking forward to A&E, district nursing and an acute ward. I would also like to add here that not only have I got A&E as a placement but I also had ITU last year, which I'm incredibly lucky to have as I know a lot of student nurses who never get either. I've definitely got a tough and a brilliant year ahead of me. Now I've just got to keep my head down, focus and try to pass. 

What makes a good mentor?

When on placement in the intensive care unit I had a really really good mentor. From the moment I met her I knew I would enjoy my placement. She was so bubbly and seemed genuinely happy and pleased to be my new mentor! I never felt like she was fed up of my questions no matter how silly or obvious they seemed!! She was one of those people who so clearly wanted me to succeed, and was so enthusiastic to teach me. She helped build my confidence in a way where she encouraged me to do things that I was uncomfortable with, or were out of my comfort zone, but she never pushed me to the point where I wanted to give. She made me feel as though I was learning made me feel like I could be a nurse and inspired me to be the best nurse that I could ever be. 

When it came to giving me independence she was brilliant. She was so so good at being there for me, but never making me feel like she was doing everything for me. I always felt supported, but not suffocated! She had just the right balance, and she was always on time with my paper work!! 

I haven't had her as a mentor for 3 weeks as I have been in a different placement, but I miss her all the time. I believe we became friends and I miss being around on the unit. Hopefully I can one day be as good as a mentor for someone else as she was for me. I will never forget her. 

Bye for now! xx 

Not enjoying placement?

At the moment I am doing my last placement of my second year, health visiting. This is quite an odd placement for me as I am training to be an adult nurse. I went into the placement thinking that it would be a good opportunity to learn how to support parents, as I have met many patients who are parents that need supporting and I have been at a loss at what to do. 

I feel as though I was completely wrong. Although health visitors do support parents and families, it is more child centred. The health visitors I am working with are highly involved with post-natal depression and child protection issues. Supporting mothers with post-natal depression really interests me, as this is something I may come across, however it is not always appropriate for me to attend these visits, meaning I miss out on some crucial learning. 

More so, child protection is something I need to be aware of, however I also cannot always be involved in that. So my question was then, what on earth can I get out of this placement? 

At first thought, I was really disheartened and I was thinking that the next 4 weeks were going to be a waste of my training. But then I got to thinking hard and I thought of a few things that I might get out of this placement. And I thought these may be useful to others who might be going through the same thing.

1. Communication. I feel as though this is the perfect opportunity to really focus on my communication skills, with both adults and children. Children can come onto adults wards to visit family members and it would be important as a nurse to be able to communicate with these children, in the hopes of making them feel more comfortable in the strange setting such as a hospital. Also, if I end up working in the community as a district nurse I may visit someone with a child and it would be useful to be able to communicate with the child as well as the patient I am visiting. 

2. Confidence. I used to be a very shy person, and at times I still can be shy. My last placement in the intensive care unit really brought me out of my shell and I feel as though I am 100% more confident than I was when I first started that placement. I really have come a long way, but since this placement is so much out of my comfort zone I feel as though this is a good time for me to really really push myself, talk to patients when I feel scared and really put myself out there. 

3. Visits. By visits I mean exploring what else is out there in the community. I have planned visits with the district nurses, community midwife, GP's, Nursery nurse practitioners, pharmacy and to a children's centre. I feel as though by doing this I can gain more of an insight into what's out there for people who are in the community, giving myself more of an advantage when I am asked for advice and when I meet people who need a service but didn't know it is out there. 

That's all I have planned as it's such a short placement. But I am going to try so hard to get the best out of it. I'll report back in 4 weeks!! 

ITU Placement!

Hi!
So at the moment as part of my nursing course I am on week 7 of my 10 week intensive care unit placement. It's safe to say that I'm loving life! I'll be honest, at first I really didn't like it. I thought it was going to be totally different.
When I first started I was terrified, you walk in and see all these incredibly sick people. They loo delicate, soft and peaceful, but are critically ill. At first it's very overwhelming, there's so much to learn and remember, I was so scared and overwhelmed all the time.
Then, on the last day of my third week (I was just about to go home for Christmas) the sister pulls me into her office and says she's been told that I'm not enthusiastic enough. I was heartbroken because I'd been trying really hard to learn and to be engaged with these patients that I was terrified of. I went on my lunch break and cried. I was totally crushed. I then spoke to the nurse in the hospital who looks after all the students who made me feel so much better. She reminded me that it as only my third week and I was only at the beginning of my second year. She reminded me that it's scary and that it's okay to be scared. She gave me a boost in confidence that I definitely needed.

I then came back 3 months later ready for the remaining 7 weeks of my placement. I felt refreshed and excited, I knew what to expect and I had much more knowledge than I did previously. I was feeling confident about going back. And that nurse was right. I am now nearing the end of my second year, I know much more and felt much more comfortable engaging with these patients.

And yesterday I had a massive breakthrough, in my opinion. I saw a cardiac arrest, put in my first catheter, saw my first intubation (which I assisted with), helped with the transfer of a patient from A&E to ITU and I held someone's airway open for half an hour. Now, if anyone reading this is a student nurse, I can imagine you're excited with me. It was amazing. I had such an amazing day, I felt very confident the whole day and I felt in control. And to make it better, my mentor came on that night and told me about all the good feedback she'd had about me that day. She told me how incredibly proud of me she was and it really made me feel good. I have a brilliant mentor who has really given me the confidence I've needed, always making me feel like I've had a done a good job and always encouraging me to do better. She always makes me feel smart, even when I don't know the answer. And to make it better, she's an incredible nurse who I aspire to be like. Her patient care is golden and she really does care about my education and about the patients she is looking after. Always going the extra mile to make them comfortable, happy and making sure they feel safe. She's one of a kind.


I'm now looking forward to last 3 weeks of my placement, but also feeling sad that it's coming to an end. I really love it there, I might have finally found the place I want to work. I feel like I belong there, feeling an instinct when I walk onto the unit. I'm just loving life and I'm really feeling like I can do this. I can be a nurse. I am good enough and smart enough.

Hopefully others feel the same about their placements. Just remember, that even though sometimes things happen that break us, we can be put back together.

x