127 Days....Not That I'm Counting!

So…its 127 days until my first class :D 

I feel so excited!!!! However, i actually enrol way before that and get measured for my uniform etc at the very beginning of September. I’ve been trying to keep my mind busy so i have managed to get a copy of R&W Anatomy and Physiology to read up on during the summer. I’ve bought a few books already but they were purchased last year and very early on this year for fairly good prices before demand for them went up! And i got a BNF for my birthday so that’s hopefully going to come in handy.

So i’m not going to buy anymore until university as i know the library stocks a lot of them. And due to me and my partner attending different universities i can also use his library and get books should the others all be out on loan. But the key thing here is to be very very organised!

I remember last time i was at university and come exam time or assignment deadlines looming, all the books were out on loan. So the key is to reserve and have them on loan for near assignment time and to begin that assignment as soon as possible! So im going to hopefully get myself a big wall planner to keep track of everything. 

And i have my phone that is got my planner on as well as linking that with my laptop and then also my trusty Filofax! Couldn’t live without a paper planner / diary. I dont have the best of luck with technology and last time i was completing my dissertation, my whole computer crashed. Everything was lost. Despite many techy friends coming to my aid, i was unable to recover about 90% of the work i had done. So i was back to the start. So always, always, back up your work! I now have 2 USB sticks as well as various online storage facilities and 2 external hard drives. Paranoid? Hmm maybe perhaps..but i’ve learnt and i certainly won’t be losing anything important again! 

So. Thus far i have filled out my police check (DBS or Access NI depending on where you are), i have also had information through the post about my occupational health check. That is almost complete… just waiting on information from my own occupational health department to be sent through the post so i can forward this on to the university’s occupational health department. Luckily my doctor was able to print off and sign my vaccination history very promptly. I was unable to attend the information day the university had for us soon to be students, but this info was sent through the post. This included uniform costs, what to do in the meantime, dates they would be in touch for enrolling, how to sort our NHS Bursary out (the uni forwards on the information to the NHS Bursary department who then contacts us) and last but not least, a little information about our placements. 

I have to commend the university. They have been very prompt in sending out information and getting us organised with police check etc. This is very good considering the amount of police checks that are sent off during the summer months. So i guess my blog may be a little quiet over these summer months apart from you keeping updated with how things are going in regards to getting sorted for September. But then i’m hoping to keep this updated on a regular basis. Not least for reflective practice (very important), but to help potential applicants for Sept 15 entry.

I have scoured the internet high and low for learning disability blogs (not that many), or websites dedicated to the field. It still seems to be a little known field and many seem to think that it may not be worth going into. I’ve heard various things about people worrying about job prospects afterwards and that there aren’t as many clinical skills needed etc. However, anyone who goes into nursing shouldn’t have job prospects as a main deciding factor. I personally believe that you go into it for the love of it, and because you want to be an advocate for your patients. And in L.D nursing, this to me is the most vital aspect of it. A lot of people with a learning disability have communication difficulties, and it is these people who need someone to be an advocate. To help them to communicate, to understand and to ensure they have the capacity to be making any decisions whether that is in regard to their medical health or for something as simple as if they understand how to make a hot drink. 

I personally cannot wait to start the journey in becoming a learning disability nurse. And if you look, there are always jobs for learning disability nurses. They won’t go away. People with learning disabilities aren’t, so why would their need for care? I am hoping to become dually qualified so i can also work with those with mental health. Many people with learning disabilities can have mental health problems too, so to be dually qualified means i will have a greater understanding of my patients and be able to help them a lot more. 

To understand the journey the term ‘learning disabilities’ has made, and those people with learning disabilities, have a look at MENCAP’s report entitled ‘Death by Indifference’ or even ‘Learning Disability Nursing Practice : Origins, Perspectives and Practice’ by Mark Jukes. The attitudes towards those with learning disabilities has changed greatly and so has the care they receive. So by becoming a student L.D nurse, you and I are helping not only those with L.D’s but the general public to overcome the obstacles of understanding and caring, but to carry forward the message that every single one of us is an individual, but we are all equal as individuals. 

If you have any questions or would like to know more..don’t hesitate to ask! That’s primarily why i have started this blog. To help others in understanding learning disability nursing. And the journey in becoming a learning disability nurse. After all, we all as health care professionals are here to help and assist one another in being better at our jobs in all aspects for the welfare of the patients. Clichéd as it may be, we are part of a family. And families are there to support.