Induction Week (Welcome Week)

So Welcome Week,

Or Fresher's Fortnight as it was known, flew by!

It was so much fun though.  Plenty of freebies, pens, pizza, sweets, popcorn...it goes on.

Take full advantage of this when you can in Freshers, those free pens come in handy!

It was a whirlwind though. Met plenty of people from my course through all four branches (Adult, Child, Mental Health and Learning Disability).  We had the local radio station down at the university doing giveaways, we had the society fair where you can sign up for all manners of societies depending on your interests and how much free time you think you may have.  It was a lot of fun.  

As i am doing Learning Disability Nursing, or in fact nursing in general, our Welcome Week was induction week.  This meant that we were in a lot of lectures and tutorials to allow us to get to know the structure of the course and general health and safety stuff that we need to know. It did mean that we may not have had as free a week as some other students, but nursing is full on from the word go essentially.  So be prepared to work hard! 

We had classes on health and safety, fire training, introduction to each module and information on how the course is structured.  We were told how to use the library, how to search for resources, how to access our university email and how our placements worked.  

Of course this sort of information will be individual to the university you attend and how the course is structured. 

Welcome Week passes so quickly and i cannot believe how mad it was. Finding your way around campus and finding everyone, meeting up with people and organising how you are going to study is crucial.  As once lectures get underway it is fast paced and it is important you keep up with everything.  

It was a fun week and one in which you see many student going out, getting to know one another and discovering university for the first time.  As i had already been to university, this Welcome Week was very different! The difference in the younger Freshers to the older ones is somewhat evident when you can see people coming in first thing in the morning for lectures! 

Overall, Welcome Week...enjoy it!

1 more sleep..

So I have one more sleep until university begins. 

Funny isn't it from how when we are children we count down in sleeps and this continues on into adulthood!

But i have had some panicky moments over the weekend thinking "What am I doing?!" and "Will it all be okay?" "Will I cope financially?" "Will i get on okay with everyone?" "Will I pass?" 

All common questions that I believe probably go through everyone's mind when they start university, never mind nursing  After leaving work after having been in a full time role for 5 years it is going to be a little shock to the system I think, even if I have been to university before!

It is somewhat surreal knowing that tomorrow I begin university and I learn to become a nurse. After all the waiting, the applying, more waiting, the preparation, it's finally here.  I am so glad we have social media as well as i have managed to find classmates and meet up with a few people to attend occupational health and enrolment with. I think this has helped settled people a little and realise that everyone will be feeling exactly the same at some point or another.  The girls i have met have been lovely and the age range is varied.  The youngest is 18 and I think the oldest so far is in her forties!  So proof that no matter your age or experience you can succeed in getting into university if you apply yourself right.  

So in preparing for tomorrow I have been out this week and bought a new school bag 

Nothing too exciting, but I went for practical! I wanted a bag I know I can carry my books, my notes, lunch, water bottle and anything else in there. So its a 35L bag, so I am hoping that is plenty of room.  I didn't want a shoulder bag as I will be walking to university and I know in the long run I need to look after my back, especially in this line of work.  

I have also been messaging family and friends for any tips and any help they want to throw my way! So luckily I have an amazing family who are buying me some books so I have them to hand.  I have only asked for three which are fundamental for the three years of the course.  (I have found this out from asking others on social media from the same university I am attending) I have also bought some new highlighters, note pads, lever arch files and various other bits and bobs.  Hopefully this week I'll find out what else may be needed. But i'm sure another post on my organisation will follow.  

My partner is currently building us a desk and shelves in the study. So hopefully I can get some photographs up of that when it is complete.  He didn't want to buy a desk, they weren't big enough or wide enough or sturdy enough.  This is what happens when you live with someone who is a mechanical engineer apparently! At least he is practical!

As well as the desk building and bag buying, I have also printed off my timetable that is available on our student portal.  I have been reading through past exam papers that I have found and I have looked at what books I need from the library.  This last one is well worth doing if you can.  I have found one book which I need and all 10 copies are on loan.  So it is obviously a popular book! I have reserved this so hopefully I can have this soon. Mainly because we have an exam on our timetable already and I want to be prepared.  

So instead of counting down the days, it has now come to that point where we have gotten into hours.  When I was posting in May it felt so far away and that it would never come round.  But sure enough here it is and it feels like this summer has flown by.  

This time in three years i'll be waiting on my NMC registration and my PIN coming through. But first, a lot of hard work and dedication ensues! 

Occupational Health

Last week I had my occupational health appointment at the university.
Luckily I started my hepatitis b course back in March as I knew I'd need it. I got this free through work, but if you go to your doctor sometimes they make you pay for each injection. But the hep b course is 3 injections. You have your first one, then another a month later, then another one five or so months later. You can have the accelerated course which takes place over 3/4 months.
I was due my last injection this week so it's has fallen quite good! So I had my injection, then the nurse then checked over my hands, arms and elbows to look for any skin conditions that could be irritated by frequent hand washing. I was asked a few questions to ensure what I had put on my form hadn't changed. Then i was done! Now i have an appointment in a few weeks to have a blood test to see if the Hep B course has worked.  This will test my immunity and see if i may need a booster.
So now it's just waiting until we start.
I had my last day at work on Friday which was a little sad but also a very good day knowing I'm moving onto something I've wanted to do for years now. Work were lovely and so supportive of my leaving to do nursing.  It's nice to have that support around you. I think it makes such a difference.  I was given flowers, a gift card, a bottle of wine and a card. I got many hugs from the students (service users of the facility) and many requests to come back and visit! So im hoping i can pop back in and keep them up to date with how things are going.
It's exciting knowing I'm about to embark on a new chapter in life that is the beginning of my career. The anticipation is amazing. But I'm sure In a few months after I'm so tired from working and revising my mood may be a little different! But I have this blog to look back on and to remind myself of just why im doing this and how hard it's been to get here.
Reflection is something you have to learn to do, and do well, for your course. So a blog is ideal. Of course I didn't start this blog primarily for that, but for the gap I've noticed in the wealth of information that is out there.
Despite trawling books, blogs, journals, Internet site after site and asking many people, there isn't a great deal of information relating to learning disability nursing. I can only hope that this blog is informative and can help others in deciding what branch they want to go and study and practice in. People do change their minds and life paths change, sometimes due to reasons beyond our control. However, after being in this field for the past 4 years I can say it's something I love doing and enjoy going to work. Not waking up with that dreaded 'Monday feeling' is great!

Enrolment - Part 2

So i've now enrolled online and keep checking my university emails.

Enrolling was pretty straight forward, follow a step by step system of inputting names, addresses, emergency contacts and how to pay your fees. As i am doing a nursing course this is currently still funded by the NHS, so i don't have to worry about fee payment. 

That does make me feel a lot better as going from a full time salary to a small bursary is difficult.  I have been budgeting since i knew i was successful in gaining a place. 

Feels weird now having to do that, after graduating 5 years ago it's beginning to feel like another lifetime. 

So much has happened since then. And it does sound so clichéd but time definitely seems to go quicker as you get older!

And now it is enrolling down at the university. Since i have organised our study and all my paperwork, all my certificates, from my GCSE's to training at work, are all in one folder. This meant i could take the folder down to university and let them have a look and see the originals. TIP: Never lose any certificate you are ever given as even years down the line they may be needed! I completed my GCSE's over 10 years ago and i still have them and still need them!

Enrolment is fairly straight forward, it's remembering to bring everything with you. 

Your university will tell you what is needed, in terms of ID, certificates, if you need to bring a photo or if they take one on the day (don't turn up hungover looking worse for wear!).

We had our photo taken and our certificates checked.  We were then measured for our uniform and had to pay for that (remember the cheque book) and then through to confirm our enrollment.  We had to go through our details and ensure we had certificates if they were needed. From this, through to yet another room to get our photo taken for our student card. 

It was all very straight forward and the staff helping us out were students at the university so we knew we were in good hands! After that we were given a time for our occupational health check by the university. This is next week. I don't know exactly what they are going to do but i can't imagine it being much different from my occupational health check for work. But i am sure i will let you all know! 

So now i have my student card that says i am a nursing student, i have my timetable (this is posted online) and i have my uniform ordered. Seems to be getting very real now!

I also have gone down to the library and being a little ahead of everyone else got a few books out :D 

Only because i know once we have our reading lists everyone will be straight to the library to get them out or to buy them. So through research i have taken out the basic ones which i had taken out a while back (mentioned in a previous post).  

Now its stationery and bag buying time!