Week 2

Hi everyone!

Massive apologies for the lateness!

I did swear to myself i would keep on top of the blog, but my oh my is nursing a busy course!

I have just finished Week 2 of my course already and it is flying in. In 4 weeks i will be finishing classes and getting ready to start placement.  We have our placement details already and i am so excited! 

Of course due to protocol i cannot give any details of where i will be but i am really looking forward to it! 

It is crazy how quick the weeks are going and how much we are learning, so it is so important to keep yourself organised and motivated.  Unfortunately there is a drop out time at Christmas and the summer apparently where we will see a dip in numbers, but this is to be expected.  It is not an easy course nor is it simple.  We are learning a new topic or subject every lecture and we are expected to keep up.  This means a lot of reading in our own time and a lot of work.  I have spent at least an hour each night doing work to ensure i keep up with the workload.  

Luckily, i have a Wednesday off in this semester. So this means i can spend Wednesdays organising my work, revising and writing up notes.  This is so helpful as it is definitely something you need to do. 

I have used these Wednesdays to ensure i can keep up.  We had a class test today and we have one next week. These are usually fairly informal to help us learn where we need to revise more and where we are going wrong.  We do have an assignment and an exam before placement, then an assignment and another exam after placement as well as two portfolios we have to complete every week.

So whoever said nursing was easy was wrong! The academic side is great though as you can see where we need to learn and why.  I am really looking forward to placement and seeing how that goes.  Especially as university tries to accommodate according to your experience.  So we are asked to fill in a form that details where we have previously worked and how long for so they can organise our placements according to that. 

Then we have our practicals.  

These are a class once a week that we have that allow us to learn how to wash our hands following the 7 step procedure, we learn moving and handling, first aid, how to give injections, the aseptic technique, clinical observations, the list goes on.  It is helpful to show us how these things are done and allow us to get hands on experience. 

So as you can tell, they keep you on your toes when you are doing a nursing degree. However, if you have fought so hard to be there and you want to be a nurse. Nothing is to trying or too hard.  As you know the end goal is all completely worth it. This is what will keep you going when you are sat up at 2am writing assignments and proof reading! 

So, if you want to be a nurse and you know this is something you will work hard for and will remember that it is the beginning of your career, then you will remember it is worth the hard work and juggling! 

Best of luck to you all applying this year, it is amazing.