Placement 2 - Done!

Hi all!

apologies for the lateness of this post!

I have finished my second placement and I have now learnt what my third placement is and I cannot wait.

We finished placement, returned to university for the week and then we have a week off for easter. So it doesn't seem long and other universities have longer, but I believe the university makes this up to us for the length of our summer holidays! (And yes, I will be working most of it!)

I have the great opportunity to go back to where I used to work for 6 weeks (unsure how or why!) I have contacted a few I'm still in touch with and it's nice to know they're looking forward to having me back...even if this time I'm there for free ha!

It has been such a whirlwind. I finished my placement and loved every minute of it. I will say my first placement was a lot more enjoyable but I think that was due to this being my out of field placement. If anything, this placement has just cemented for me that learning disability nursing is definitely the branch for me. There has been a few people that are looking to swap but they were thinking that before our second placement, so it isn't really all that surprising to be honest.

I have learnt that when you are student of learning disability nursing, and beyond, it takes you to be strong and stand up for what you believe in. I have lost count of the amount of times I have told people that doing learning disability means we are there for all ages.

I recently posted this on my twitter and I've had some great responses from it...

Being a learning disability nurse is something I have chosen, not something I was left with. I chose my branch, I chose my career. I shouldn't have to make that clear and I shouldn't have to defend it. 

In regards to class, shockingly, I have all of 5 weeks left and I will have finished. 

I have 5 weeks of class, then a week of exams and then my final placement. And hopefully, no resits in the summer! 

So where I have said this over and over, I will say it again. Make the most of your time and be productive. This year has flown by and seeing people arrive for interviews and looking so nervous just reminds me it was me this time last year. I was constantly checking UCAS and I was forever checking the post. I was worse than a guard dog every time the post arrived! 

But it was so worth it. That summer that seemed to drag before hand, was amazing. I didn't have anything to worry about and I made the most of it. As now, exams are looming and I have deadlines everywhere. I feel like every spare moment I should be revising.  And sometimes it is hard to get in that rhythm admittedly. However, I just think in a month, it'll just about all be over. 

And then I'll be looking forward to year 2. 

Where our classes branch off to our chosen branches and we learn more about our field of nursing. We will see more of each other from our fields and we will have more specific placements. I am really looking forward to second year.  More so than I was about even starting almost!