Placement 4 - Complete

So i have finished placement 4 and it has been amazing!

I have noticed a massive difference from first year to second year. 

I have had a lot more responsibility this placement and i have been expected to do a lot more on my own intitative.  

In this placement; 

I completed patient admissions; discharges; signed in and out medications; been responsible for patient belongings; ive changed beds; set up beds for patient arrivals; i have been able to meet the children's parents and families; i was able to complete their documentation, complete body check and risk assessment forms; i was able to do day and night duty shifts; administer medication; do pharmacy orders; set up feeds via pumps and administer boluses; monitor nutritional intake; the list goes on...

I was also able to go in with the children to one of their schools. I organised this myself after speaking to school staff.  I wasnt able to spend time with the school nurse as the nurse also had students with her on placement in there.  However, I wanted to spend time in the classrooms and see what happened day to day with the children and how the teachers and the school adapted to each child's needs.  The school was amazing and have also offered me to go in again any time if i need any help or want to observe any more lessons.  I was also fortunate enough to see them competing a dress rehearsal for their Christmas play. That was incredible!

Each child was involved and had done their own play for each group of ages, or classrooms due to the size of the school.  Some groups used video cameras to film and create special effects, some made some incredible props (a Dolerean, giant backdrops and jellyfish to name a few!). The children and the staff were amazing and i really couldnt fault them.  They were very welcoming and only to happy to help me with my portfolio.  I would love to go back at some point! 

I am now in the community for my next placement so I will be really looking forward to that.  I should be able to do assessments, be responsible for a case load and look after patients from admission to discharge.  This placement I have just finished should hopefully have prepared me for such!

I hope everyone has a good Christmas and A Happy New Year and I shall look forward to hearing how you got on with applications!

(I shall be enjoying a break home and then straight to the library for finishing me essay that is due in when im back)

Revision and assignments....the life of a nursing student.

Placement 1 - Finished!

I've finished my very first placement! 

It has been amazing. I have learnt so much and I have chance to do a lot. Massive thank you to the staff and patients for being so accommodating. 

I have loved every minute of it.

It's tiring getting up at 5.30am and working 13 hour days then having to travel home again only to be back on first thing some days.  But it is worth it. As per my previous posts, I have been able to do injections, enemas, peg medication, other medications, learn how to monitor and manage diabetes. I have had chance to meet with the speech and language therapist  (SALT), the aromatherapist, the orthotics team and the dental team. I have had chance to see multidisciplinary team meetings being carried out, I've seen how resettlement works for patients moving into the community from hospital and I have had chance to meet the doctors involved in the patient care. I have seen their admissions to other hospital facilities and I have had the chance to really experience patient care in hospital facilities for those with learning disabilities. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt so much. My mentor was very understanding and helpful in my learning. I was able to shadow my mentor and they were able to show me various different aspects of nursing care. I was also given aims and objectives for my next placement from my mentor that we agreed upon together in my assessment meeting. I have an initial meeting with my mentor to agree on what I want to get out of the placement and if I have any additional needs. Then half way through we have another meeting to see how I am progressing and what I have gained from placement thus far. Then in my final week I had my final assessment. This involved answering 4 questions based on the care of one patient on the ward. We then have to assess ourselves using the Bondy Scale and the assessor uses this to then look at how we have progressed during our placement. 

This is all in our portfolios. This is handed in once we go back to university where our personal tutor looks through it. They look at any absences, any night duties completed and any issues we may have had. This portfolio is then given back with any feedback and then we take this to our next placement. The portfolio is to last for the 3 years we are at university so it's important we take care of it and do not lose it. As you will then have to find all your old mentors etc and get them to re-sign everything they have written. 

But I am now so glad to be off for Christmas.  We start back early January unlike other courses so it's a short time off but I will be enjoying my Christmas with family and putting my feet up. To say I'm tired is an understatement at this very moment in time!

Merry Christmas to you all. 

⛄

And is hope next year brings the good news you're hoping for! 

Phase 1 - Complete!

Apologies for the long gap in updating you all!

But that's my first phase of university done. The last two weeks have been a little mad. 

We had our presentation and exam to do, then found out in our tutorial we had to prepare another presentation. Just to keep us on our toes! 

So yesterday I had a presentation, an assessment and then an exam. It has been rather manic these last two weeks getting together with my group and then revising and preparing things as well as sorting out an order I had done for everyone. So it's been a busy couple weeks. But I've thoroughly enjoyed it! 

I hae been in touch with my placement and I have organised my hours with them and if I need to wear uniform or not. I have collected that last week and I have collected my name badge. I have my fob watch and I have a little notebook to put in my tunic pocket as well. So I'm all organised. I'm just going shopping on the weekend to get some food in for lunches while I'm on placement. 

It's has gone so quick it's unbelievable. I have learnt so much already and there's a lot more to come!

It has seemed so stressful but so worth it. I'm still awaiting my score on our presentation but for my exam i got a first so im happy as whoever Larry may be with that!

It has gone so quick and it is worth noting, revise as you go. It soon sneaks up on you all those deadlines that you have and what you need to do to keep organised.  University has had such an impact on a lot of people and it is sad when we see people having to leave to return next year due to unforeseen circumstances.  However, as it has gone so quick you do need to take everything on board and a little more. 

Make the most of it as I am sure before I know it, I will have finished first year! (Thinking positive) 

I start placement on Monday so I am sure that will be eye-opening.  I cannot wait.  A few people are a little nervous and dont know what to expect. This in itself is to be expected, especially if you have not had any sort of care experience before. It can seem a little daunting.  But you do have staff on placement to help you as well as the university staff.  So if you do struggle with anything, all I can say is make the most of the help available to you.  That's the good thing about doing a nursing course. The staff and others know that you're human. You can only do so much and you can only cope with so much. To have that support there is fantastic.  

So here I am, looking forward to another 6 weeks of work on placement, completing my portfolio and making sure I can get my skills and competencies ticked off. I have been told to read up on anything I am interested in and asking if i can observe and assist in procedures if I feel I am confident enough to do so. So there is my homework for placement! 

I am going to be trying to do as much as I can when i can and make the most of the 6 weeks. As if the last 6 weeks (7 if you include induction week) are anything to go by, I expect it to fly in. 

Good luck to everyone submitting applications, it is stressful and even more stressful waiting and not knowing.  But that in itself is a learning curve for you and how you cope under pressure and waiting for such a long time.  So make the most of the free time you do have. It is a luxury when you get any at university!