Results

Hey!

Hope everyone is doing well!

I have finished placement and I have received my final year results! 

And in case you have not guessed by all the exclamation marks I am over the moon!! 

It was what seemed like a very long day of having our results put online one by one.  Forever checking the university portal to see what we had! 

I think that was the most stressful thing about the exams! 

It was a very long day and our last result was not up until about 6pm. So you can imagine everyone's frustrations.  

There were a few students who failed an exam or assignments so they are redoing them in August.  There has been support from the tutors for them and then practice questions placed online for them to go over and hopefully assist with their exams. 

Anyhoo, I am so glad it is all over and done with. I have submitted my portfolio from placement and our OSCE results had to be stapled in there too. I also included drawings that I was given from students on my placement too (no names on them). So once that is marked by my tutor and then sent off to the exam board to be ratified then that is me done. We then have to register again in September to say we are returning and then our timetables and new modules will be placed online.  

I was so very happy with my results that I did a little happy dance around the house! 

So now I am going to enjoy a summer off.  I will be volunteering and doing duties with St John Ambulance to keep my clinical skills up.  I also have been driving the ambulance as well, so I will be studying for my test in that to then hopefully drive under blue light conditions.  I am also going to be working for the agencies that I am registered with, so I will be working in a variety of settings there too.  I find this not only helps with your clinical skills, but also helps in finding your feet in different settings and boosting your confidence.  It is just important to remember that although you can do things as a nursing student, when working, you may not be able to.  So always work within your remit and competencies.  

Enjoy your summer everyone, I will be back with a few more posts during, just not as regular as term time! 

Extra Curricular

As I have been so busy and have neglected all you readers for the last 2 weeks, here are two posts in one day!

Dont all fall over with shock.

Today is my day off!! 

I am working all weekend in my part time job, then I hit placement on Monday. So today I am making the most of it and organising, tidying and all the other grown up stuff that seemingly sucks at times when all you want is to have a pyjama day! 

I just wanted to let you all know what I have been doing, or attempting to do in my spare(ish) time.

I started rowing at the university and thoroughly enjoyed it. However with other commitments i have not been able to carry that on as yet. As I have mentioned before, I volunteer with St John Ambulance.  These past two weeks I have also had an exam in that as well. I was being assessed on my first aid skills and ability to use a defibrillator.  As I am sure you can understand, it has been a very busy few weeks.  The exam for SJA was an all day exam of training and assessments.  This may seem a lot but it is worth doing if you can.  Those in St John do notice a surge of people joining in September time to look good on applications and then dropping out later in the year.  However, St John will allow you to learn a lot more.  I have learnt a lot more about First Aid as well as ECG's and treating patients.  We do a lot of courses in our weekly meetings just for information for everybody.  This has come in handy especially for my university course.  So I am glad I am doing it.  

As well as that, I have also been elected as a course representative for learning disabilities.  So this means that I have had to attend meetings for that and try to keep everyone on the course updated with such things.  The university is looking into various ways to improve the application and interview process for nursing, hence a lot of our input is required.  

It is good to do though as everything always looks good on your curriculum vitae. There are possibilities to go on from here and represent your area with the RCN. They have elections each year and then every several years depending on the post.  This is something that will keep you busy but will also allow you to keep updated with what is going on in the nursing world.  

Then on top of that I have also been working part time to try and ensure I have an income! The bursary does help, but for anything for social activities and unforeseen bills etc, a little extra income is always good.  As i start placement on Monday, I will need to fund travelling to that until I finish and I can then claim this back from the bursary department.  This will mean keeping very organised and documenting mileage, keeping receipts and looking at parking costs.  I did look at public transport, however due to location it just is not feasible. 

Then, I have joined the university gym to try and keep fit and healthy.  You will feel so tired at some points, so I find staying in shape and exercising is a good way to maintain a good sleeping pattern and keep your energy levels up (along with a good eating plan!)

Sometimes it is impossible to go or you just have so much else on ( revision ) but it has helped in meeting others too.

To summarise, I feel like a very busy bee! 

On the other hand, I know if I'm not busy, usually that means something needs doing and I am probably avoiding something. It's good to keep organised and keep on top of things.  And above all, talk to people if you do start to feel overwhelmed..  There are plenty of other students going through the same thing and may just feel the same way.   

Must dash, vets appointment to attend now! (For the rabbits, not me!)

Joining St John Ambulance

So its been a busy few weeks since I was last typing away.

Im currently on annual leave from work and in the process of moving house.  It’s all a bit crazy! But I have got underway with doing many St John Ambulance duties as I’ve recently joined and I’m loving every minute of it. The other members are lovely and are more than helpful.  Got my uniform, been an observer on a few calls (as I’m still learning!)  and I’ve found a house, signed contract and started to get our stuff moved. 

Really have picked the worst time to go away as well so im trying to get everything done as best as I can.  My partner has resits these next coming weeks, I have a family wedding, the house move to sort and then getting everything sorted for uni.  Desperately trying to save money as well.

I don’t think it was ever going to be a stress free summer! But I am enjoying making the most of having time to myself with no deadlines over my head and no stressing about how to divide my time and my money!

But anyway.

St John Ambulance have been great.  I have found this great preparation for going back to university and brushing up on the basics.  I have done my TFA (Trainee First Aid) exam and passed J I have then had my police check and had the chance to observe on some patient transfer calls as well as helping the local trust with calls.  This has been a great way of getting to know how St John Ambulance operate and to keep my people skills fresh.  I have also been assisting in other exams by pretending to be a casualty. So far, I have had a stroke in the toilets, I have been an elderly lady with COPD, I have had a bleeding leg, a burnt arm, ive had shock, ive been blind, the list goes on! This is a great way to see how others deal with patients and how the training classes go within SJA.  It means when it comes to the time I have to do them I should be prepared!

Not everyone will pass.  I was a casualty to some people who were told to go and practice and brush up on their knowledge. Maybe it was nerves or maybe just lack of knowledge I’m not sure.  All I know is they needed to be calm, level headed and professional.  Referring to a colleague as a friend is never encouraging for the casualty.  But the knowledge that the higher members have is great.  Many of the members are involved in the healthcare industry anyway.  We have paramedics, doctors, nurses, student paramedics, student nurses, an undertaker, a shop assistant, a telephone operator… So it goes to show although we have many that have medical knowledge outside of SJA, some will be getting that from SJA itself.  SJA will allow me to learn the biology and the care that is needed when responding to an emergency call for example, and then university will teach me how that care is continued on.  So the 2 are linking up brilliantly. And the best thing about it is that all of St John Ambulance members are voluntary.   So you know that everyone has a passion and want to be there.  It is great to see that.  It does make me wonder why the likes of St John Ambulance, Red Cross etc do not get more good press.  Or even other health care professionals.  Every time a nurse or a hospital etc is in the news it always seems to be negative.  Which is a great pity as the work that goes on is astounding.  The work people put in, not just in work hours as well.  Many go above and beyond for their patients and this simply doesn’t seem to make it to the public domain as much as it should. 

Moving house is turning into a slight nightmare as I go away and I’m leaving my poor partner with the majority of the work to do.  But unfortunately (for him), a family wedding has to come first! The main thing is the packing and the paperwork.  It would be nice if I could have some Diet Coke men come along, pack it all up and I could sit back and relax, but a woman can dream!

I suppose this is just a testament of the things to come.  No one ever said becoming a nurse was easy and university will involve a lot of hard work and dedication but if you want something bad enough, you can achieve it. 

I am starting to get very excited now as I keep continuing to count down the days.  I just keep getting a little geekily excited at desk shopping and organising our study for keeping track of everything.  I have bought a couple of wall calendars from Amazon (others are available!) as well as a planner and some files.  Just need a few shelves or a unit to put them all on.  I am hoping to put a few photos on here once it is all done.   The study needs a lick of paint first though, and ive been told no fluffy decorations etc. as it will detract from the learning! (Humph)

But it is all starting to come together now!

I just need to do the horrible dreaded notice now and then hand that into work.  Unfortunately due to where I work I cannot stay on due to the hours etc.  I will really miss the place and I don’t want to leave, but I have to do what is best for me in the long run.