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! 

Ignorance is not bliss.

So only a few more weeks to go until induction.
I've been trying to get my blog out there and make and more people aware of the learning disability branch of nursing. Especially when I am still seeing articles of health care professionals (hcp's) not understanding or even trying to, those with a learning disability. It has to be one of the most annoying things that those who are meant to be trained and work following the 6 c's of nursing ignoring all that?
In the past week I've had 2 very recently qualified adult nurses talk about how l.d is all community and how we don't do anything clinical and how we can't do iv's and we can't take blood and we can't do x, y and z.
It shows that even the most recently trained of nurses can still be ignorant. I have been told communicating isn't hard and how l.d is not a hard subject.
It does take a lot for me to not bite people's heads off at such things! In the years I've worked with people with l.d and the hcp's that liaise with them I've seen appalling communication! Talking to me and not the individual, pretending to understand then looking to me for clarification, just simply nodding and agreeing, hoping that the individual may stop talking. Constantly asking other hcp's for help when the person may be showing a behaviour that may challenge.
The list can go on and on.
Yet it is the carers and the health care professionals that work with the individual on a frequent basis that will know most about that person. And there are many conditions that people with learning disabilities have that many people have not heard of. All of this needs to be publicised more and to give those with a learning disability a bigger voice. There is only so much the parents or carers can do. They need the likes of learning disability nurses to assist them, to enable them to look after the individual to their best ability. They want the public to know more, the doctors, the nurses, the psychologists, the speech and language team, everyone needs to be made more aware.
Learning disabilities are not going to go away. They won't diminish and they certainly will not stop happening.
If you're scared there's not going to be a job at the end of the degree, don't be.
People are living longer, they're living fuller and sometimes riskier lives. People are having children later on in life, people may experience medical trauma. All of the above and more can contribute as to why someone may have a learning disability. And these people need qualified knowledgeable professionals to help and assist in their care.
Learning disability nurses can deal with newborn babies, premature, and inutero.  They can deal with children and adults. Learning disabilities do not discriminate with age. They can affect anyone. So in being a learning disability nurse you are experiencing a wide age range. A variety of people. And that makes you just as qualified as any other branch.

My Books So Far.....

So far i have bought a few books in my application journey.

I bought these to help me through my application, from understanding how to go about applying, what to put in my personal statement and then just some basic revision.

So i thought i would share with you guys what i have thus far.

I don’t anticipate needing much more as i hope to make fantastic use of the library and save myself a few pennies in doing so. Don’t be in some mad rush to start buying textbooks thinking you will need everything on your reading list either. There is your university library, sometimes if there is another university near by you can go in and have a read but not loan their books (depending on their policies). There are also many journals online you will have access to through university. As well as this, there are free books you can access through ereading websites or at a cheaper cost than actual books. Then you always have the option of creating a study group and borrowing coursemates books (and of course returning the favour!) Then your local library may have some books (not always) that could be useful. There are plenty of ways to access information online, and it doesn't always have to be from a book in front of you.

Just always remember to cite your articles / information and to include these in your references on any work piece. Plagiarism is not big or clever and will get you kicked off your course. Anything, including anything you read in a blog (hint!), a newspaper article, a radio debate etc needs to be referenced. Your university will have their own system on how to do this and usually classes or a book in telling you how to do so correctly. More often than not its the Harvard Referencing System they like to use.

Anyhooooo….serious stuff over! Back to the books…

I do plan on taking a picture of all of them, but its finding the time at the minute to do so! As sometimes its easier to remember what a cover looks like to help when searching rather than names and / or titles.

My List;

Textbooks



The Student Nurse Handbook - Siviter

• BNF 53 and 66 (You can get these from your local pharmacy free usually if you ask nicely enough!)

• Illustrated Clinical Anatomy - Abrahams, Craven & Lumley 

• Many copies of The Nursing Times

• Many copies of The Nursing Standard

• Oxford Dictionary of Nursing - Oxford University Press

• Law and Ethics in Nursing - Avery (Won this from tweeting! - Thank you Nursing Times! & Sage Publishing) 

Epilepsy - A Patient Handbook - Dr Jim Marrow (Given this on a training course) 

Matron Knows Best - J.Woodcock (A fascinating read into the 'old' NHS) 

Ebooks

• The Royal Hospital Manual Of Clinical Nursing Procedures - Dougherty & Lister

• Ross & Wilson Anatomy & Physiology In Health and Illness - Waugh & Grant

So as you can see i dont have that many books when it comes to nursing!

I have now managed to get access to my soon to be university library through work. So i have already ventured in there to have a look and to see what books they have. And i was a little in book heaven! 

Plenty of books to choose from and plenty of copies as well as computers and journals. So im glad i have a little heads up before September. 

I've also been advised by some other already learning disability nurses to loan a few books which i have done. 

So i now have on loan;

• Oxford Handbook of Learning and Intellectual Disability Nursing  - Gates & Barr / Oxford 

• Learning Disabilities Towards Inclusion - B. Gates 

• The Clinical Placement, A Nursing Survival Guide - T. Levett-Jones & S.Bourgeois

So i am hoping that this helps somewhat in getting an idea of the preparation i've done as well as calming any worries about buying a load of books. Some may be better to have a copy of if they are always on loan, however, it's a little hard to tell what those books are until university actually gets underway. 

So good luck for all your future reading!

What To Do Before Becoming A Student Nurse

• Brush up on your math skills as much as possible..drug calculations etc. There are some good websites out there to help, and BBC Bitesize is good for the basics if you haven’t touched on that in a while.

• Following on from this…familiarise yourself with Anatomy & Physiology. There will be exams on this! And this will help loads in learning little bits at a time during your free time. When else will you have this many months of preparation for a single topic where nothing else is also hanging over your head?

• Enjoy your free time as much as possible. Nursing degrees are in university attendance a lot longer than some other degrees. The summer before you start may be your last one with a lot of free time. The following summers you may spend revising, working and / or on placement. Make the most of seeing people and having days where you know you can enjoy the sunshine. It sucks having to be sat in, or even in your garden surrounded by books while everyone is off to Alton Towers or a BBQ..but it definitely pays to work hard!

• Get some stationary and get yourself organised - This includes a USB and / or portable hard drive to back up all of your work. (And me..personally i backup, my backup. As mentioned previously., me and technology sometimes have little fallings out!) Get some lever arch files to organise your notes. And a wall calendar i have always found helps immensely for keeping track of deadlines. And not forgetting, pens pens and more pens. And a pen clip if you’re anything like me. I have lost pens from my tunic pocket at work more often than enough. Bending over making beds, doing personal care etc. My pens have met untimely ends in toilets, bins, soiled laundry and well..you get the picture.

• Socialise! Both online and offline! Make yourself known on twitter etc. I have won a book through this and had tweets published, and it always helps to know your stuff on all things in your chosen field as well as others and all NHS info. Health care is constantly changing and being updated, so it pays to have the most up to date knowledge when it comes to assignments and helping your patients. Just please remember confidentiality. There is nothing worse than working so hard to get where you are to be kicked off your course or have your PIN withdrawn for some daft comment you have made about how bad your day was or how drunk you were the night before.

• In relation to the above…housekeeping. As you are going to be on placement and trained through the NHS, you are now looked at very differently from ‘ordinary students’. Thus, look at your online presence. Can people see you in ridiculous photos on social networking sites? Have you made any stroppy comments about anything that can bring yourself or others into disrepute? Worth thinking about. I have had friends delete all photos from websites, change privacy settings and even their online name so people cannot link them. Nothing worse than having a patient / client etc saying “I see you had a great night last night, bit drunk were we?” Or “That photo of you flashing your bum was hilarious..hope to see more ;) ” This can and will happen, so be aware!

• Research. This is so important. Research your university course you want to apply for, as well as the universities you apply to. Research what field of nursing you apply for and how you can progress. Is there a speciality you’re interested in? Research it! You may not have a definitive idea of how or where you want your career to progress in, but even a vague one is better than nothing. And if you’re ever asked..it may help to know (!)

• Get excited!!! This is a great opportunity and you are about to embark on what is the rest of your life. Never forget the privileged position you are in and why you started in the first place. After all, nursing is an amazing career and will have many ups and downs. Remembering why you are there and how you got to be there can help to keep you grounded and a little more sane when you have those busy insane days where it feels like nothing has gone right.

I’m sure i’ll end up adding more to this once i start. But this is a list from all my research and talking to student nurses etc. I am very lucky in that my place of work sees a lot of placement students. And they are more than happy to answer all my questions that i bug them with! But i will repay the favour when i’m in the same position (fingers crossed everything goes according to plan that is!)


If you can think of anything to add to this then please feel free.


Hope this has helped somewhat and best of luck for the future!

Why Learning Disability Nursing?

I suppose when most people ask me why learning disability nursing, i always reply “Why not?” 

It isn’t something most people think of when they think of nursing. Or a field that people may think needs specialised nurses. But the reality is that as we live longer, as we progress in medicine, as we find new cures and new medications, as we advance as we species, there will be new diseases, new learning disabilities and new immunities. 

And there are many, many people that have learning disabilities. It may be mild, they may be very high functioning in that they lead a reasonably independent life. Or it may be that they have such profound learning disabilities that the individual needs care with every aspect of their daily life. And for that reason, i want to help shape the care of the future for those with learning disabilities.

                                             

It is important to recognise the difference between learning disabilities and learning difficulties.

A learning difficulty doesn’t affect general intelligence (IQ) whereas a learning disability does.

Examples of learning difficulties may be dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD.

Learning disabilities on the other hand do affect IQ. And generally to be identified as having a learning disability, three criteria need to be met. These are; early onset (presenting before aged 18 years) ; intellectual impairment and social or adaptive dysfunction.

(Please see BILD for more information)

I recently posted that the reason for me going into learning disabilities is to make a difference. To be more than just an advocate, but to show people that those with learning disabilities need to be included, not secluded. And this is enforced in my mind every day.

I work with adults with learning disabilities, and i have done for the past 4 years. i originally started out as a support worker for adults with learning disabilities. This was after i went out to America to work in a special needs camp. Hands down the best summer of my life!

Well worth doing if you ever have the chance. I met some amazing people, it helped shape me as a person and cemented my career goals and aspirations for working with people who need that care and support.

Anyway, i digress.

Working as a support worker i was able to see how those with learning disabilities function day to day. How they integrate within their local community. How they achieve the most monumental of feats due to support, education and assistance.

I then started to be interested in the ‘what happens next?’

Its okay for people to see the day to day functioning, but what happens when someone with a learning disability is admitted to hospital? How do health professionals monitor health? Especially in those with communication difficulties?

I then began working in end of life care, to gain insight into the more clinical side of care. To see what is needed for people in such vulnerable positions. This was eye opening. I worked with people in their own homes who chose to return there from a hospice or hospital setting. And i loved it. Not many people can work with those who need such terminal care, and some may say it takes a special kind of person. But i, myself, would have remained doing that work for a lot longer than i did. But i needed to progress in my career!

So then onwards to working in a day centre facility with adults with learning disabilities. Some have been attending for years, some months and some only weeks. Some are making the transition from child services to adult services. This again, has been another way for me to see yet another side of the care and support that adults with learning disabilities receive. It is a fascinating job and it is utterly amazing the work the staff do. Everything is monitored from weight, hearing, eyesight, communication, to completing goals and tasks to enable someone to write their own name, to choose their lunch independently, to being able to go to zumba classes or even scuba diving!

The work that goes on in a day centre is massively undervalued. When i have worked in supported living (which i still do), i have met staff that will say they dont know what the staff in day centres do. Or why are they so nosey ringing up all the time? Or why do they get paid loads for doing nothing? The list goes on. But what some of these people fail to realise is that all those involved in the care of an individual need to work together. They need to utilise their abilities to communicate and do so! And by doing so it improves the individual’s quality of life, their care and their task learning.

So from here i now go to university (again) in September.

I get to learn more about the care of those with a learning disability and hopefully get to make a difference to someone, even if it is merely helping them put a shoe on. It is the littlest of things that can sometimes make the biggest of differences to a person.

After all, isn’t that what nursing is about?

The Interviews

They are nerve wracking and a lot does depend on your interview performance. But they are worth it. 

The interview panel usually consists of nurses who may now lecture at the university you have applied for and some may even be local nurses. All the interview is, is to get to know you as a person. To understand if who you said you are in your application is true. 

After all, nursing gets more and more competitive each year. The standard is being driven up and up. The government keeps changing their minds on what they want student nurses to be and / or have. Do you have GCSE’S? A-Levels? Access course with good marks throughout? Experience? Will you not be those that the media have deemed “too posh to wash”?

Universities are continually changing their entry criteria in line with the government and the likes of the NMC. Examples of this are:

Have you completed study in the last 5 years? The last 3?

Have you GCSE's grade A-C in English, Maths and Science? Grades A-B?

Do you have a-levels? Does one of those need to be in a science based subject?

It is hard, it can be difficult but it is SO worth it after all that work you have put in!

I was asked to 3/5 interviews. This would have been 4 however they wanted me to apply for learning disability instead of adult. As i had used my 5 choices this was only possible through clearing. This in particular university emailed me to speak to me about this too. Very nice people!

To prepare for interviews....research!

Google frequently asked nursing interview questions or something along those lines. You are told not to discuss the questions exactly so unfortunately i cannot put them on here. 

Plan plan and plan. Plan how to get to your interview, how long it will take, etc. Nothing worse than turning up late looking dishevelled and sweaty!

Practice. I made those little cue cards with possible questions on to look over as i made my way to interviews and in the days running up to them.

Take someone with you if you feel you need it! I never did this but some people are soo nervous and need a friendly face.

Be sociable. When you get there talk to the others, talk to the staff around you. Although it may not seem it, you will be seen as soon as you walk through the door. Create an impression (for the right reasons)

Smile :D You want to be a nurse don't you? Nurses have to be approachable, be friendly and warm. So act the part.

Be organised! Take your certificates (photocopies and originals) if asked. Take your interview letter, your ID and any photocopies of that if needed. It shows organisation and the ability to pay attention, especially if this has been stated in your letter! 

1 interview i withdrew from, and 2 i attended. 

Both were individual interviews. Some universities may have group interviews as well as an individual, or instead of. 

Group interviews are there to show you ability to work and communicate with others. My advice? Dont talk over people but dont be that timid mouse in the corner scared of making your opinions known. This follows through to nursing if you ever need to report anything. Don't be afraid to!

My first interview was okay. I dont think i get massively nervous in interviews, after all i’ve done a fair few to get jobs. But my first interview for university felt like a total different ball game so to speak. All the other candidates there were lovely. It was a relaxed day (even though we had maths and english exams - they weren’t so bad and my revision paid off! - PASSED!) I was the first one in, 2 women and what felt like a fairly informal chat on why i had applied etc. (cant give the questions they ask..this is asked of you when you go in to prevent unfair advantage etc to others) 

After that interview it was a waiting game.

( I later found out i was unsuccessful )

I was then asked to another interview. Cue more nerves and excitement! In this interview there were no tests, just a 15 minute sit down with 2 ladies in a small room. I answered their questions with a little prompting from them..think i went off on a tangent a few times! And then i left. Chatted to a few who had also been in for interviews, each seemed to get asked slightly different questions but more or less the same. My panel informed me they don’t read the personal statement beforehand so i gave them a run down! So it's always helpful to know your personal statement inside out. 

Then i went home and waited some more.

In The Beginning....UCAS Applications

Where to begin exactly?

I suppose the start!

I got into care work due to family reasons and from there ive never looked back. 

It made sense when i was looking to become a nurse that i thought long and hard about it and if it was something i knew i would stick at. That i would try my damned hardest and not feel like giving up all the time.

Of course there will probably be days when it feels like that, but im hoping the general ethos of nursing will guide me through!

So i started looking at applying to go back to university to do a nursing degree back in 2012. I started researching the type of nurse i wanted to be, started looking at what they look for in interviews, i began revising my maths and english again. I completed my NVQ 2 and began to watch A LOT of medical shows. 

I was in and out of the library, i used my partners university library to my advantage by looking at the reading lists of the nursing courses at his university. I then read some of the books. I talked (or rather nagged on some days) any health care professional i possibly could. This included CQC inspectors, RQIA inspectors, student nurses, recently graduated nurses, long time standing nurses, matrons, sisters, ward clerks, day care workers, student doctors…ANYBODY! You will value their advice to the point you’d be lost without their wise words. I have bugged people no end, but everyone has always been so nice and helpful. I find most people that work within the health care profession always see it as (oops cliche) but one big family. And that’s a good thing. Everyone has to be. You liaise with that many different health professionals that it is imperative you learn to talk to them.

And so after all that, i began emailing universities. I emailed and i rang, asking if my grades and experience would get my application noticed. I asked if they were good enough, was my NVQ (QCF) study recent enough? I asked about private tours as id missed open days. I asked when applications opened, if any applications were ever accepted though clearing etc. And then it went from there! As soon as UCAS applications opened from mid September i was in there!

As i was applying as an individual i had to ensure that i had everything in order to apply. (Including asking my referee if there were okay to do a reference for me, never forget to ask them.)

I drafted my personal statement over and over. I had friends and family look over it. I had family friends who were nurses look over it, I asked them for advice. I researched personal statements online to see what people had written previously. I spoke to people on forums about them. ( all while remembering your statement has to be personal…no plagiarism!) And then i asked my referee if they were okay to be my referee and would they write my reference. 

I then also had to make sure i had all certificates of any qualifications i had..if not..i was paying £30 - £50 each certificate! After all that was done and dusted…application was sent off in the November. Deadline closed January 15th..so now..the wait. 

So in the meantime to try and prevent myself from going stir crazy checking UCAS and emails constantly. I had a subscription to The Nursing Times and The Nursing Standard. I kept reading them. I also had bought a copy of The Student Nurse Handbook (great advice in there) And read them. I continued with my maths (havent done much since school 10 years ago!) 

So the waiting.

Was horrible.