All Work And No Play

I always knew second year was going to be hard (they’re not called the ‘second-year blues’ for nothing!), but I didn’t realise things would get quite so tough so quickly. The increase in workload has been somewhat of a shock to the system: currently I have four pieces of work to do, all with the same deadline, and each a different type of assessment. In addition, I begin my placement on Monday, and as you may or may not know with placements comes a whole different set of assessments and paperwork. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I'm stressed!

The problem is I have tendency to worry a lot (a fact you may have noticed!), and worry leads to stress, which in my case, then makes me worry more about the things I am stressing about. It’s kind of like being on a never-ending anxiety-fuelled merry-go-round, which isn’t as fun as it may sound!

The fact that I’m not even two months into my second year is yet another cause for concern, as I expect things will only get harder from here in. I understand that nursing is a hard profession, and that we need to be adequately prepared for what lies ahead once we qualify, but I’m genuinely starting to worry (I swear it’s like a hobby at this point!) about whether or not I have what it takes. Both third year and qualifying seem like an awfully long way away, and I know it’s gonna be a rough ride.

I fully accept that I do not help myself in these situations: I put too much pressure on myself; I concentrate on what I haven’t achieved or can’t do, instead of focusing on what I have achieved and can do; and I berate myself for having a night off from studying even though I've studied seven nights in a row.

Perhaps I should learn to take one day at a time and go a little easier on myself, or perhaps I just need a night off! One thing’s for certain, something’s gotta give.

Second-Year Fear

Three weeks into my second year and I’ve already got ‘the fear’. I’ve quickly come to realise that the expectations now placed upon me are much greater than they were in my first year. My seemingly unbreakable bad habits such as checking a bazillion books out of the library and then never so much as opening them, and researching my assignments as I write them were somehow sufficient enough to grant me a fairly-successful first year, but are not going to be enough to help me achieve that first-class honours I’ve firmly fixed my sights on. I quite simply have to buck up my ideas... which is obviously why I’m writing this blog article instead of writing my assignment. Aaarrgghh!

As if all that isn’t enough to make me pull my proverbial socks up, I keep recalling vivid memories of third-year students and newly-qualified nurses I’ve encountered along the way grimly informing me that ‘second year is the hardest year by far’. Of course I paid no attention at the time because I was a first year, and second year seemed soooo far away! How wrong I was! Now that I am a second year however, I guess I should come up with some sort of strategy to help me through what are probably going to be some pretty turbulent times. So here’s the plan so far (you may have guessed that I LOVE making lists by now)...
 

• Spend less time watching The Hotel Inspector and more time studying
• On a related note, finally admit to myself that watching Grey’s Anatomy does not actually equate to studying
• Devise a reward system for study-related achievements - let’s face it, probably involving cake
• Read something every day; not including my Facebook news feed or texts
• Achieve some semblance of work-life balance; starting with having at least one night out where I don’t talk about nursing the entire time, or end up recruiting for potential nurses, paramedics, HCAs etc
• Stop thinking that I am going to somehow kill a patient every second of every day whilst I am on placement
• Last but not least, just be the best that I can be. I am not the perfect student nurse, and I never will be. As long as I try my best, nobody can ask for more.

Academic Advantages

When it comes to studying I’m pretty much a make-it-up-as-I-go-along kind gal, something I’m sure won’t work as well for me now that I’m in my second year! However there are some nifty little tips and tricks that I've employed from the very start of my degree (all those months ago!) which have stood me in good stead, and so for your consideration, and hopefully benefit, here are my top studying suggestions:
 

• Learn your medical prefixes and suffixes; at the very least learn the basics or the most common ones. You’ll be amazed how handy this can be, especially in situations such as handovers when you’re likely to come across conditions and diseases that you’ve never even heard of before! If you know your basics, you can pretty much work most things out simply by breaking them down and recalling your prefixes and suffixes. You can find a handy guide to get you started here.
• Get to grips with your PDR and start it early. I may hate the sight of mine, but I always make sure that I keep on top of it. Filling out self assessments, outlining aims and goals, and writing what feels like endless reflections takes more time than you would think - leave it til the last minute at your own peril!
• Read a variety of sources and on a regular basis (yet another bugbear of mine). Even if you only read one blog post or journal article a day you’ll be amazed at the benefits, especially when you have that pesky assignment to write and realise you’ve already read a piece of literature that would be perfect to use, thus cutting your workload. Hurrah!
• The majority of us have smartphones these days, and there are a plethora of nursing, healthcare, and medical apps available to download and peruse at your fingertips. If you’re simply looking for a way to kill time (did I mention doing a little bit of reading each day already?!), or want to look something up quickly in a lecture - with your lecturer’s permission of course - you’ll find them a super handy and invaluable resource to have. Best of all, the must-have apps tend to be free. Double hurrah!
• Tackle the hard things first. I find that if I begin my study session with the easy things, by the time I get to the hardcore stuff my brain just isn’t up to dealing with it. If you start with the stuff that makes you want to do a cry first, you’ll find there’s still a bit of juice left in the old noodle to tackle those troublesome topics at the end of a long day.

And there you have ‘em. Now to get on with some actual studying as opposed to blogging about it, maybe that should be another tip!

'This is nursing' film via the RCN

As part of a new initiative entitled 'This is nursing', the RCN have produced an evocative short film that showcases the critical role of nursing staff throughout the healthcare sector within the UK, as well as the highlights and hardships that a career in nursing can bring. The video says it all really. Check it out below.

Placement Perils

I recently completed my end-of-first-year, two and a half month placement, and you may recall from the unapologetic outpouring of my last post that I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Enjoyment and enlightenment aside however, by the end of those seemingly never-ending ten weeks I was more than ready for some much-needed R&R.

I have had three placements to date, and it seems to me that no matter how many placements you have under your belt, or where you are in your training, it’s always a struggle trying to maintain some semblance of physical and mental stability whilst out in practice. So with this in mind, I’ve decided to make a shortlist of some of the regular pitfalls I encounter on a placement-to-placement basis. In no particular order, here are my top six.
 

• Healing hands?! - Whilst I like to think that my red, flaky, tired-looking hands are testament to my well-developed and effective hand-washing technique, it would be nice if they didn’t look ten years older than the rest of me! As the lovely Sarah Morbey once advised, having a small tube of hand cream on you at all times is a must!
• Sleepless in Studentnurseville - Random shift patterns combined with frequent periods of insomnia leads to a semi-permanent state of sleep deprivation, as well as an uncanny likeness to an extra from The Walking Dead!
• Excessive caffeine consumption - I love coffee, but the effects of my aforementioned sleep deficits often call for something stronger, and before I know it I’ve gone though two packs of ProPlus in a week - NOT something I recommend. Fortunately I learned my lesson during my last placement where I earned the nickname Taz, and have swapped the tachycardia-inducing tabs for a much-healthier morning bowl of museli instead.
• Thirst aid - Most healthcare professionals struggle with drinking enough whilst on shift, yet we manage perfectly well when it comes to monitoring and maintaining the fluid balance of our patients. It’s not uncommon for me to finish a shift suffering with a belting headache, and convinced that I have the beginnings of what must be a UTI.
• Thank-you treats - I’d be lying if I said my healthyish lifestyle doesn’t take a bit of a battering whilst I’m on placement, and the constant provision of biscuits and choccies combined with few and far between gym visits pretty much ensures that I’ll finish placement at least two pounds heavier than when I started. It’s a hard life!
• Illness - There reaches a point on every placement when the combination of all of the above leaves me feeling weary and rundown, and prone to picking up a head cold or two along the way. Fortunately these are usually fleeting and I’m back to being nursing fit within only a few days.

Two weeks into my annual leave and 5am get-ups and endless uniform-ironing stints are but a distant memory, no sooner will I be back at university and into my usual uni routine than it will be time to go back out into practice and do it all over again, and I'm too happy to oblige.

What A Difference 365 Days Make

Last week was a week to remember for many reasons, but perhaps the biggest reason was that it marked the end and successful completion of my first year. I cannot tell you how unbelievably proud, relieved, and scared I felt walking out of uni that day, after all I am now officially one third of the way through my education. Having been on placement for the last two and a half months, I am well and truly in reflection mode, and so it seemed only fitting that I should reflect on the past year’s events.

It seems odd to me now that this time last year I was literally counting down the days, hours, and minutes until the start of my degree and career. I had yet to don my uniform that I now feel like I am never out of, yet to experience the true meaning of fatigue and the capabilities of the human body in overcoming such a sorry state, yet to learn how to spell diarrhoea, and yet to understand what it meant to truly care for people and the impact this would have on my own life as well as theirs.

As with any year there have been ups and there have been downs; I’ve had days when I’ve struggled to imagine doing anything else with my life, and days when I’ve had to talk myself round from walking away from it all. Nursing is nothing if not challenging, and although this has been one of the most stressful years of my life, it has also been one of the most rewarding.

Academically, I can’t complain. The standard of teaching at my university is absolutely excellent, and it’s not uncommon for me to leave a lecture feeling inspired or intrigued by both the lecturer and the subject matter. My grades are good, a large part of which I believe is down to the aforementioned stellar teaching and staff, and ultimately I really enjoy being at university and being in a conducive learning environment.

In terms of placements, my experiences for the most part have been good. My last placement in particular was fantastic and one I shall never forget. The standard of care is the best I have ever seen, and I feel truly lucky and honoured to have worked alongside such an amazing group of people. In just ten short weeks they have shown me that the ideal doesn’t have to be just a concept, but can in fact be a reality. Sorry for all the gushing but we simply don’t shout enough about such examples of nurses and nursing care in my opinion, however that’s another post all of it’s own.

As a student nurse each day is different, bringing with it a new trials and tribulations, fears and doubts, achievements and failures, as well as sorrow and joy. One year on and I can barely remember what my life was like before I embarked on this incredible journey, and if I’m honest, I don’t really want to.

Know It All

As I write this, I am surrounded by books, journal articles, magazines, illegible lecture notes, and three... no four empty coffee mugs. I have an exam looming, and I have a lot to learn!

Since starting my course in September, I’ve been incessantly worrying over the issue of learning and retaining all of the information needed to not only successfully complete my degree and qualify, but also to be a good, safe, and competent nurse. Just when you think you have at least the basics covered, along comes another semester full of lectures, seminars, and tutorials all based around subjects you hadn’t even considered, not to mention a new placement that requires an endless list of competencies all of which need to be understood and met.

It’s a daunting prospect, and not one that can be easily overcome. I’ve discovered a secret weapon of late however. It’s called... reading! I realise that last statement makes me sound like a complete idiot, but I honestly didn’t expect it to be so... effective, especially as I’ve always been more of a visual learner. Another tool I’ve discovered during my recent educational enterprise is YouTube. It’s especially handy for when I come across concepts (usually anatomy and physiology) that I’m having difficulty getting my head around. Another advantage to YouTube is that it doesn’t really feel like work, which is quite often half the battle in my case. Ultimately the trick is identifying and employing methods that work for you; I know a certain A&P colouring book has proven to be a big hit with some of my course mates for example. For those of you who favour a more auditory-orientated style, audio books may be just the thing. Whatever your style, there’s something for everyone.

Between clinical skills, law and ethics, pharmacology, A&P, communication skills, interpersonal skills, public health... I could go on, there’s a lot to take in. Being a student or qualified nurse isn’t easy, and there’s so much more to nursing than people realise. However this in itself is precisely why nursing is so rewarding; after all, not just anybody can be a nurse.

Friends Willing To Act As Guinea Pigs Not Included

Trying to get this thing to work has given ME hypertension!

Give Me A Break

Never before have I been so eggcited (I am truly sorry!) for Easter to arrive. After five weeks of lectures, two months of placement, and a university assessment, I was giddy at the thought of having some much-needed time off. You can forget about chocolate bunnies and egg hunts, it’s all about the mid-morning lie-ins, back-to-back episodes of Man V. Food (I’m watching it as I type!), and fictional reading materials for me.

It’s hard being a student, but I would argue that it’s at least twice as hard being a student nurse. Combine being on placement with uni work, as well as trying to have some semblance of a social life, not to mention the small task of moving (again!), and things start to get a little fraught.

So a few weeks before the semester ended I decided that the Easter break would see my taking a brief hiatus from the world of nursing. I lasted less than a week, and even during that week I managed to watch a ridiculous amount of medical TV programmes - the real-life kind, not the likes of Holby City etc.

As I write this, I am working on other blog ideas, regularly checking up on what the nursing twitteratti are up to, and working on my PDP. It seems nursing is now in my blood, and despite my best efforts, I can never seem to stay away from it for too long.

Britain's Nurses

As you may or may not know, a new and exciting virtual-nursing desitination known as Britain's Nurses is due to launch online next month. The aim of the site is to celebrate all things nursey, and showcase the abdundant and varied career opportunities that exist within the field, with the focus very much being on working to 'change the perception of nursing as a career - both from within nursing and the wider public arena'. In addition, Britain's Nurses has been born with the intention of encouraging greater communication between nurses with the hopes of building a far-reaching support network; a trend that is definitely on the rise thanks to the Nursing Twitteratti, and initiatives such as Nurchat and Nurseshift discussions.

The site will feature a variety of content including interactive quizes, humorous nursing anecdotes, a look back through the nursing archives, and some random ramblings from myself in the form of a guest blog - cue shameful self-promotion claxon!

Britain's Nurses launches in conjunction with London South Bank University and Edinburgh Napier University in March, and will follow with the major launch in June. Head on over to www.britainsnurses.co.uk to register, and for your chance to win an iPad2 - which I personally think should go to some random cash-poor, first-year, nursing student... ahem.

Flo's New Year's Resolutions

1. Stop avoiding things that I find difficult or don't understand.

2. Read more.

3. Get to grips with my PDP and stop viewing it as my arch nemesis.

4. Remember that when it comes to assignment writing, journals are good, Google is bad.

5. Read more.

6. Start using my diary again.

7. Learn that there is no shame in asking for help and that it doesn't make me a nuisance.

8. Stop using the excuse of 'I need to update my blog' in order to avoid doing uni work, which is precisely what I'm doing right now!

9. Stop trying to perform unneccessary medical assessments on friends because it has come up in conversation that their blood pressure was a little high four years ago but has been fine since.

10. Read more!!!