So after a long pause on this blog, I have finally started as a student nurse. I have just finished my 2nd full week and I am already loving it. The course is already in full throttle and there is no breaking you in gently. I can not believe I will be starting my first placement in just 3 weeks.
It is always hard embarking on a new endeavour and there is just so much to worry about! Will I make friends and get along with people? How will I manage the work load? Will I be able to cope with working on the ward or in the community? How will I balance studying, placements and coursework? For others there is the additional stress of paid employment and family commitments? Please do not worry or let this deter you, everyone is in the same situation and with an intense course like nursing there seems to already be a strong solidarity between peers. You are all literally in it together. My mum was an old school nurse who did her training in the early 1960's and she still regularly meets up with her friends from her training days. She has always said there is a bond with the people you train with as you go through so much together. Nursing education has evolved a lot since my mother's day but as a nursing student, your peers along with your placement mentors and your university lectures are your support network. Keeping this in mind, I have tried to become familiar with as many people on the course as possible, you never know when you will need to support each other in the future. You will always have people you have lots in common with but you will also have to build up a good working relationship with the people in your tutor group as they are likely to be the people you are doing practical's and group work with.
So what has my first few weeks been like? It is already so much fun. The first few days we were mainly given induction information but we were quickly thrown into lectures. Most of the lectures so far are concerned with nursing skills as we are going onto our first placement so quickly. We have has lectures and practical's on vital signs, moving and handling, injections, urinalysis and fluid balances, and infection control. We have also started some more serious lectures on professional practise and the legal and ethical responsibilities of nursing which I think I will find really interesting. We are also being introduced to lots of e-learning resources for practical skills and also for medication calculations. My first calculation exam is in 5 weeks and it is all online learning.
It is fresher's week next week and all the new faces will be joining us. It will be hard to balance going out, trying to make friends with the workload and 9am starts each morning, but as I mention before I feel it's important to make that effort to build a strong bond between you and your peers so that is something I am going to have to balance. I am making sure I get ahead of my work this weekend so I can enjoy socialising and getting to know my new friends over a pint.
If anyone has any questions about what the first weeks are like, please comment and I will reply. :)
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