10 weeks in...

Whoooo, 10 weeks in already! In an attempt to catch everyone up as to what’s been happening and what to expect, I'll start at the beginning.
A few weeks before I was due to start my course, I still hadn't received my start date! I was getting a bit worried, but phoned the university and discovered they hadn’t received my DBS form. For those unfamiliar with it, it’s a criminal record check. Pretty straightforward, but I had assumed the College would also get a copy. Silly me, you know what they say about assuming! I had my start date and information shortly after that.

I started on a Thursday, and the idea was to have a week and a bit as an introduction, with the main student’s union telling us about wristbands to get into clubs and student happy hours. A few of the group were interested in that, but I wasn’t. As a mature student, it’s straight home for me, unfortunately! We also had a talk from the Nursing student union, the 1000 Lives campaign, Welsh Territorial Army and loads of others. I joined two unions, it was just £10 a year for each, so why not. One was Unison and the other was the Royal College of Nursing. I think that even though both have had a bit of bad press regarding pay strikes recently, I think I’ll only renew with the RCN as they have a fabulous library and loads of online books. I’m also receiving online journal editions, which should come in handy for essays!

As far as lectures go, we’ve had a lot on social media and how not to behave in public. These lectures usually end with how many nurses have been struck off the register for behaving inappropriately on social media. It’s really scary, and I can’t imagine losing my entire career for something so trivial. You would never be able to practice as a nurse again, and I’m sorry, but three years of my life is not being thrown down the toilet for something so trivial! (The fact that my social media accounts remain utterly boring and full of photos of kids and horses is actually a comforting thought!)

Dignity has also been a huge, huge part of lectures. Our first essay is based on this subject, and since the Andrews and Francis reports, it’s at the forefront of practice more than ever. Any potential student nurses/midwives out there, make it the first textbook you buy! We’ve also had lectures on biosciences, law, ethics, you name it. Most of these were very basic introductions to what will come later.

In terms of practical days, we’ve completed our manual handling and violence and aggression passports. These form a part of your portfolio, so they are very important documents. The portfolio itself is a huge document (bilingual in Wales - someone needs to think of the trees…) that has every item you learn in the three years, from treating people with dignity to working competently on your own. We’ve had a patients day which was actually great fun. We washed each others arms, legs and hands, cleaned teeth, fed each other with yogurt and water and made beds. It was very strange to be so intimate with people we hardly knew, and I think it will serve us well to remember that people we look after have been self caring for years and that suddenly having a stranger take over this care would be highly uncomfortable and embarrassing. We have also had an exam (gulp!) in basic life support. This is essentially CPR, in the theory that early intervention will prevent a heart attack, but that we also have the tools necessary to help keep someone alive long enough for proper help, such as paramedics or a resuscitation team to arrive.

And practice. Yes, after only eight weeks we were unleashed on the general population! I think every single one of us was a bit weak at the knees the day before, but honestly, everyone has been so lovely and supportive. No matter what I say, you will worry before going out, but at least feel reassured that we’ve made it, we’ve all been nervous but that nobody has eaten us.  

I’m back in practice next week for three weeks, so hopefully I’ll have more tales to tell soon! (Censored, of course!)

Occupational Health

Today I had my occupational health check before I start university. It was really nerve wracking, but then I always tend to get really nervous of the unknown. I arrived half an hour early because I had left plenty of time to find the correct building in the unfamiliar maze of the university. After signing a couple of forms consenting to blood tests, I settled in to wait, reading out of date magazines. 

I didn't have to wait long before the nurse called me in and asked for my ID, which she photocopied on the way to her room. We talked through the long form I'd had to fill in a few months ago, and she just confirmed my answers. I was told to get a second MMR vaccination, as I had one as a child, and a single Rubella booster a few years ago. My arm was also checked for the BCG scar, as I needed proof of two immunisations. My blood pressure was taken, and it came out a bit on the high side. Not surprising, given the hike I'd undertaken to get there from the car park! I completed a peak flow, and she needed a urine sample for a dipstick test. She also checked the integrity of the skin on my hands, just to check I had no Eczema. She advised me that when I start the course to dry my hands thoroughly, as a small problem can soon amount to a large one. 

She then sent me off for a blood test for the Hepatitis B and C antibodies and antigens (to see if I have it or am immune to it), HIV and Varicella. The test was just one little tube of blood, as the Hepatitis vaccines I'll need to start my course will be timetabled in. Apparently we all troop over in a group in the first month! 

So ladies and gents, that should comprise your Occupational Health check for University!

I saw some beautiful old buildings today that I think used to be an old ostler's stable. I passed the coffee shops, library and shops that pepper the buildings. I found a little museum that I think will be interesting, and hopefully one day I'll get the time to explore it. I'm really looking forward to starting, it seems such a relaxed and multicultural setting, the babble of foreign languages was quite nice to hear. However at nearly nine years older than many of the students walking around the campus, I felt a bit out of place. I suppose I'll stop caring about that once I'm in university, and would spend a lot of time on placement anyway.