Good Luck to all the New Students!!

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It’s freshers’ week student nurses all over the UK will be starting their degree and will come across experiences and challenged that will completely change their views and outlook on life, not just in their career but personally too.

I feel excited for all the new student nurses. They will learn the fundamentals of nursing care. All of the current second and third year students will remember most of the difficulties of learning clinical procedures and the fear of not doing it right. I definitely remember the first time I gave an injection, changed a dressing or helped someone go to the toilet. Most importantly, I remember the joy of being able to support patients at a time when they need care.

I feel that nursing changes you in a personal way and you you will probably still remember some of the patients you met during your training even after you graduate.  I feel quite excited on the new student’s behalf – wishing I could turn the clock back and go through again some, if not all, of the variety, challenges and real life experience that nurse training offers. Good luck to all the new students.


The Five Stages Of Essay Writing

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1)Being Cocky
You receive your assignment brief and think ha! This sounds like a piece of cake. This confidence lasts for about 1.25 seconds and swiftly moves to step two

2) Depression
Your lecturer starts explaining every single example in history of how students have gone wrong and what not to do. The horror stories shoot out at you thick and fast until all confidence has been diminished and utter terror is spread all over your face.

3) Denial
You carry on with your life pretending the essay doesn't exist nor has it ever existed. At all. Ever. This is the delightfully unaware stage. That is until you go back into university a few weeks later and other students are talking about how they have already written 4680 words and found 46 references. Hearing this almost catapults you back into stage two.

4) Acceptance
You finally realize that is it actually easier to just write the essay. Its a grueling. pain staking journey which includes cussing at the laptop, questioning your place on the course and eating tubs of ice cream to get through the night.

5) Relief
After all the sweat and tears, you have submitted your essay. You tell yourself that it wasn't that bad and next time you will start early to make it easier on yourself.

Repeat this process with every essay.

Too posh to Wash?

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As I have made clear before, I love what I do and I love being challenged by my placements in order to gain more knowledge, however there is one thing that really irritates 



I feel that nursing is where you work with your head, heart and hands. It’s a demanding and rewarding career and I could not imagine myself working in any other field. As a student, I have never refused to provide basic nursing care for my patients. I have always worked along health care assistants and other staff nurses, trying to learn more from them. No nurse should ever think that they are above providing basic care. All too often, nurses delegate jobs to nursing assistants because the nurses feel they shouldn't have to do them. If we choose to parcel off those elements of nursing care that we think are distasteful or beneath us, we'll be left with a fragmented outlook on patient care

When I first started my course, I really wanted to learn everything I could, start from the basics. Every morning I did the cares with the HCA’s and learnt how important it is to have a foundation. I learnt and understood the value of dignity, respect, communication and comfort. These skills will stay with me for the rest of my career. During university, I had skills sessions where I practiced these skills in scenarios such as performing a bed bath or dressing a patient, however dressing a dummy is entirely different to helping a real human being. You can never simulate a real life situation that you get on a ward. What these skill sessions do teach me is the reasons behind my actions. My lectures give me knowledge however you can only gain experience with practice. Writing a fantastic essay does not make you a fantastic nurse. When I qualify, I don’t expect to become a super nurse who is above health care assistants and think I know everything. I hope to be a good nurse who understands the importance of the basics and team work. Don't give away the parts of nursing that let you connect with your patients. Caring comes through in your touch. A clean body and bed are important to the ill person in ways that you won't fully comprehend until the day when you're a patient receiving nursing care.

It only takes one

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So being a nursing student is a really big struggle, trying to juggle university, work, exams and placement. But one experience I had during my second year of placement made it all worthwhile. The tears I cried over exams, the tiredness and hours I lost trying to remember pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, the panic and fear of making a mistake while on placement all drained away because of one patient and reminded me why I was doing this in the first place.

I was working with the community physiotherapy team and I noticed a little child waving at me. I waved back, thinking he was just another friendly child however as he spoke to me, it became obvious to me that this child knew me from somewhere. He looked up at me and asked me “Do you remember me?” and as you can imagine, my brain was trying to recall and place a name to this face however I drew a complete blank. Before I had a chance to answer him, he told me “You were the nurse that looked after me when I was sick last year”. That’s when all the memories came flooding back to me. He was a fantastic patient and I loved looking after him. I had only spent two days with this child however I had spent a lot of time with him before he was discharged. He was a child who had all the nurses crying with laughter and smiling throughout the whole of his stay.

I think that this has been the biggest compliment I have received till date. “I remember who you are” Is more than just I remember you. To me, it means you looked after me so well that I didn’t forget you. It means you are doing something right. It means that I was more than just a nurse who gave medication and physically treated you. I was ecstatic for the rest of the week. That one comment made me feel like all my hard work was worth it. I have always worked hard and tried to do my best because for me nursing isn’t just a job, it’s a life. To be told I was a great nurse by someone I looked after more than a year ago is the best reward I could ever get. 

Final Year

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Hello my lovelies! I have been really lazy with my blogging recently and I apologize. I've just started my final year in university. It has finally arrived. How did that happen? I remember being a first year student and panicking about what pens and books I should take for my first day, whether I would ever understand any of the anatomy and physiology, If i would make any friends. Now I'm in my final year and I really don't care about the pens and I did pretty well in my Anatomy and Physiology exam, and I have met some amazing people.

I can't believe how much I have achieved in the last 2 years. There's a lot of pressure this year and a lot for me to worry about but with the amazing support. I definitely won't give up with the end so close. I will be keeping you guys updated about my journey to becoming a nurse
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