I've finally done it!!

I've gained an Integrated masters degree (MNurs) qualification in children's nursing. It was tough going but I can finally say I have a nursing qualification and achieved my life's dream. I've just got to get the approval of the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) and I can call myself a registered children's nurse :)

A way back

I was excited, just before Christmas, to find I had gained the 2:2 I need - I wish it was a 2:1 but I thought doing a 3rd year module in literature was a good idea ... it was not but hey, I learned something new.

My masters course begins on 25th March though I must admit I'm feeling more apprehensive than excited! What a difference to how I felt before my diploma course commenced but 4 years gives you plenty of time to doubt yourself.

01 November 2011

My interview was successful, however, the course will be for a masters degree rather than a post grad course. I'm a bit nervous about this but I'm gonna give it a shot as there's no point giving in before I've even tried it.

I've started my 3rd year degree modules so I guess my next blog will be to post my degree mark (hopefully a 2:1) then I'll be about ready to start my nursing course again.

A new chance?

It's been a while since I made the heart breaking decision to leave my nursing course.

My son has received a diagnosis of ADHD and mild autism. I wasn't expecting this as he didn't seem to meet all of the criteria, still, it's good to know what difficulties he's been facing and why so we can now support his needs better.

Since I left my nursing course I've been volunteering, in my local children's centre and also as a health trainer, sign posting people to better health. Oh, I've also been studying towards a BA(hons)degree in childhood and Youth studies. if I get a 2:2 or better I can join a post graduate nursing course back at my university.

I have an interview for this on Monday and an exam to finalise my second year modules the following Friday :O. I begin my third year modules on Monday, the first one being a children's literature course.

It's postponed

Well, after a year out I haven't been able to find another child minder.

My youngest son has some learning difficulties (we are in the process of having him assessed) and so I felt that I couldn't put him in an after school group with 60+ children when he has struggled to settle in his class of 30 children.

So with this in mind I have withdrawn from my place at university.

I plan to re enroll in the future but for now I have decided to pursue a childhood and youth studies degree with the Open University. If I achieve a 2:2 pass or higher I can apply to undertake a shorter, 2 year nursing diploma course. I have also begun to volunteer at my local children's centre, as I know as a nurse I need good communication skills. I believe I can gain these skills running groups at my children's centre.

I wish anyone who is planning to undertake a nursing course and current nurses the best of luck and hope you have a long and fulfilling career

Regards

Sarah xx

Plans on hold

Well I passed my final placement of year one and then went on a well deserved break to Manchester. But when I returned I was informed of the sad news that my poor child minder had suffered a stroke and was now in hospital!

I have tried desperately to organise care for my children but without success. Therefore I have had to leave the course for a year and hope that there will be better child care in my area in March 2010.

So now I have a year of nothingness and as nice as being with my boys is, I can't help but feel disappointed. But, never one to procrastinate I have already gathered together a huge pile of books and nursing magazines. I also rang my nearest hospital and requested to speak to the volunteer manager (I didn't know a name or staff extension number). Once I was put through to the right person I explained my circumstances and said that, as my husband works 9-5 Monday to Fridays could I possibly volunteer as a healthcare assistant during weekends. The lady was very kind and said she would actually speak to the nursing bank to try and get me some paid work! Lets hope it pans out as I would love to keep my knowledge up to date and continue to build both my confidence and skills as I've been a student nurse for a whole year and feel I still have so much more to learn - perhaps more than can be fit into a three year course.

End of year 1

Well, that's the first year over with!

I can't believe I've completed the first year of the course already.

During my placement I was able to make the most of the opportunities there by letting my mentor know who I was interested in meeting (such as social workers etc.) to follow cases we were working on. My mentor was good enough to provide me with contact numbers so that I could arrange to visit members of the multidisciplinary team, which has really given me a flavour of how care is provided. I went out on visits to:

A child and family social worker
A nursery nurse
two difference nurse prescribers
A mental health worker
A children's community nurse (the equivalent of a district nurse)
A women's refuge health visitor
A school nurse
two district nurses
A midwife
CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health) nurses
SCBU (special care baby unit)

I would advise anyone on a community placement to bring a diary wiuth them to keep track of everone one they are going to spend time with.

Before I went on each visit I wrote a list of what I would like to find out about. I took a witness statement and then after the visit I wrote a reflective diary entry where I was able to explore how the care I witnessed fit into the picture, this also provided me with evidence to meet my placement competencies.

I must have done something right on the placement as I got a good pass mark and my mentor wrote some lovely comments in my placement book.

Anyway I've finished the first year. I got a mark of 70% for my final essay giving me an average assignment scores of 60% across the year. This means I will be doing the advanced diploma. Which means I will have two extra units to study in my final year, I'm disappointed as I can't choose to opt out of this and I think the extra work will make my work/family life balance even worse. I must admit I've found this year very hard in places particularly when I'm required to do 12 hr shifts and complete essays and placement evidence on my days off, rather than being free to spend spare time with my family.

But it'll be worth it in the end.....

The results are in...

Well it's my second week of my health visiting placement and I love it. The staff are great and my mentor is fantastic, she's been helping me to reflect on situations we have encountered and the communication which took place. She's also arranged for me to visit other professionals. This week I spent a day with a nurse prescriber and a social worker, next week I will be joining a midwife on her visits and also attending a conference about children with special needs. This will be useful as I am becoming increasingly concerned with regards to my own son.

Because of the hours I have worked this week my mentor insisted I had a half day today - something I was quite happy to miss as I enjoy this placement so much. However I used the afternoon to travel to my campus as the results of my exam and an assignment were ready for collection. I had thought that by collecting the results in the afternoon there wouldn't be such a big que, unfortunately everyone must have had that idea as the que was very long as it usually is on results day.

Anyhow I received a mark of 55% for the exam which I am a bit disappointed with, which is silly as the pass rate is still 40%. For the essay I received 71% which is my highest pass mark to date. I have one last set of results to get, next month and that will be this year completed.

If we receive an average mark of 50% and above we automatically begin the advanced diploma which is two extra units of work in the final year. So far my average is 61% so it's more than likely I will be working towards the advanced diploma. Which means I need less CATS points to top up the diploma to a degree (though I'm not sure how this will work with a health visiting degree).

Community placement

Today was the beginning on my 3rd placement with a health visitor after a 1 week study break and 2 weeks of holidays.

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting parents in their own, home environment and being able to assess the holistic needs of the parents and their children. I was also able to attend a child protection meeting and witness the multidisciplinary team working together. The hours of 9-5 are more sociable than working on the 12 hr ward shifts. But it is Monday to Friday rather than 3 days a week so what I gain in sociable hours I lose in free time as it's almost impossible to study during the weekend with the boys needing attention. But that's okay, on my last placement I was able to provide evidence and therefore pass a lot of the competencies meaning this placement will not be so intense.

I can't wait for the next eight weeks as the health visitor team I met today all seem very open and friendly. It was lovely to hear my mentors opinion on systems and current practices and it will be interesting to work alongside other members of the multidisciplinary team.

Plus, this month i will find out the results of both the essay I submitted in December and the exam. I have already received the results of the workbook I submitted - I achieved 63% which i am obviously happy with.

Yesterday I submitted another essay, about care recieved by a service user from another branch. The results of this should be available in February but to be honest I will probably wait until the end of my placement to get my results as the assignments office shuts at half past four and I don't want to miss any of my placement.

End of a hectic two months

Wow what a crazy two months it's been and very stressful.

First of all I had a tutorial about the workbook. I take direct quotes but my marker explained that although this is technically correct it spoils the flow of the essay - almost as if reading a story rather than a fluid piece of writing. My marker explained that I need to put the quote into my own words and then give credit to the original author, to show I understand the work so it would be like...Communication in healthcare brings together social, psychological and also the physical aspects of care to ensure care provisions are holistic (Lister and Dougherty, 2008) rather than taking the words straight out of the text.

So I changed that and submitted it. Then I looked at the clinical skills essay I had prepared and suddenly hated it. I changed the quotes following my previous tutorial and then realised I had missed a reference - NOT GOOD and some of my spelling was off. Thank heavens I re checked it. So that was another day spent on improving it but that's okay, it just shows the benefits of leaving work for a while and proof reading at a later date.

On top of these we had a two hour exam on skin assessment, communication, health promotion and genetics. It was nerve racking but we all gave each other moral support and I'm sure I did okay, I read through Andrew Northedge's the good study guide, to give me some guidance.

So now the exam is over I have another tutorial for the last essay I need to submit this year and then I can enjoy the Christmas holidays before my community placement in January 2009.

Today we had a practical session on giving injections which was really good and useful. I enjoyed it more since the stress of the exam is over. The last practical we had, on catheter care was not as enjoyable 'cos everyone was so stressed out, which is silly really because in nursing the pass rate is 40%.

an end to my placement

Well it was my last placement day on Saturday. I went through my evidence with my mentor to see what competencies we thought I had passed.

Because of the way I have chosen to catalogue my evidence it was easy to match up my evidence against the competencies and I am pleased that most of my competencies have been signed off by my mentor. There were a few people who I did not get a chance to speak to with regard to their job role which is a shame but at least I was able to speak to the stoma nurse and the play specialist during my placement, both were valuable experiences.

I felt sad to say goodbye to the friends I have made, both patients and staff but I leave feeling more confident in myself and my nursing future. It will be a shame to return to uni, even though I will see my friends there.

During the placement I also had the opportunity to attend a student road show run by the RCN. It was an extremely useful experience and one I am grateful to have attended. Matters such as interview technique, legal issues, student issues and RCN services were discussed and a delicious buffet lunch was provided (along with presentation notes and a cotton bag) the event would have cost £10 but was free to RCN members (very good value considering I paid £10 for 3 years membership to the union). Also at the event, and the most important speaker, was Amanda Sterne. Her husband was admitted to a hospital with diarrhoea and ended up being dehydrated because no one on the ward monitored his fluid intake and out take. This happened on 3 separate occasions, despite Amanda writing to the chief executive of the hospital and her husband's care team. This dehydration sparked off a chain of events which meant her husband suffered: multiple myocardial infarctions, strokes, deep vein thrombosis, had both legs amputated, lost his voice due to a tracheotomy and faced suffocation. Eventually he took his own life rather than run the risk of once again being admitted to hospital.

Amanda had a powerful message to give and you can buy her book, a full account of what happened, here.

Once back on the ward my mentor and I looked at my progress on the ward as a requirement of the mentor is to decide if you were: extremely good, very good, good, poor, very poor- for four separate categories. So I had sat down and thought about how I had done. My mentor and I compared notes and it was decided I had passed the placement.

So now I'm back at uni and trying to prepare for my impending exam - I will probably start to panic next week. At least I have got rough drafts of all my assignments finished!

End of my 5th week

Well my tutor came out to see me in practice and it has forced me to think about the work I need to complete before Christmas:

One workbook containing 4 500word essays
a reflective essay
an essay on the care given by a different branch of nursing
and an exam

I have almost completed a first draft of the reflective essay using Kolbs learning cycle and my reflective diary pages.

I have finished a first draft of the other essay.

I have yet to begin revising for the exam, which I am worried about but have enough time scheduled into my timetable once my placement is over.

I just have the workbook essays which I plan to do over these next four days.

Phew.

After the meeting with my tutor in which my mentor and co-mentor were both unable to attend I looked through my competencies and the evidence I have gathered to pass them. I began to write page numbers on them i.e my reflective diary pages are numbered R1.21a (R=reflective, 1=year 1, 2=placement two, 1=the week number this this will go up to eight, and a,b or c to relate to what shift it is that week since I do three).

After this I looked at what competencies I did not have evidence for. I then thought about what skills I had learned so far and was confident in, what skills I felt I needed more practice in, what skills I would like to begin practicing and what skills I had not yet witnessed. This sheet can then be a discussion point for the next chat I have with my mentor.

The types of evidence I have gathered are: observation charts I have wrote in, fluid charts, witness statements, mini reports, information sheets I have found and my reflective diary pages.

3rd week

I can't believe how quickly the time has passed by. It's taken me a while to get settled into the ward routine and even longer to stop feeling so scared and useless all the time (though I do still have my moments). So I wanted to do something positive to help other would be nursing students. So basically it's advice:

1. Learn what the ward routine is.
2. Keep a reflective diary of one occurrence every shift.
3. Get to grips with the equipment, look at what nasogastric tubes, cannulas, catheters, central lines, infusion (drip) pumps, intra venous lines, blood glucose monitors, needles, syringes etc are used for (VERY important). - I bought this kit before I started university and have found it quite useful
4.Learn what conditions you are most likely to see on the ward.
5. Take a bottle of water with you for your shift - you'll need it.
6. Plan what you would like to learn each week but make sure it is relevant to your competencies, accompanying a stoma nurse is a good idea but only if you can get quite a few competencies fulfilled for it.

Your mentor is not there to teach/train you by spoon feeding you what you need to know. Your learning is entirely up to you, no one will tell you you need to do better until it's becoming too late but do ask for feedback regularly.

It sounds scary but if you can get your head around all of this you'll do fine!

A busy shift

Well today was my second shift. They are 12 hour shifts excluding time out for breaks. But I have experienced a whole range of learning opportunities,.

For instance, today I was given permission to accompany a patient to the operating theatre. I have heard some scary stories of students fainting and I was nervous that I too would faint and embarrass myself. When I asked the operating nurse about it she said it is healthy people who are very concerned for the patient, who have not had a drink or something to eat and who have a normal to low blood pressure who experience syncope (fainting). But luckily I was fine. I found the scrubs comfortable but I don't think the hat or mask suited me :) . I was standing right beside the surgeon and could see everything. I was fascinated. I was especially lucky as the registrar was happy to explain the procedures that were being performed and the reason behind it. I was able to ask the staff members questions in between operations and just get a general feel for the theatre.

I left my placement today and yesterday with renewed determination (not that it has wavered since I started the course). My placement is an absolute pleasure to work in and the staff are lovely. I know I'll be sorry once these next seven weeks are over.

preparation for placement

Well I start my second placement tomorrow so fingers crossed I stay healthy this time :) .

It's in a surgical ward for babies so I'm smitten (I'm going through a broody stage which is scary lol).

Anyway I've rang up the ward, visited, met my mentor and co mentor and both are lovely.

I was able to look through their Portfolio Of Learning Opportunities (POLO) booklet which has given me some great information on the work that the ward does and the types of operations they treat. I've then been able to learn a little more about these operations by watching Campbell training video clips on youtube and by finding patient information sheets.

I then wrote down other areas I'd like to visit, skills I'd like to learn (I just jotted the three I thought were the most important) and some questions I'd like to ask. I bought this diary so hopefully it will help with the reflective essay I need to write before Christmas :P .

As the ward has a microwave, and you only get 1/2 hour per break (you get 2) I bought some microwave meals today, also most wards don't have a lot of tea and coffee etc. so I think it's a nice way to introduce yourself to the ward by bringing tea, coffee and sugar for staff to share - it kinda says thanks in advance.

And I got a tatty teddy badge yesterday for my uniform.

My bag is packed: my fob watch which is vital for doing obs, a little calculator on a keyring with helpful cards I made with info such as drug calcs ect (let me know if you want a copy - you'll have to laminate them yourself) my RCN pin, 3 pens, 2 notebooks, my name badge, my uniform + a spare set, my gel hand cleaner and my comfy shoes which I keep strictly for on the wards. I have a map of the hospital site too in case I need to visit the pharmacy etc.

Back after the holidays

Well I returned to uni yesterday after a lovely 4 weeks off. I've had more lectures on public health and the nurses role with regards to educating people to live healthy lives.

I enjoyed the practical we had on de-escalation skills, I feel I learned some very valuable tips if ever a serious situation arises. I'm also looking forward to the first aid practice we are having tomorrow.

I visited my next placement today, which I start next week. It was a lovely ward and I got a lot of useful information in the Portfolio Of Learning Opportunities. Looking through the book I was able to see what ailments are treated the most on the ward and have been able to find information about them so I can start my placement better prepared.

End of the holidays

Well today is Sunday 31st August. I've really enjoyed the holidays. When I started uni I knew there would be a lot of work involved and I'd probably not get too many reminders from tutors etc. So I decided, rather than a standard calender I'd print off an A4 calender sheet for each month then have four of these months attached to my bedroom wall. I got the calender sheets from a website called sciral. Then all I do is take my diary with me and update the calender with dates from my diary and student timetables.

Well, doing this has meant I can see at a glance when assignments are due in. So far I have a work book to hand in the last Monday of November (with 6 mini-500 word essays), a 2000 word essay on the 1st Monday of December and an exam. Then another 2000 word essay on the 2nd Monday in December. Phew, that's quite a lot.

So what I did was start on a little bit each day during the holidays (sad I know) but I've got a 1st draft of one on the main essays done and one of the work book essays finished, plus other marked bits and pieces out of the workbook.

I've also got the all clear from my MRSA screening and had my final HepB jab. I just have to wait 2 weeks to get the serology test for antibodies and measles antibodies.

A good end to a good week

Well I've only been scheduled in at uni 2 days this week so I've been enjoying spending time with my children which has been nice.

On Monday we had a practical on aseptic technique, learning why surfaces should be kept clean and how. Then we did some wound washing after trying to put on the gloves without contaminating the outsides of them - not as easy as it sounds!

I had a follow-up appointment at the hospital yesterday and the x-ray they took has shown my lung is completely free of pneumonia and there's no scarring.

There was a timetable mix-up today so I ended up traipsing around campus to find where everyone was, which was frustrating! But I got my two assignments back. I got 58% for one and 68% for another. I'd ideally like all of my assignments to be over 60% but a pass is 40% or over so I still passed both which I am pleased about. If all of my assignments in this year and the second year are over 50% I automatically start working toward an advanced diploma in my third year - there's no choice about it either!

I've got next week to go then I'm off for the summer - 4 weeks :)

Study week

Well I handed in my 2 essays and I get the results at the end of the month. I got a score of 83% for my poster presentation - we only had to do the presentation in front of our own group (4 members). I also prepared a supplementary sheet to read from to reiterate what I was saying. I also had a practical on CPR, we did this during our placement induction too but to get extra practice on a baby, child and adult was really useful as was the feedback and I feel more confident about it now.

This week is a study week - though I do have to attend a collaborative learning workshop. Basically I meet students from other branches of nursing, midwifery and physiotherapy with the purpose of learning from each other so once we're qualified we talk to each other - it's a shame we don't do these with trainee doctors too.

Never mind. I bought the latest student edition of the Royal Marsden handbook of clinical nursing procedures, I have a much earlier edition and find it very useful.

My chest x ray is in 2 weeks so hopefully the pneumonia will have cleared and I'll be able to go to my next placement in September - a post ICU ward, I'm looking forward to it and hoping the 12 hr shifts wont be too much (just keeping awake for 10 hrs is a bit hard lol).

I've enjoyed the week off but it would perhaps have been better spent if we'd been given a suggested reading or activities list, otherwise it's more like leisure time.

I've signed up to the Royal College of Nursing student road show. since I'm a member I get in free though I did have to hand over a deposit of £10 which is worth it. I've put my confirmation letter in my PPDF as it seems good evidence.

The usefulness of tutorials

Whenever you are asked to submit an assignment for university, you also get told the name of the tutor who will be marking the work. You can contact this person and ask to have a tutorial with them - you can then take along a first draft of your work for their comments and suggestions.

Once you have the marked work back you can then request another tutorial to discuss your marks (in addition to the comments you get back with the marked work).

Well I'm glad I took advantage of this today. Previously I have undertook science and social science courses and didn't think writing essays for a nursing course would be any different for a nursing course. It is.

It was only through talking about my assignment that I began to understand why. Nursing is evidence based so your essays need to be strongly evidence based. You need to use at least 10 different pieces of evidence from journals, government websites, topic based books and lobby groups (websites such as BHF etc). Social science courses need a lot less. But that isn't to say your whole work needs to be essays - about 1/3 of it perhaps.

I have decided to make a series of help sheets such as essay tick lists for reflective essays, literature reviews and informative essays.

Also evidence needs to be recent and age related. For example - my reflective essay is based on a teen and my evidence was for a child, therefore I had irrelevant evidence.

I am so glad I sought out these tutorials and strongly recommend anyone to do the same.