The truth of being a student nurse!

Night shift = 4am coffee and
biscuits

Nurse P - pretending to be
patient for simulation!

The truth of being a student nurse is a complex thing, this isn't meant to scare any prospective nurses out there, however I think that it's important to know what the reality is before you get stuck in.
For those of you not in the know, I'll do a quick heads up of what's what!

• In the UK, to train as a nurse you must be 18 years old (or 17 1/2 in Scotland)
• You must do a 3 year degree course through a University, either a BSc or a BN
• All Nursing and Midwifery courses (as well as a host of others) are funded by the NHS
• You must have completed either 6 months full time or 12 months part time working as an HCA or a support worker before you start the course
• The course will be 50% theory and 50% practice
• Although you are not qualified you must still adhere to the NMC Code
• CRB checks will be carried out on all applicants
• Although you cannot be held accountable for your actions in practice, you can still be taken off the course if you are found to be of "poor character" 

So there we are! I'm going to address these - and more stuff besides - in as much of an order as I can!

Because you are doing what is essentially an academic course at a university (a list of universities offering Nursing can be found here.) you do need to be prepared for the work you will be required to do, this means academic essays, exams, practical exams ect. This is not a reason to be deterred, but it is something to be aware of, the world or nursing and the work we are expected to do is very different from a) what we traditionally did, and b) what the media often portray that we do.

A number of health care courses are NHS funded, including; chiropodist, dietitian, occupational therapist, orthoptist, physio, prosthetist (these guys are awesome - they make legs!), orthotist, radiographer, audiologist, speech and language therapist, dental hygienist, dental therapist, nurses and midwives. At the moment social work is also funded but there are rumors that that may change. However, the lure of what is essentially a free degree shouldn't be too tempting, because you are tax payer funded they make you work for your money, while I can't speak for every university - mine makes us sign in for every lecture and if you don't attend - you will be asked to leave. 

Jeremy Hunt - Health secretary

Last year Jeremy Hunt, Tory health secretary (former culture secretary - which led to an unfortunate spoonerism on BBC radio 4's Today Program) decided that nurses were "too posh to wash", which is utter bollocks first off - but secondly and more importantly means that all nursing students much now have completed the requisite number of hours as an HCA or a support worker before they can do their nursing. I happen to think that this is entirely stupid for a few reasons; I have never met a nurse who can't be bothered to wash a patient - but I have met many who can't because due to red-tape and staff shortages haven't got time to help the HCAs and support workers to do washes, also being a student nurse is a massive financial burden for 3 years, you are living on £6000 or less a year (dependent on household income) and the only way many people can afford to do it (including myself) was to work every shift going for a few years before starting, being a support worker for a year or 6 months is not enough to pay the bills and save up for training.

Lectures - YAY! Now I love uni, but we get a lot of lectures on very complicated stuff. There's a look of despair and terror that you see in everyone's faces after we've left a 3 hour lecture on neuropathic pain, like shell shocked war veterans we sit about eating our butties and drinking our coffee and wonder what in the name of christ we're all doing here. As well as all that jazz, there's also simulation sessions - some are a riot, like learning to put a patient on a bed pan (my friends turned me ... and then rolled me off the edge of the bed and laughed!), some are interesting, like learning how to do CPR, and some are just bizarre - like the simulation day I spent dressed as a patient while being treated by other students. As well as all this you'll be going on placement, for each placement there is a whole host of documentation to be signed off and photocopied and woe-betide the student who forgets the last crucial signature! So far I've had:
 - Surgical

 - Neuro-rehab
 - A&E
 - District nursing (coming soon) 

so hypothetically you should get a good variety! As part of being on practice you must experience the 

"24 hour cycle of care" - which is just a fancy way of saying NIGHT SHIFTS basically! Night shifts are fine, if you're on a ward where there is stuff going on at night - if you find yourself on a ward where everyone is essentially quite well, eg. orthopedic surgery then it will be dull as ditch water - which is where 4am coffee comes in. My favorite thing about going on night is that you get to watch everyone else in traffic - off to work, and go home to your bed. When you're on nights - you will always avoid the traffic!

The NMC Code - you will know it back to front, inside and out soon enough, it will guide and terrify you in equal measure ... OK, perhaps I'm exaggerating a little! The Code is essentially the bible written by the Nursing and Midwifery council, it out lines what is expected of you as a nurse, the standards that you must maintain and to break the Code is genuinely a serious matter. By going on the NMC register (which is much like the GMC register for doctors) you are promising to abide by the code - and to follow it's rules:

• Make the care of people your first concern, treating them as individuals and respecting their dignity
• Work with others to protect and promote the health and well being of others in your care, their families and the community.
• provide a high standard of practice and care at all times.
• Be open and honest, act with integrity and uphold the reputation of your profession.

CRB checks are very unexciting to be honest, but necessary. When you apply for the course you will be asked to declare any criminal records that you have, which is then checked with a CRB when you begin. They always say that they assess everyone on a case by case basis, so don't feel like you have to lie to get in. Far better than to have a chance to explain yourself than be thrown off the course before you've even begun for lying on your CRB declaration. As I said, they're assessed a case by case basis, so if robbed a car radio 15 years ago then your probably OK, but if you glassed a bloke in the face last Wednesday then there may be some issues!

So I guess that's your lot - I hope it's been informative for anyone thinking about starting their nursing, it's a big leap, and a lot of work - but as far as I'm concerned, 100% worth it!

You know you're a student nurse when ... (Top 5)

Today, in a pub half an hour away, while eating a large quantity of cake, I engaged the help of four fellow nurses to help me construct a post for my blog.

A few spectacular cakes (for a few spectacular nurses)

YOU KNOW YOU'RE A STUDENT NURSE WHEN ...

by: Nurse P, Nurse C, Nurse L, Nurse B, Nurse T and Nurse O.

• You can discuss all manner of gore and bodily functions while eating your tea ... and you will
  
  
• Friday nights are no longer alcohol fueled and full of wild and sweaty dancing - it is now all about brews and Eastenders
• But when you do drink - Jesus Christ do you make up for it! 

I'm not sure any of us know what we were celebrating ...
 but presumably we were celebrating something! 

• You are the worst hypochondriac thanks to your best friend Google - but you're really lassie fair about your health
• Sod Dr Chris on GMTV - you are now your families sole source of medical knowledge and will be called upon for all their aches and pains

Student nursing 101: how to change your body clock!

Now, you may well be one of those people who can just flip a switch, set their alarm for 5:30am and just get up and be ready no - problem. Well, for the rest of us it takes a little more work, so here are Nurse P's top tried and tested methods for switching your body clock!

The "slow and steady" method

Set your alarm clock a little bit earlier every day over the weekend to get yourself sorted.
eg:

Saturday - 7:30am
Sunday   - 6:30am
Monday  - 5:30am

Great for: those who love to slowly acclimatize and love early mornings
Bad for    : those who like a lie-in or have any intentions of getting drunk on Friday or Saturday night.

The "make your self tired" method

Exhaust yourself the day before placement; run everywhere, cycle a full load of shopping back from Asda, take the kids out for a three hour trek around the park, make a souffle, have loads of sex, swim 10 miles and then do a load of ironing. And then chill out in bed with a cup of herbal tea and a good book.

Great for: those who have a million and one thing to do and have the energy to do them all in one day.
Bad for   : those who are always organised in advance or who like Sunday afternoon tele with a glass of wine.

The "Don't stop 'till you drop" method

Have a massive lie in on the Saturday, and then work straight through the night until the next evening, not going to sleep until around 7 or 8pm on the Sunday - so you wake up refreshed and sorted on the Monday!

Great for: Night owls who like to work until dawn on assignments, and then keep going all the next day.
Bad for   : Anyone with important stuff to do on Sunday, you will not be up to operating heavy machinery! Or anyone who may well take a nap.

2nd year blues

All through the first year of my course you will find hoards of people (by which I mean every-one) who are either newly qualified or third years who say a variation on the following:

"The second year's the hardest, you will cry and breakdown and want to drop out. the second year will be the ...

WORST YEAR OF YOUR LIFE!"

So - is it true?

Uhhhh ...

Ummm ... 

Well ... 

OK ... yes!

Where I am in my head!

 I give up - I can try and pretend that they're all liars, but they're not. These two months back at uni have been really bad, I've felt lost, scared, snowed under, like dropping out, like jacking it all in to work in a bar in Australia! People say that whatever your course the 'Second year blues' is fairly common, you've lost the energy of year 1, and the scary exciting almost finished feeling of year 3 is yet to come. So am I alone? 

I have friends who've thought about dropping out recently, because the work load suddenly goes from 0-60 in precisely no time, and for some reason everyone seems to be doing far better than you. The work load is insane, not because it's massively hard (although ...) but because nursing courses are full of little tiny bitty things that need filling out and completed, which is confusing and infuriating and crazy.

Oh and there's a three hour exam too .... yeah!

Three hours ... WTF!?

Student nurse placement haul!

This is going to be my run down of all the stuff that in my opinion are "must haves" for the student nurse on placement and quite a few are things that I hadn't thought off before I started so hopefully this'll help you too!

• Your Uniform
  
  Might seem a little obvious, but you'd be surprised how long it takes for your uniform to arrive from your universities uniform supplier. It took me several months, and I actually had to use a non university-logoed tunic for my first placement because it was taking them so long to get the logoed ones sent out. So be prepared! You can also get a rebate on the cost of your uniform from the uni, but remember to get your application in before the deadline ... unlike me!
• ID + holder
  
  Depending on your university and depending on the trust you are training will affect the type of ID you
  
  need. For example my trust wanted us to use our normal uni ID for hospital ID, whereas other student nurses with other trusts needed them to get a special Trust ID for student nurses. Any induction days at your trust should tell you about this, but make sure you have what you need. And make sure you have a durable ID holder: some hospitals don't let you use lanyards, and some are fastened with clips kind of like a clothes peg which I don't like because I found it dragged my tunic pocket and annoyed me. There's a kind called a lever clip which I prefer because I found it kept my ID flat against my hip. Similarly if your ID is a hospital ID which opens doors to department and wards then you might want it kept on an extendible ID holder so you don't have to take it off your uniform to use it on doors.
• Pens!
  If you ever want to know how a smoker feels when trying to find a cigarette at 3am then try not having a pen for 5 minutes on the ward. There's a desperation that takes you over as you hunt and hunt and hunt and no-one else seems to be lurking about with a spare pen. So always have a pen in your tunic, and if you want my advice, then always keep a spare in your bag so that that morning when you over sleep and forget a pen - the it's not the end of the world!
• A good quality stain remover
  Your uniform WILL get grotty, and grubby and manky. From general dirt, medication spills or in my

  

  The night shift where my pen
  decided to explode!

  case biro ink! You kind of want to look as presentable as possible for most of the time, so I would recommend investing in some good stain remover. Especially since your uniform will most likely be white, bleach is also pretty good, but it's more or a high maintenance cleaning method as it's a kind of keep an eye on your washing kind of method!
• Lunch box and water bottleYou might be buying lunch at the hospital or you might be bringing a packed lunch, either way I'd recommend having a Tupperware box and a water bottle. Many housekeepers run very strict staff fridges, mine wasn't alowed to hold plastic carrier bags which is why even if I was buying a sandwich from the shop I would shove it in a tupperwear box, you may also find that your houskeeper on the ward requires you to put your name and todays date on your luch - and that's just easiser with tupperwear! Some people are a bit funny about drinking tap water so there are some really funky water bottles you can buy with a kind of built in water filter in the cap. I have never used one so I can't really recommend it, but I know loads
  
  of people in yoga use them and love them so ...
• Jewellery retainersThis one's quite a specific one! But for those of you with any piercings that are facial then you might want to invest in a piercing retainer. If you haven't seen them they're flesh coloured studs that make your piercing almost invisible and because they're flexible they're really safe.
  Depending on your hospital they might be totally cool with you having a facial piercing, or like mine they might not be cool at all! Mine isn't so I wear one in my nose piercing but it's up to you, although it's something worth looking into and considering buying.
• Hair and MakeupOne for the girls among us perhaps! General rule of thumb for nursing staff is that your hair should be above your collar, you'll see plenty of people disobaying this rule, but the only way to escape a bollocking is to follow it. Also - quite aside from any kind of infection control it makes me gag to think of my hair hanging into a wound or something! So I always wear my hair in a bun, a normal bun tends to fall out in my hair so I use a bun doughnut, it was about £2 from Tesco and I wear it every day - so I can't really recommend it highly enough!
  Also invest in a good quality moisturiser and foundation, I'm not one for high end brands or anything - but I haven't found a foundation that stays as well over a 12 hour shift as Bobbi Brown's Skin foundation SPF 15. And the combination of no air, hot wards and long hours with little sleep wreaks havoc on my skin - so make sure to invest in some kick ass moisturiser. I love Simple's light moisturiser but go for what you love!
  
  
  

So I hope that that list is all right for you all - it's not all encompassing and it's not total, and it's just my own personal list of what I felt is needed most on placement. So feel free to comment on what other things you think might be needed, and a massive good luck to anyone starting their nursing course this September!