My First Experience on Placement

Yesterday was the last day of my first block of placements, I'm not going to be back now until Feb, but have got an exam, assignments and University to deal with in the meantime.

I wanted to just write briefly about the last 6 weeks. As you know, I am a first year student in Adult Nursing and I'm placed on a Vascular and General Surgery ward. When I received the placement I was excited but not really sure what to expect, and my goodness I was not prepared! We deal with everything from abdominal pain to leg amputations and everything in between. It seems like there isn't really much on this ward that I wont get to witness. I actually really like this aspect because it is giving me more exposure and increasing my knowledge while still having the opportunities to really get down to business with the Vascular Specialist side of things.

So far I have done all of the usual nurse-type activities such as observations: Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Saturations, Temperature, Respirations and pain scores. I've also removed cannulas, changed dressings, assisted with moving and handling, admitted patients, discharged patients, administered medications (including subcut injections) etc and assisted with more complex dressings such as Vac dressings. Anyone who follows me on Snapchat will have seen my little video blog about this experience! This week I accompanied one of our Vascular Specialists down to the Outpatient Clinic where we saw patients that had been referred from elsewhere which was a really interesting experience.

Over the last few weeks I have been able to work with people in various roles including Novice, CSW, Staff Nurse, Sister, Specialist, OT, Dr, Jr Dr, PA and a few others and to my surprise everyone has been so welcoming. This is one of the things I was really nervous about but its been lovely to be on the ward.

With yesterday being my last day, I was determined to make it a positive experience, and although the day started off a little rocky, I made the decision to brush it off and make the most of the afternoon. The patients I was taking care of made my last day an absolute pleasure, they kept me laughing and were so friendly, regardless of their situations and the reasons they were there. And one lovely gentleman ended the day by singing to us and it nearly brought me to tears as it reminded me so much of when my granddad used to sing. It was the perfect ending to such an eye opening and enjoyable placement.

Now its time to relax, get the last few things ready for Christmas and start preparing for an exam in Jan!

Merry Christmas to you all and I hope anyone that's been on placement for the first time has enjoyed it as much as I have!

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