SOBBING & BLUBBERING : how to deal with emotional situations

Student nurse or not, there are always going to be moments in life when emotions take over and flood you uncontrollably. It is a perfectly human trait, and without those emotions we might as well be walking robots, but what we expect to see as we grow older is simply an ability to control it better. 

Like most things, it's easier said that done. Recent days have certainly been eye-opening. I still have a long way to go when it comes to holding back those tears. I'm a sensitive and emotional human being. mummy always said it was my best trait, hmmm... 

Usually constructive criticism is something I can appreciate but lately... as soon as anyone looks at me in the way that says 'What are you doing?!' it makes me tear up. Yep, silly I know but it's just what happens and there is no stopping them little buggers, trust me, I've tried. 

The only thing to do in that situation is to think how you can deal with the situation better next time. We are forever learning from our own mistakes and this is no exception. 

So, I've come up with a few things which have helped me cut down on those emotional, tear filled moments. 

1. Write a reflection. Again, this is one of the things I wish I have done more of right from the beginning of this placement. Using a simple reflective model such as GIBBS and applying it to a situation you have been faced with can help figure out what exactly it was that made you feel upset in the first place ( Diagram below) Which brings me onto my next point... 
   

DO NOT GET BEHIND

Okay, so maybe the title of this post is a little bit dramatic... 

Getting behind with whatever it is that you are doing is important, whether it's fitness, house work, homework, but when it comes to work in nursing school it is crucial. I am talking from first hand experience here. 

I have never been particularly organised but until now it has never really been an issue. When I started my nursing degree in September last year, I have jumped right in with great enthusiasm and along that, great expectations of myself. It was't long before I realised; having 12 different classes and lectures, all on different times and days, different tasks to do at home for different modules and most of them sounding exactly the same; i was getting lost, baffled and overwhelmed. I've confused myself writing this out never mind actually having to keep track of it all in real life!

I am sure if you are anything like me and have experienced first week of university before, you know what I'm talking about. I thought that despite the total chaos in my university work, I could get away without getting organised. I used to giggle to myself when some of my friends were carrying around diaries, noting things down, crossing things off... 

Well, how wrong was I?! I have quickly got in the habit of forgetting to do homework tasks for seminars and lectures, turning up at wrong classes and not being able to find my class without checking the online timetable again, it was a nightmare. To top it all of at the beginning of this year I started my first placement and any plans of catching up on my work went out the window. I was coming home tired, not even wanting to wash my face before hitting the pillow... there was no talk of university work! 

You can see that I ignored all the red warning signs telling me that I was going to get behind. Yep. Oh boy do I regret it now. 

Let me tell you how this is now going to affect the whole year and maybe even more of my time at university. 

I am at the end of my last first year placement, I should be finishing everything and handing it in ready for summer exactly 10 days from now. My situation is a little different. Before I finish for summer, I still have to write 2 essays (2,500 words each!!!), make up around 70 hours of clinical placement time and organise my portfolio where I basically have to brag about how good of a nurse I am.

So here I am, sitting here writing this post instead of doing at least one of those things. I am going to have to do so much catching up over summer! While all my friends are going to be going on holiday, working to save some money for next year of studies, I am going to be stuck in a box little office, trying to get all this done. 

Oh how I wish I bought a diary in September!!!

However bad this situation is, the only thing I can do now is catch up and learn from my mistakes so that this does not happen again. So I thought I would come up with a few pointers which I wish I had when I started, and hopefully it can help one of you too. 

1. Before starting the year, get a diary! Even if you are not going to write down everything, you'll be amazed how even a single word can trigger your memory.

Sonetimes you need to take a step back...

The stress of a life of a student nurse can sometimes get a little bit much. 

The same goes for any challenging degree or training , and what we all need sometimes is just time to relax.

I often find myself running through life with university work, placement, house work being so hectic, I have very little time to gather my thoughts and take care of other very important things in my life such as my relationship!

I have a very loving and understanding boyfriend. He supports me through life and is my rock but sadly he works permanent night shifts an hour away from home which means our time together is very, very limited!

That is why I love days like today, when we are both off work, we put everything on hold and just enjoy each others company and do silly lovely things :)

This morning we woke up nice and early, got ourselves ready and ventured on a lovely walk to a park nearby. It was wonderful. Here are some pictures from what we did showing what exactly we do to relax!

Do any of you feel the same? What do you do to relax? I'd love to hear about it all!

Lots of love 

Student nurse UK

When all else fails, BLOG

For any of you that don't know, being a student nurse is tough. 

You may hear from people you know who are nurses, or friends and families of those who are, that a job of a nurse is challenging. Long hours, pay which doesn't allow for rent payments, no social life and on top of all that patients may even pee on you. Think this is bad? Well, let me assure you, being a student nurse is worse. And I don't mean that it is all bad, because us aspiring nurses are all here because we want to make a difference in patient's lives, but it defiantly is a challenging 3 years!  

I can tell you this because I, myself am a student nurse here in the UK. I'm at the very end of my first year of training and let me tell you, it has not been an easy ride. 

This is exactly why I have decided to start writing this blog. There have been countless times throughout my placement, I have arrived at work at 7.15am to start a shift with a smile on my pillow creased face, for it to be gone and replaced with dripping sweat and sometimes even tears just minutes later. When you finally arrive home sometime you just need to vent!

Today was one of those days. I arrived at work to find out that on a 32-bed, cardio-thoracic surgery ward, there were only 3 qualified nurses who have managed to turn in today. Splitting the patients in 3 meant that out nurse-patients ratios were 1 to 11! If you are a nurse, student nurse or have any idea about how hospitals are run here in the UK, you will probably know that a ratio this high is a real challenge on a surgical ward.  

The decision of becoming a nurse for me, was not made light heartily, I knew that some days were going to be a real slog, and that what we are essentially doing is serving other people but looking after 11 patients who have just recently had heart surgery and require your help with almost every aspect of their normal living topped with dressing changes, medication and clinical observations, is almost impossible. 

The sad thing about today's situation was that I was very afraid of my patients being neglected by us in some way. None of the team who I work with would ever neglect anyone purposely, but those things happen sometimes. You know the cute little gentlemen you see around sometimes, who you just want to hug and call granddad when you see them? Well, we have many of those on our ward, they are great fun, they are lovely people, but they are also very polite. When they see you running from top to bottom of the ward, bringing commodes, handing out extra blankets, taking people to and from x-rays, a lot of the time they think it's rude to ask for your attention and request some pain relief, even though they may be in agony. 

Coming on a shift like today's makes me sad because although I try my best I may not have the time to ask every single of my patients whether their pain is well controlled and whether they are comfortable in bed. 

This has been my biggest struggle since starting placement for the majorly understaffed NHS. 

If anyone reading this is in a similar situation, and has any useful tips I would love to hear some of your comments. At the end of the day, us nurses are there to help each other :) 

(just a little picture which made me chuckle :))

Lots of love 

Student nurse UK