Surviving the 1st Week of Nursing Placement

I have somehow miraculously reached Sunday - a day I thought would never appear. This is not to say I didn't have a good week but I recall sitting in this exact spot last Sunday, feeling sick at the thought of embarking on my first long clinical placement wondering would time ever pass. It was pure nerves and, as always, it was much less nerve-wracking when I got in there (even if I did nearly faint the first morning - but there should be a warning about how hot and sweaty surgical wards are!). I feel like a new person with an entirely new perspective having come out the other end of my first week.

I want to keep this quite short and sweet so let's jump straight back to the first day. I was going into it with an uneasy feeling, like I might accidentally kill someone or look like an idiot for 90% of the day. This was not the case thankfully! - at least not he accidental killing part. I did feel a bit like I was in the way but the nurse I am partnered with was so lovely and helpful it made the first day a really enjoyable experience. Having someone like that there to guide me took such a huge weight off my shoulders and allowed me to relax for the rest of the week. Come to think of it the first day went by in a bit of a blur, I was still trying to get to grips with the ward layout, equipment, patients, staff members all while trying to come to terms with the new responsibilities I had.

As the week went on I began to see the routine of the ward - granted it does change slightly depending whether you're placed in high dependency or low dependency. Once I understood what was expected of me I really actually quite liked taking responsibility and being able to help the staff nurses. The tasks I was mainly carrying out this week included; recording patient's vital signs (blood pressure, pulse, respirations, temperature etc.), assisting patients with hygiene, feeding, changing, toileting, positioning and mobilising. These things definitely take practice before it actually looks like you know what you're doing! They may seem easy on paper but each patient is different and with that there are so many different things to take into consideration. I also got to observe a lot of cool things this week; staples being removed, wound dressings, canula insertion, trachea sites.

Carrying out these responsibilities really made me feel like a real nurse and very professional, however I found that it was the communication with the patients that I enjoyed most this week. I was surprised by the amount of crying patients I encountered within my four days on the ward. I became someone to confide in, to cry on, to laugh with and to general chit-chat with all within the space of one hour and then I'd meet new patients and the cycle continued. This was so fascinating to me and the sensation of making someone feel better or comforted was like no other. You see people sometimes at their most vulnerable in the ward and that's a new experience for me.

Overall, I would definitely mark this week as a good one. It definitely had it's ups and downs. The positives being all the things I just talked about, the procedures, the activities I got to carry out and the communicating. The main negative being how unbelievably draining this week was - physically and emotionally. I had never been so tired in my life and that made me super moody and fragile! Which is very unlike me. I know I will get used to it in time and I'm looking forward to adjusting to this new routine.

I know I haven't posted a beauty related topic in a little while now and I intending on getting one up tomorrow because there is something I want to write about ;) But for now my life does revolve around my hospital shifts and taking in all this new information so forgive me! So thats my first week in a nutshell, check back next weekend for more if you're interested and thanks for reading.

Love Kensey xo