HAPPY NEW YEAR! exams are over lets start off with some nursing ”waunderlusting” (urban dictionary: a strong desire to travel) shall we….

Nursing abroad, Its something that’s on all our lists of things we would love to do as nurses right?

Well I got to fulfil my dream of nursing abroad in my second year elective and I couldn’t encourage you more to go and do the same at some point in your nursing career!

Read away: (this is also featured in the school of health sciences news letter for last term, first publishing of my nursing career! WOOP!)

In March 2016, I travelled to Mannya, a community in Southern Uganda, to complete my elective placement.

My first impressions of Uganda were great! Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming and the vast green landscapes showed just how beautiful Uganda is.

I spent the majority of my placement at St Bernard’s Health Centre, a facility established in 2007 by the Cotton On Foundation with the support of St. Bernard’s Parish, Australia. My mentor, Vincent, ran the centre and introduced me to life in Uganda. At first I was intimidated by the cultural differences between Uganda and the UK, in both everyday life and nursing practices, but I quickly realised that I was only going to derive as much from this experience as I was willing to put in, so I quickly starting making the most of it!

The working conditions created unique challenges, for example I was in an impoverish area of Uganda where running water and electricity were limited and turned off at 10pm meaning work sometimes had to be carried out in the dark. I soon got used to my surroundings and grasped all the opportunities I was given.

I experienced such a wide range of cases during my placement; I encountered many different tropical diseases, situations and uncommon causes of death. I came into contact with many young patients; I nursed malnourished children and cared for orphaned causalities of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. I also got an insightful experience when I worked at a specialist HIV and malnutrition unit in a nearby district. I was also involved with the antenatal care of pregnant women, performing physical examinations, assisting with minor surgical procedures, ward rounds and the consultation of patients. I got a chance to perform baby immunisations against diseases such as polio, diptheria, tetanus and pertussis. But by far the most rewarding aspect of my trip was learning how to deliver babies with very limited resources; I helped to deliver many babies, one of which was named Olivia after me, an honour and a special experience.

I found it to be such an amazing experience to see first-hand the medicine in a rural Third World community. I was inspired by the way the nurses maintained a high standard of care and showed a wide range of skills and practical ability with limited resources. They are always wanting to learn and enhance their knowledge to ensure their own professional progression and a better care for their community.

Leading up to my trip I raised money to purchase a new delivery bed, and other vital medical equipment needed for diagnostics such as an autoscope. I was involved in seeing how the money was put to use and actually help to construct the delivery bed!  Since my trip I have kept in contact with my Ugandan family who have told me that in October 2016 there were 16 babies born on the ‘Olivia bed’ – it feels amazing to know the fundraising I did is making a real difference in the community. Continuing to raise money is vital for the future of the centre, I continue to support the Cotton On Foundation in their aim is to work with the local community to help build a healthy and sustainable future for the people of southern Uganda. Even though the people of Mannya have so little, they are full of hope, joy and love; they are truly inspirational.

I encourage everyone to participate in an international elective during their programme. Not only has it enhanced my career prospects in finding future employment as a nurse at home, but it was also a humbling, eye opening and life-changing adventure!

That’s me! if you ever want to chat about how I organised my placement abroad don’t hesitate to ask!

Just an update on my 3rd year schedule: I’m currently on placement 9-5 in a clinic, working weekend bank shifts, doing my dissertation in my spare time and looking for jobs = EXHAUSTED!

However I passed my Drugs calculations exam! YAY! top tip make NHS Sn@p your best friend for a few weeks, learn your formulas and you will be winning!

Liv x

Christmas time, mistletoe and wine… and revision in the student world!

Congratulations to all the first years for completing your first term, surviving freshers, 9am lectures and freshers flu! Second years, well done on completing your first placement of year 2!

As for third years (like myself) we are up to our eyes in dissertation writing, reading and reviewing. However that has not dampened my Christmas spirit!

Surgical ward Christmas party

I’ve completed my Christmas shopping, ate too many mince pies already and cannot wait to binge on Christmas TV, Quality Street and pigs in blankets! This week I went home to Devon for the start of my Christmas festivities with my family before traveling to Belfast to have Christmas with my boyfriend and his family!

I was also invited to my last placements ward Christmas party… just because we’re nurses doesn’t mean we can’t party! I felt so grateful to be invited and I loved seeing all my colleagues again. Still it’s a funny feeling seeing your colleagues out of uniform and singing their hearts out to the Pogues Fairy Tale of New York!

This year feels a bit nostalgic, it’s my last Christmas as a student and the prospect that I won’t have Christmas off next year makes me feel so sad! I’ve spoken to some of my friends who are now qualified nurses and graduates from City about how they feel about working over Christmas and their approaches to dealing with work over the festive period – I’ve summarised 3 main positives they all emphasised on:

1. Spend quality time with your families – it doesn’t have to be on Christmas day.

2. Embrace the good work you are doing – you’re making a huge difference to someone’s life who is sick and away from their families at this festive time of year.

Happy Christmas!

3. Always smile and keep positive! You won’t be working Christmas day every year.

Being with family at this time of year is very important to me, that is something I will take forward as I become a qualified nurse. It’s not about the day or presents it’s about spending time with the people you love, and we are going into a hard profession which makes us all HEROS! Speaking of which, I’m going to go open a tub of them!

If you haven’t already done so, check out the Adult Nursing newsletter for the autumn term… it has some great content and features me and my experiences in Uganda! I will be doing a blog post about it in the New Year, so for all those eager to do a placement abroad watch this space.

Happy Christmas to you all and a happy new year!

Liv x