As I’m nearly at the midpoint of my final placement as a student nurse, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about what tips and tricks I wish I’d known before starting my nursing journey. So I’ve asked the first, second and third years on the ward what they think and together we’ve come up with this list…
Don’t buy books – the library has loads!
Before I even started the degree, both I and my family/friends were buying books left, right and centre – so many in fact my bookshelf looks like I bought an entire section of amazon! Jokes aside, out of the books I own, I have maybe regularly used 5-6 of them. To save space and more importantly, money, take advantage of your university library. Our university has a brilliant library where most of the books are available electronically, so it even saves you going into university! It also enables you to try books, if you want to buy them later… So you know what books are useful and what books aren’t.
Organise your revision/time management
I still don’t think I’ve cracked this one even going into third year! I’m usually quite organised in getting things done, I’m definitely not a lastminute.com person, but I still struggle to evenly distribute my time to essays/exams if they are due in at the same time. I’m currently juggling my dissertation, my leadership essay and my practical OSCE exam revision. I’ve done a “timetable” whereby, each day I’m off is allocated to one of these tasks and so far it’s been working! I would also recommend a good diary to put down all your deadlines. I also use a whiteboard I bought from pound land to keep all my important dates visible.
If you’re struggling – talk to someone!
Whether that is your friend, fellow course mates, lecturers, personal tutor… Talk to someone and let it all out. As I am on my final placement, I have a weekly reflective meeting with my sign off mentor to talk about my weekly progress and how I’m feeling. Every week she tells me “It’s okay if this week you’re struggling and if you ever need to talk, cry or just get something off your chest… let me know!” and she’s been the first mentor to ever say that to me. I never really thought about it before, but what she’s saying is right. As a student nurse, you’re constantly expected to be happy and enjoy the shift.. But we’re all human at the end of the day and sometimes that just doesn’t happen! And that’s okay 🙂
I also asked them what items they couldn’t have lived without during their nursing degree…
- A good fob watch – an essential!
- A diary – your life will become a bit hectic with placement, exams and essays so I definitely couldn’t live without my diary!
- Pens, pens and more pens…
- Folders and notebooks for each module
- A shift planner app for placement – there are loads available, just check the app store!
- Good placement shoes – go for comfort, no one will care what the shoes look like on your feet and neither will you after a 12.5 hour shift!
And most importantly…
Have some time to yourself!
We all know nursing degrees are difficult and you feel like you are just studying or on placement constantly, but it is so important to de-stress, relax and take some time for yourself. Whether that’s doing a hobby you enjoy, going out with family/friends or just having a nap – go for it! Everyone needs to switch off and relax every now and then (I’d be very grumpy if I didn’t!)
Mini life update: I get lots of people saying to me “How’s third year?” “Can you believe you will be a qualified nurse soon?” “How fast has that gone?” …. In all honesty, everything is a blur at the moment! I’m trying to do well on my final placement, write my dissertation and leadership essay, teach junior students clinical skills whilst on placement to prepare for my OSCE and apply for jobs, all whilst trying to have a life! I’m not going to sugar coat it, the 12.5 hour day and night shifts are very exhausting… But the other day I got a comment from a mother who said “I couldn’t have got through the day without you Alex” and reflecting on it, that makes the stress 100% worth it.
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