Hello everyone!
I hope everyone is enjoying this gorgeous (but very hot!!!) weather we’ve been experiencing this week!
Before I begin this months blog post, I have some very exciting news… I got a FIRST in my dissertation!!! Happiness does not even begin to cover how I felt when I got my results. I feel so proud to have finished my degree and to have done well, after working hard for so many months. Now all I have to do is wait for my overall degree classification…
Anyway, the topic I have decided to write about this month is my experience doing my final placement at Great Ormond Street. Before I get into it, I’ll tell you the story of how I got my final placement at GOSH.
So in third year, around November time, placement allocations send you out your “Final Placement” form, where you give four preferences as to where you would like to be allocated to do your final placement. As we don’t go to GOSH normally, I elected to stay within the trust I had trained in and submitted my choices and waited. December rolled around and we were sent an email asking if anyone wanted to go to GOSH and if we did, we had to write a short statement of interest and send it back to allocations. Well… In all honestly, I was torn. I was at home at the time, so I asked every family member what I should do and they all said “Alex, it’s GOSH, why wouldn’t you go?! It will be a fantastic opportunity for you and if you don’t like it, at least you’ve tried it”. So after much thought, I went for it and in all honesty, never thought I would get it. But allocation day rolled around and I opened the email and it said I was going to “Neurology, Neurosurgery and Craniofacial surgery” well…. Scared didn’t even cut it.
Anyway, fast forward to January and the day came to start at GOSH. I remember thoughts like “what if I’m not good enough” “what if they ask me all these questions and I have no idea what to say” or “what if I do something wrong” were all in the back of my mind. After all, GOSH treats thousands of children with rare and complex conditions, most of which I had never previously come across before on placement. However, I needn’t have worried! I had four fantastic mentors. My sign off mentor was brilliant and I honestly could not have asked for anyone better. When I was having moments of self doubt she would always say to me “Alex, you are a competent and more importantly, a safe nurse. If you weren’t asking questions, I’d be worried because you never stop learning and you can’t be expected to know everything” which always put me at ease. As the weeks past, I got more and more confident and I was surrounded by inspirational and supportive staff members from the HCA’s, other staff nurses right up to the ward manager. Even the doctors were fantastic. I was lucky enough to look after some amazing children and families who taught me more than I could ever imagine about different conditions. I was also lucky enough to experience observing major brain surgery, which as gory as it was, allowed me to see how the patient’s condition affected their brain and why they would be like they were when they woke after the surgery.
Don’t get me wrong, there were days when I had wobbles and wanted to go and weep in the toilets (especially after patient’s deciding to be naughty and become very unwell) but I was extremely well supported and felt no question was silly. I was made to feel part of the team and was made to feel valued and appreciated for things that I did, which I feel is so important as a student as we move around so much.
So the moral of the story is, step out of your comfort zone and take EVERY opportunity given to you on this course, because when it pays off, it will be the BEST thing you’ve ever done!!
Alex 🙂 xx
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