Chineasy

I thought I'd share with everyone a cool book I got at Christmas called Chineasy. 

That teaches you Chinese characters but with art. 

It teaches you by teaching one character and then building upon that. 

The video explaining it is a lot better to watch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=troxvPRmZm8

In other news I finally completed my hateful dissertation, my god if I had to read it through one more time I think I wouldn't have thrown it out. I don't even care if it's good anymore, at least it is done.

Not Fun

I've been at placement and working and writing my dissertation lately - it's not been fun and I'm looking forward to some time off at Christmas. But I'm just past 9,000 words of my dissertation and it should be 10,000 long so that's good news. 

Barclay has been a loyal companion throughout. In other news our bathroom drain is a bit blocked, 'slow drain' I think it's called. My housemate tried caustic soda to no avail. I tried a whole tube of veet because I suspect that with three long haired girls living in the house it might just be our hair!

But still no result, still have a slow drain. Oh well. I'm looking forward to being away over the Christmas holidays, we're going to Paris. One week to go!

Fire fire!

So this morning started with me setting the toaster on fire, put in my bagels and immediately saw plumes of black smoke issuing from said toaster. Turned whole thing off, took bagels out... inspected them...hmm...? Put the toaster on with nothing in it to test it, still smoking, looked inside and saw a small piece of very blackened bread and before I could turn it off again the whole thing caught light! Massive flash, tripped the circuits and my bagels were very much bread. But oh well. 

I haven't posted much lately because... well I haven't been up to many interesting things. My placement ended and I got a really good mark which I was really pleased with. I handed in a big assignment which I'm glad to have off my plate and it's now being marked. 

So now it's back to classes and I found out my next placement which is in the community. What else have I been up to... Oh we went to Delia Smiths for Valentines Day (that seem's like ages ago!), it was really nice. 

I learnt how to do a fishtail braid. 

Home Again

I didn't want to leave Center Parcs on our last day, we had a nice breakfast at the revolving restaurant there. This was our view when we sat down. 

As you can see the view got steadily worse as breakfast progressed but it was a novelty at least. 

And then instead of a lovely morning of swimming I had planned we drove home early because the boyfriend didn't feel well and when we got back we tidied the entire house ready for a house inspection, how rubbish can it get huh? Of course the house inspection person from the letting agency was in and out in two minutes flat. I did unpack and make use of my chalkboard mug from my brother though. 

And then today I half heartedly worked on an assignment I have at the moment, and oh isn't it cumbersome, have had to hand make (by which I mean faff about on paint and power point) these bloody nutritional labels for a zillion foods. 

Back to placement tomorrow, and then later work :( boooooo I want my holidays back!

Back To Uni

Well it's that time of year - back to school time, or back to uni for me on Tuesday but there's always a distinct autumnal quality to September I think. I'm going into my second year of my nursing degree (some how got through my first one with good marks but goodness knows how!). I've been sent my next placement details which I'm really pleased about because it's local to me so no travelling and awful expenses like the time before last and I think the area of nursing I'll be in will be pretty interesting, so that all kicks off just after my birthday in November and into the New Year (2014, eek!). 

Kind of sad to end my lovely summer holidays of free time and working whenever I fancy but I'm looking forward to the second year and seeing all my friends again. Also I want to see if I can maintain my record of never having physically withdrawn a book from the university library, I do use it online but it's the physical aspect of it that's important to my record I think haha (shhhhhh tell no one!). 

End Of Year One

Well chums it's the end of my first year at uni, it's gone so fast. All my paperwork is handed in, my placement is now over and I was really pleased with my mark. I got my first card from a patient which was really nice.

Especially now I can tuck it into my over large portfolio! Just one more lesson and then it's the summer holidays, Rome and Ibiza, yay! 

OSCEs

Well my chums, what have I been up to so far this week... I have been revising and taking my two OSCE exams at uni for the end of year. I had to write on the flip chart during the skills lab for Dr ABCDE so my notes were... Ok I just stole the flip chart page. I did write it though! So I revised from the giant poster and I still forgot bits of it in the exam. Oh well, feeling a bit frazzled now.

I got a new raised bed that the boyfriend put together for me, good of him. Now I need to buy some compost to go in it, find a good place for it and get planting stuff. 

And I made a discovery - when you run out of soy sauce, use two teaspoons of marmite, now you know

Placement Update

So I've reached halfway house at my current placement and I've done so many hours there that for the rest of my placement I only need to go in for two long day shifts a week, so it will be quite nice to get a day off that I didn't have before. On placement your hours are meant to average out to 30 a week and I've been doing 3 long days which at my placement is 39 hours so I'm in credit.

I have a drug calculation exam coming up for next week for which we use a program called safe medicate and then after that I have my OSCEs which this year are about administering medication (tablet form) and DR ABCDE possibly including manual blood pressure but I feel fairly confident about these because we've been practising them a lot before classes broke up for placement... fingers crossed!

The BNF, the CQC and the RCN

Nursing is full of acronyms and today I thought, as I have a moment I would tell you about 1 that's like a bible and 2 that are in the news a lot. The RCN is the Royal College of Nursing and I would say is the main trade union for nurses - why do we need a trade union? Mainly for legal support and insurance actually. We live in a culture where people try to sue for a profit and sadly healthcare is not exempt. By joining the RCN we insure ourselves, get a few nice free things, keep up to date with any nursing news with their publication, get access to a great online library and also free legal advice and representation should we ever need it (although I hope I never do!!). The RCN is very well respected and often in the news telling politicians how it is. And they gave me a free tote bag and nursing dictionary - thanks for that!

Next is the CQC, I thought I would mention this one as I am on placement at the moment and the CQC visited. This is the Care Quality Comission, they visit all healthcare settings to make sure that everything is running ship shape and I am very happy to say that my placement passed with flying colours as working exactly as it should do, so that was good news. The Care Qaulity Comission have the power to shut down healthcare settings that are not performing satisfactorily, they also run enquiries where there have been problems which is why you might see them in the news. Everyone fears the CQC, but really it's about making things better.

The third is the BNF, the British National Formulary - a bible of all things pharmacological. I mention this because I've been studying some parts of it lately and downloaded a little free app for my iPhone (a must for all nursing students with a smart phone!). If you need to give out a drug you don't recognise? Check the BNF. Concerned about side effects? Check the BNF. Contraindications? Check the BNF. Is that the right dose? BNF.  The BNF is law as far as I'm concerned and so handy to have.

Here's a look at the free app - 

This is the main menu

But it's split quite helpfully into sections by health topics

And here's an example of the search

Well worth a look but you will need to sign up for an NHS Athens account beforehand. Happy Friday Readers!

Catch Up

Well chums, I've been having a pleasant week (last week that was, this one's just began). Got another assignment back, my essay, which I've passed so I'm really pleased about that, also passed my placement with a high mark so phew - just the portfolio to tweak.

Spring has finally sprung and I enjoyed a doggy viewing, Henry and his lovely lady have just got a new addition to the family (what a cutie!!) so me and my friend, also called Hayley, went round for a doggy viewing/pizza eating/kerplunk and cleudo playing night which was very fun.

Have been working 24 hours a week along side my studies this module as the timetable allows me to fit this in and had a really great shift Saturday and then Sunday the boyfriend and I took a trip to a car boot that I had never been to before we went grocery shopping. Well it was packed!! It was a little bit like a strange museum of the 80s and 90s, well worth a look round. The only things I bought though was a springy butterfly to go in the garden for the cat to play with, and food.... also for the cat. He is a spoilt little boy.

Then after that I went to M&S for a new top and met my lovely chum Kiran for coffee and a chat. The boyfriend ordered me a book (all those who know him will gasp as he is not a reader!) as a surprise but when it got delivered I realised it was to make fun of me! But I shall most definitely be reading it and the joke will be on you all when you see my kick ass shelter building, fire starting and zombie maiming... ok maybe not the last one.

Back To Uni After Easter

The first day back to uni has been and gone now after the Easter holidays and.. well it sucked actually. We were hanging about for 2 hours to begin with because there had been a mix up with the lecturers we were meant to have. The IT lab printers wouldn't work, then I spilt tea down myself (clever). Then we all got one of our assignment marks back and I did dreadfully only I don't understand the feedback I've been given at all and nor do my friends (ugh) and the person I need to speak to is on holiday (double ugh) and I can't even look through the actual piece of work because (wouldn't you know it?) my work has been chosen to go to the external moderators (triple ugh). So that's really really frustrating. 

I'm glad to be back home now, thank goodness.

Module 2

Well chums, I've finished my module one of my degree and it's straight onto module two. Although the nice thing is that all my assignments have been handed in so that's a weight off my mind. The only thing I still have outstanding is waiting for all the expenses (about £600!) to be paid back to me from my placement for accommodation and travel costs - not just because it's a lot of money but because my placement was far away and I had to pay out all that money I had to get a loan from the Dean of Students (what a chore) and really would like to get that paid off as owing money stresses me out. 

I've already been assigned my next placement which I'm really pleased with and its far closer to me so no loan or crazy expense claims which I detest. Hurrah!

Procrastination

I am working on my assignments.... sort of

In between cake making...

Earl Grey drinking...

And spirographing 

Busy Bee

Well, I have been busy these past few weeks. I'm still on placement which is going well (mostly!) that's 30 hours a week. I'm also doing class or independent learning each week, that's 7.5 hours a week. I'm working at my HCA job, that's 12 hours a week. Travel to placement and back on the bus twice a week is 6 hours a week. So that's 55 hours a week busy. Then on top of that I've got 3 big assignments:

 - a 3,000 word communication essay

- a portfolio of my first module's work

- assessment of practice booklet, review and 3,000 word written evidence

Phew - I need a holiday!

Anatomy Lab

I had a session in the anatomy lab at university today where they keep the cadavers for medical science and my class had an introduction to the lab.

 I wasn't too worried about seeing the dead bodies, you had to place all your belongings away in a locker and wear a white lab coat and we walked into a cooled clinical looking room which they had one complete body on a metal table and on a different table they had a severed arm and a leg that had been skinned so you could see all the muscles and bones. 

This might sound gory but it really wasn't, it was all carried out very respectfully to the bodies, the genitals and face are covered and any tattoos are removed to protect the donors identity as much as possible. We only saw parts of the whole body not all of it at once and it looked like... well any other body really just still and stiff. The limbs looked like meat that you'd buy to cook, I suppose you don't think of meat that we eat being muscle but it is and it reminded me personally of roast beef. 

Apparently pretty much all of the donors are elderly, 80+, more women than men and they purposefully seek out to donate their body for anatomical study once they die which is really kind of them because it was really useful to see. The cadavers are specially embalmed using chemicals that preserve the tissue (this is why the bodies go stiff) and left for three months for the cadavers to gain the full benefit of the embalming chemicals the bodies are then used over the course of an academic year (or in special circumstances over three years) and then at the end of the year students and donor's families are invited to go to a special cremation of the donor's bodies and the students give thanks for them. We are the first nursing cohort to visit the anatomy lab (usually it's just med students) so this was very special. 

I hope you'll understand that I have no photos to share on this post but if you're interested (and I haven't put you off), I'd really recommend taking a look at some of Gunther von Hagens' work, he is the man that has the famous Body Exhibition - I saw it in New York whilst I was there and although you think you know what everyone looks like inside from books, it really is an eye opener. 

What I Won't Miss

So lately I've been on my first nursing placement but I'm coming to the end of it now and my last day working (for no pay I might add!) is my birthday... so that's going to be joyous. 

I shan't be missing seeing the moon on the way to work, the moon is an indisputable sign that I should be in bed. 

Nor shall I miss walking past the creepy misted over forest in between the accommodation and the hospital which I am convinced is full of murderers! That or wild animals... in the forest... probably more likely?

But the thing I shall miss least of all is the boring, expensive, long bus journey of rubbishness. Until January that is when I return to all of these joys. Happy November readers!

First Year, First Placement, First Day

So.... it went pretty good actually. I had a shift that's called a long day and that's 7am - 8pm (a lonnnggg dayyyy). I'm on a ward placement in a hospital for two weeks which means it's busy busy, everyone coming and going. I woke up about 5.30am, it took me about 5 minutes of fumbling in the dark to realise the annoying sound I kept hearing was my alarm (playing a piano riff apparently). I didn't have a great nights sleep - under the pillow case my pillow has some sort of plastic covering (which may mysteriously disappear when it meets my nail scissors tonight!) and it was really noisy?!? Someone said oh yes it's like the pillows patients have... err no it's not, they have nice fluffy pillows. My noisy pillow and I will most definitely come to blows before I snooze tonight. 3am is not the time for crinkling loudly!

So anyway, the general layout of a ward for those of you who haven't worked on one or been patients/visitors is that there are bays (usually 4 or 5) of beds each with 6 patients and also side rooms with just one patient in or sometimes two if it's a long side room. The ward is usually then divided into teams so you know who you're responsible for. My team had two bays and 4 side rooms which is a nice number to keep busy with but not swamped. 

We had hand over where we discuss all the patients and any changes/needs for the day and then I was in the thick of it. I was really glad I'd done HCA work before so I knew all the basic things like obs and personal care, what was used for what. I got to use a drug chart and give out medication (heavily supervised - don't worry!) and I gave an injection which was exciting. I shadowed some of the physios too which was interesting as I hadn't seen that side of patient care before. 

I met my mentor briefly but she was working the night shift and I think the ward had tried to be kind and not give me a night shift my first two weeks so I'm only with her one day and my associate mentor two days next week. So instead, I spent the day with the charge nurse and a staff nurse in our team, both of whom were really nice and easy to like and let me try new things out.

Now I'm back in the accommodation and have dined on my lovely evening meal of a tuna sandwich and a sprite (the cafe was closed!). Bring on tomorrow eh? 

Placement Woes

So as I may or may not have complained to you I have a placement bloody ages away from my home (despite my home being next to two different hospitals!) and consequentially I have to stay in hospital accommodation... not happy. Although luckily the actual placement itself should hopefully be interesting and fun.

So as I'm staying away tonight I had to pack my bags last night and let me tell you - they feel heavy. Particularly the laptop. Pussy cat did a little sniffing inspection before I left but both bags passed.

Some kindly soul gave me a little miniatures pack of toiletries last Christmas which were handy to take away with me - also I felt good about using them up. I think I must be difficult to buy for because every Christmas I get tons and tons of toiletries that sit unused in a box I have for the toiletries (that's how many I get) until they are used or (more likely) I throw them away because I haven't used them. This is especially true of make up. I was rummaging through the toiletries box last night and found eye shadow and nail varnish that someone had bought me when I was 12... I am now 23, they really must be thrown away. Incidentally if anyone wants seriously old make up/nail varnish do feel free to root through my bins!

So I looked like a bag lady, luckily as we headed towards the end of the day I got offered a lift to the accommodation I'm staying at so I got to forgo the crappy long bus ride! Hurrah! So now I'm settling into my little room, it's a flat of four rooms and there are other girls that are already nurses who live here permanently, all very nice. 

It's a bit basic. It reminds me of when I lived at a hostel. But its next to my placement, free wifi and I know two other people staying here on their placements which is good.

Hopefully tomorrow all goes fine :)

Keep Cup

I made a university purchase the other day - a Keep Cup for £6

I quite liked the look of it, and it's good for the environment. 

And this way I can be a cheap little student and instead of buying a cup and some earl grey tea I can put a tea bag and sweetener in my Keep Cup and just pay 25p for hot water... score!

Uniformly Hideous

Check out the pattern of my student nurse uniform.... attractive stuff....