Head's like scrambled egg!

Today was my first shift at my new and LAST EVER placement for my nurse training! I have already posted about what kind of placement it is, so I'll just summarise my day!

Patients were lovely - felt threatened by one, but let's forget that for now - and the staff made me feel ever so welcome. They are all fantastic, the Consultant is funny and kind, and I really think I'll get on well there.

I have a lot to learn over the next 12 weeks but it is an amazing opportunity, I will be doing the medication rounds in a few weeks, leading the multidisciplinary team meetings and becoming keyworker for certain appropriate patients! I can't wait!

I always feel conscious that I am "in the way" on placements sometimes, especially when staff are busy, so I always try and keep as busy as possible. Spent some time with a patient in the art room, helped with a very tricky Simpsons puzzle (I am rubbish at puzzles!) and sat in the garden with a few patients and the other student nurse and had a laugh with a few other patients. I really like spending time on the ward and am definitely not one to sit myself in the nursing office and do nothing!

Had a blood pressure training presentation this afternoon and I stayed behind with the lecturer so she could show me how to confidently take them manually. I have only had one other inpatient placement which was 2 years ago so am not as confident with them as I should be, but I feel much better now! She showed me some good tips, like trying to find the exact location of the pulse in the arm before placing the stethoscope, and pumping the cuff up without the stethoscope first to guess the systolic range until you feel the pulse disappear with your fingers, then you know how tightly to pump up the poor persons arm!

Doing an early shift tomorrow, 7am til 3pm, and the same on Friday, then weekend off! I'll update my blog accordingly :)

Watch out Pudsey! You will not BELIEVE these dogs!

This is for anyone who watched Britain's Got Talent and was impressed by Pudsey (who won), seriously, watch these dogs from America's Got Talent, they are unbelievable!!

Recently :)

So it's been a while since I've posted, because I have been busy with university, however I have only 12 WEEKS left til I am (hopefully) a qualified mental health nurse! My last placement, which will last all summer (no summer holidays, boooo) is an all-male psychiatric unit in Hull, and I am reallyyyyy looking forward to it!

My boyfriend Chris has been making some lovely photos recently, here are a few that are my favs:

This is my cat Socks

This is me on my gorgeous horse Ikoss

This is my cat Muffin drinking out the kitchen tap, naughty thing!

This is one of his pet monkeys eating a cricket

Another thing we have been getting up to is looking around lots of antique shops, exploring all the cool items you can find there. It's so interesting learning about some of the weirder antiques and I wish I had a house so that I could put loads of awesome old stuff in it!

I have one last week off before I have to start my placement so I'm going to make the most of it and go on some day trips with Chris :)