Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: Student Nurse during a pandemic

As the title says. I jumped into nursing in 2020 and it’s been interesting to far.
I’ve seen a fair bit already and worked with people with complex clinical needs in the community for roughly over 4 years now.

So far I’ve worked on:
Renal, transplant, acute psychiatric, geriatric and infectious disease wards.

In the UK the NHS works differently from the US system so I can’t comment much on the state side variety.

Not sure what else to add so…AMA I guess 😅

What originally got you interested in medicine?

So initially I wanted to be a zookeeper, got into college did that for 3 years then dropped out of uni after year 1 went into catering + hospitality for 9 years.

Moved to the city, got a credit card, needed a second job etc. went into care. Loved it, went full time, hated the working conditions. Moved into Specialist support worker for learning disabilities and brain injury.

Work offered nursing apprenticeships that they learnt after I applied that they couldn’t provide. But I did a social work qualification with them that got me into uni now

Nursing seemed like the most sensible and suitable progression from clinical support work in the community (peoples homes)

Wew that is quite a roadmap haha.

How did the big-C affect your training? Did you assist in any way in vaccine rollout etc?

For first year they wrapped us in bubblewrap. Our first placement was only 22hrs a week, daytime, Mon-Fri. Over the 3 years training we need 2300 hrs of work experience. So we’ll need to play catch up this year and year 3.

A regular week is 37.5hrs, depending on placement location that could be 12hr shifts x 3 or mon-friday 9-5.

Year one we weren’t allowed to do at whole lot. Technically we weren’t supposed to do injections either but under supervision I did loads. Mostly blood thinners.

Some of the wards were still dedicated to covid when normally they would have been something else. A lot of students either didn’t go to placement or had to be moved to another ward. I was supposed to go to a transplant ward but it was turned into a covid ward. Didn’t get a choice in that but I would have liked to have stayed.

How are you taking care of yourself (emotionally, mentally, physically) during your time of not only important learning and experience, but the pandemic?

Very important factor yes!

At the start of it all happening I was working 60/70hrs a week at the support worker role, sometimes doing a 12hr day shift, then a sleep-in, then a 12hr day shift with the same client (a short live-in basically) That lasted from March to June/August where I got burnt out finally but chose to keep working elsewhere until uni started. Having a job and something to get up for, a routine was a big help and still is. Even on my days off I'll still set my alarm for 4am only difference being I sit around in bed RP'ing

I found that working when I could in first year was also helpful as I didn't have to be a student, I could shut off my thinking and do something I already know I'm good at and get paid for doing such. Working in the summer on the farm my companies boss owns was lovely and I hope to do it again next summer break. (which for nursing students starts August 9th, very short summer break)

Light exercise is a must some form of movement. Because my job is a lot of walking and standing, bending (so much bending over! x.x) and kneeling. I need to be fit for the job. It's even part of our Code that we have to follow in order to practice as a nurse. I use Movefit which is an online program someone I know IRL runs. 15/20 minutes a morning.

Can't not drink water while on long shifts, my head feels like it's in a vice otherwise and I am miserable.

Sleep, so so important. Basic but important. Having a solid sleeping pattern from 9pm till whenever I wake up (lately it's been 4am, sometimes 1:30, sometimes 5/6am if I've had a heavy day prior) But this has been routine for....over 10 years now and it's served me very well.

Having family and friends I can talk to is also a big part of it.

Getting study support is vital because since everything went online we are effectively alone as students, we can't meet up and discuss and brainstorm ideals with each other. Reaching out for help with studies was needed. I gained a great tip of playing non-instrumental music very very faintly in the background of my headphones to avoid distraction while typing. I can type up 10 paragraphs worth of RP but the same amount for uni essays takes considerably longer