Well, the first two weeks of placement have been absolutely packed full of new experiences.
I took a notebook with me, so I could write down the main things that I’ve done, and I tried my best to keep a diary but honestly keeping on top of it was impossible! Working with the community nurses has certainly been eye opening, I don’t think you realise how many different things they do until you’re out there doing it. My mentor was off for the first week on annual leave, so I was with a few different nurses until she returned, but it was actually really good to see how a lot of different people worked. Everyone has their own way of doing things, but the outcome is the same which is good. Every patient is so different as well, so I got the opportunity to see and do loads of different things.
Over the past two weeks I have done a lot of wound care, mainly venous leg ulcers, lymphoedema patients, wound packing, I got to take clips out of a few hip and knee replacements, and stitches out of wounds- which I really enjoyed. I’ve also seen quite a lot of palliative care patients, which has involved syringe drivers, PICC flushes, and PEG water changes. It was really interesting to learn about the different medications used in end of life care.
I tried to get stuck in straight away.
Mainly because I was really quite nervous about it, so I thought that would be the best way to overcome any fears. If I’m honest I’m not really that confident about my abilities, and I really struggled the first few days. It was difficult feeling comfortable walking in to patient’s houses and introducing myself, and I felt really out of my depth. I got into my own head about it quite a bit and thought that the nurses would think I was stupid because I didn’t know anything, it did make me quite upset for the first few days. I’m not sure why, I think it’s just because it’s all so different from anything I’m used to, and I was really aware that people might be judging me on my knowledge (or lack of it).
After a few days that passed though, and I got really involved with the wound care, and we saw some really interesting patients. By the end of the week I was able to give the nurse the dressings she needed for particular patients who were in compression, and I was able to remember what we used for them on previous calls without having to ask. So that boosted my confidence a bit. I've seen a few palliative care patients as well which has been really interesting. I was quite pleased that I actually managed to do the medication calculations correctly- the nurse let me figure it out (before she checked it) as we were drawing it up- which was good as it gave me a bit of a confidence boost with that. It was really interesting as well to see all the different paperwork that comes with having controlled drugs in a patient’s home. It was strange though, meeting patients who knew that their disease was terminal. I guess I found it a little awkward because I've not really dealt with death before, so seeing these patients who have seemingly accepted the illness was different.
I am finding it easier to talk to people now though. That start was really hard but honestly over the last few weeks it has gotten a lot easier. I think it’s helped as well that I’ve seen a few of the same patients so have managed to build up a relationship with them, mainly through having conversations about seemingly random things like their dogs, or kids, or the weather ha!
But so far it’s been enjoyable, even if it did take some getting used to at first. Just got another 3 weeks to go now, it’s going really quickly. It has been difficult though, trying to juggle family life and being at placement 5 days a week. I mean, I appreciate it's a normal working week, but with Cal looking after the baby all the time and working nights as well it's just seemed like we have no other time in the days! But we both know it's only temporary, and we're working quite well around it as well.
