Final Assessment of 2nd year...Year 2 Week 43

So yesterday I had an OSCE (objective structured clinical examination).

I didn't want to write about it right away as on the day of any exam you are over-thinking your performance and I was getting myself into a bit of a 2 and 8 (state).

I will give you an in depth intro into exactly what we had to do:
I had a patient who had ruptured his spleen following a blunt trauma. He had a splenectomy and was on a PCA (patient controlled analgesia) following his op.
I was asked to complete a full ABCDE assessment, pain assessment, form a NEWS chart and handover using SBAR (situation, background, assessments, recommendations).
Then I had to answer questions regarding morphine, PCAs, and a couple physiology ones too.

Airway: is it patent? Any noises e.g. wheezing, crackling etc

Breathing: Resps? Use of accessory muscles? Bilateral inflation? SpO2? O2 therapy?

Circulation: Heart rate? BP? CRT? Urine output? IV access?

Disability: AVPU? Blood glucose? Pupils? Pain?

Exposure: Temperature? Skin appearance? Urinalysis?

A 'NEWS' chart is an early warning system that uses all of your observations to create a score, the higher the score the more abnormal your observations.

So I did all of this, and calculated a NEWS score which I think was right but when you are so nervous in the moment you just never know what you may or may not have done wrong.
I forgot a couple of things for the SBAR such as; regular moniterinng and immediate medical review.

The difficultly with this kind of assessment is you just don't know if you have passed or failed. Because if you are deemed dangerous then you fail instantly.
I don't see why I would have failed but you never know :(

Also I did something really stupid. Instead of taking my time and looking through the file at the doctors review, what medication he was on, what operation he had etc I just ploughed straight on and didn't realise they were there until the end. I'm hoping they weren't of much importance regarding what I had to do...

Only time will tell! I'm hoping I got around 60%.

I'll let you guys know :)

Hope you're all well,
Alex xx

Community Placement...Year 2 Week 43

Hiya guys hope you're all well?

Sorry for being MIA, went home for Christmas and really been valuing my time with friends and family :).

So I started my community placement last week and so far I absolutely love it! The staff are all so lovely and friendly, plus it's so chilled compared to working on the ward. Which is something I'm really enjoying as it's coming to the end of my 2nd year and I don't want anything too demanding before I start my 3rd year.

The thing with community is you care for people in their own home, so it's a totally different environment and often enough; it's not really suitable for medical practice.
For example: I went to visit a woman with my mentor, she was morbidly obese and bed bound and her husband was not one for 'cleanliness' shall we say. Long story short the floor and the husbands feet were covered in dog hair and poo and the dog weed and pooed on cue for us! How pleasant.

The main thing with that kind of nursing is to remember to not be judgemental; people live their lives in many different ways and just because that may not be how you would choose to live doesn't mean it's wrong.

I also cleaned and dressed a mans leg ulcers. They were in such a bad way the exudate was horrendous! Was fun though :D haha.

Anyway I will be sure to keep updating you with anything new or exciting that happens :)

Take care my lovelies xx

So Much for Working...Year 2 Week 35

Ah so work haven't found me any shifts so far this weekend, great!

Not gunna lie I'm more than content with lounging around all weekend but it's such a waste of time (and money!).

Ta for now,

x Alex x

Exam Results...Year 2 Week 35

So I got my exam results for a Nursing Practice 2 yesterday...

76.5% !!!!! Which is a 1st!!

I'm so happy because I did revise quite a bit for that and now I have a good 1st to take forward to third year. Whoop whoop.

Today I also handed in my Evidence Based Practice and Professional Values assignment. I reckon I will get about 50% as I always struggle with assignments. We shall see :) it's really good to have all of that weight lifted of my shoulders though.

I'm working all weekend as I'm totally skint and need to work otherwise no one is receiving any prezzies from me ha ha.

Really want to get back into blogging as I love reaching out to others who are considering a nursing career, studying or qualified! Plus, I really like to look back and see what was happening with my life at that time.

Hope you're all well,

x Alex x

Back in Uni...Year 2 Week 35

Hey guys I've not written for ages!
I'm back in Uni at the moment with lots of work so I've been really busy.

I've done my Nursing Practice 2 exam and get my results tomorrow! Ahhhh. I'll let you know :)

I have an assignment on evidence based practice due on Friday and then a maths exam and an OSCE at the beginning of January.

The year started off so slow and now it's all BAM BAM BAM loads of work!

Ah well, can't wait to get this year over with :) it's flying by.

How are are you first year nurses doing? Hope you're enjoying your first year.

Alex x

Horrible Assignments...And sorry for being MIA...Year 2 Week 28

So last week I got my results for the assignment I was discussing in my last post...

40%!

So gutted, basically I did really badly but not bad enough to fail, I JUST passed.

My flat mates failed! We are all very disappointed but I knew I wasn't going to get higher than 50% as there was a lack of guidance and I didn't have the opportunity for a tutoring session as I was back home for the summer.
Fortunately, that mark doesn't have to go towards my final degree thank The Lord!

I am also really sorry for being missing in action recently. I have been really busy!
I'm currently on placement, only 2 weeks left now I can't wait to finish. Time is flying nowadays and it's pretty scary tbh.

I hope you are all well?
Promise to post more often, loves xxxxx

Assignment Done and Handed In...Year 2 Week 23

Sorry I didn't post again until now, I'll just talk you through how it went.

I was really shocked at the lack of guidance, for example, I hadn't even seen a real care plan until I wrote my own!
I spoke to a few friends and everyone said the same thing, they had no idea what they were 'supposed' to be doing but were trying their hardest.

The care plans weren't hard, but when you are really unfamiliar with something it can seem difficult, the rationales weren't my forte. I have an issue with writing essays without becoming chatty and colloquial, it's very annoying and I actually don't know how to stop it!

The mother and baby leaflet was really enjoyable to make and once again the rationale was probably a load of chatty crap.

The worst part of any assignment is by far........writing the references, hate it!

But at least it's done now, I'll let you know my mark but I think I will have got 50% if I'm extremely lucky :(

Hope you're all well,
Alex xxx