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life

Life: Starting a new job

On July 15th I ending my time on the Emergency Floor to start a new job within theatres (eyes!!). I had been with the Emergency Floor for nearly 4 years and I needed a change, I needed something that would work with my uni. The eye hospital was just that (or so I hope).

I actually had the interview back in March 2018 and was waiting for my references for two whole months. During this time it had already been agreed that I would start the week of 16th July. I picked this date because (1) I needed to give 4 weeks notice and (2) it was just after I had completed my 2 short Monday-Friday uni placements.

Eventually at the start of June I got the all clear to start, my manager contacted HR to give then a start date and I received my training schedule and contracts (perm + bank). Then that was all I heard, I wasn’t hearing anything from my manager and was starting to think I was just going to have to go with my bank position and forget the perm job. I set up manual handling training and awaited a date for a supernumerary shift before I could go out on my own. Around the same time I decided to give the perm job another chance and I fired off an email to the manager. I actually got a reply asking me to call as they had assumed that I was started the week of the 16th (so did I). At this point is already was that week, but as I’d never had any word from them that my shifts were definitely going to be only Thursday + Friday due to uni I assumed they were still working on it.

So my shifts are Thursday – Friday 8am to 6pm with on call every Thursday night and every 1 in 4 weekends. I’m still not quiet sure how I will manage on call as I don’t live local and getting there within the hours could prove to be difficult but we will see what happens.

Going back to the bank contract, as soon as it was fully confirmed I was starting my perm job I contacted the bank office. I no longer need to do the supernumerary shift but can only work in my own department for the first 3 months then I can work anywhere as long as my manager is happen.

I’m starting to think my time with this trust could be short, I may have to give up my perm role if my uni placements get funny or I get another Mon-Fri placement next year. Also bank are not online like my last trust, you get an email at the start of the month with available shifts and then you have to ring them, this I don’t like. Bank pay is also monthly in arrears for the first time then you can ask to get paid weekly. Therefore anything I do this month won’t get paid till end of September!

I will take this role as far as I can as I am currently really liking it but maybe in the future I’ll have to change again.

fitness

Fitness: Weight update…

2018 08 12 17.09.55 - Fitness: Weight update...

The last time I updated my weight on here I was 175 lb or 80.1 kg. As you can see I am now 171.4 lbs. It’s taking it’s time but it is shifting slowly. I don’t want a fast loss because I don’t want loose skin or am I like food too much to really restrict my calories to below 1600 a day.

fitness

Fitness: Getting back at it…

So after declaring that I was giving up the gym for a while, I lasted only a few weeks and I rejoined!

When I started back at Anytime Fitness (local to home) and Pure Gym (local to uni). I had the idea that I’d need to different gyms due to my schedule but shortly came to realise that I was an idiot and only needed Anytime Fitness as it is 24/7 and I can go before uni duh!!

I got a log book and even an online personal trainer everything was going good but recently I’ve gone back to my old ways and started getting bored and not going. I still love AF for it’s 24/7-ness but I’m in need of something else. I have been doing a lot of searching online looking at group style workout programmes and there are a few, but they appear to be too restrictive. I am now seriously considering joining a crossfit box.

download - Fitness: Getting back at it...

When looking for the ideal box, I wanted somewhere that was local (walk or one bus), had enough classes to fit around my schedule, had an open gym, and had more than just crossfit classes. MVMT42 fit all that and more., unfortunately it is also the most expensive at £105 a month! There are some as low as £75 a month but they generally don’t have many classes throughout the week or only have crossfit style ones. MVMT42 has both crossfit & barbell and is a crossfit afiliate. At first I liked the idea of going to a Reebok box but they only have one olympic lifting and one gymnastics class per week. Oh and they aren’t taken on any new members just yet.

I haven’t signed up to MVMT42 just yet, I shall still be on the look out for crossfit gym till I do.

life uni

My time at uni so far….

I have been at uni for 4 months now so feel it’s about time for an update.

Our first week there for all induction, info on course + modules + tutors etc, we got down to business the second week. We are only there Monday – Thursday so I have been able to keep my job, though I will be leaving it soon (more to come later).

In the first year we have the following modules:

Foundations Of Nursing Knowledge
Foundations Of Nursing Practice
Human Anatomy And Physiology For Nursing
Nursing Assessment Skills
Person Centred Practice

By far the hardest module is Human Anatomy And Physiology For Nursing. I find it the most interesting but also the hardest 🙁 We have four 1 hr online exams for this module, thankfully mostly multiple choice. I’m not doing any current revision as yet as I am concentrating on my other modules.

Very early on everyone broke into social groups, most people are local, but there are a few of us that have to travel some distance. There are/were 24 people in our co-hort, so a nice small group, we have since been joined by 6 (I think) students from the co-hort before us. they either needed to make up placement hours + failed a module or failed part of a module. You fail the year if you fail 60 + credits. Some are retaking Foundations Of Nursing Practice (they failed either hours or assignments), some are retaking that plus Nursing Assessment Skills and some just Nursing Assessment Skills. We have also lost one student you gave up and one student who is pregnant so isn’t allowed to do placements, therefore she is doing her placements with the September co-hort and will be in the year below us.

We have so far only handed in two assignments. One was a 1000 word report for Foundations Of Nursing Knowledge the other was a presentation that was recorded! We should be getting our marks back any day now. We have a presentation due in in July (as well as anatomy) but our main focus right now is placements.

Placements have been another thing entirely. There were many an issue for some people. I pick Portsmouth uni due to the placement area i.e Worthing, but all my placements this year are in Bognor or Chichester. When I queried this, as it turns out you stay in that area/hospital the full 3 years, they were surprised as I live in Worthing and asked if I’d be interested in Brighton. No difference in travel but a much bigger hospital, so I said yes. As far I haven’t heard anything, so either nothing will happen or it will change for next year. I was expecting to get a nursing home placement 5 min walk from my house but that hasn’t happen, maybe next year.

Other people had much bigger issue than me, some couldn’t get in touch with anyone, some had their placement taken away and some didn’t even know where they were going to start with. We start placements next week and have two 3 week placements with our OSCEs the week between them!

That time I took part in SimEx 2018

SIMEX Series is the UK’s largest annual international disaster response exercise. It is an operational (live controlled) field exercise designed to establish a learning environment for players to exercise disaster event response plans, policies and procedures. Player participation comprises of; activate, mobilise, respond operationally on scene, report (internally and externally), implement short and medium-term plans, hand-over, demobilise and complete after-action reviews.

SIMEX Series of exercises have taken place annually since 2012. The exercise comprises a mix of live, simulation and command and control events in order to provide a neutral platform to test both national and international emergency response mechanisms. The overall aims of the exercise comprise of:

The development of international and national response capacity;
The promotion of coordination of humanitarian assistance, emergency response, research and education;
The evaluation of the disaster management systems presented by the participating organisations

Many many organisations took part. Go here to see a whole list.

The whole thing lasted 3 days but as 1st year nursing students we were only there on the one day, the Wednesday, at Fort Widley. Some of us (not me) did however take part in the Tuesday evening events and many of my co-hort didn’t even bother taking part!!

Getting to Fort Widley

Simulations

Those are just a few of the photos taken on the day. Can’t wait till next year as we will be fully involved in 2 days of action. The Tuesday as casualties and the Wednesdays as nurses.

finance

Finance: May 2018 budget

I am still on my £1 DMP payments till July and the red indicates debt to my credit cards. I’ve budgeted £150 for fun money this month (restaurants/pub) as we are in Lewes this weekend for 3 days so we’ll just have to wait and see how that holds up.