A Day in the Life: Clinical Placement
Hello friends! My name is Sarrah Nadiadi and I am a Paediatric Nursing Student delving into my second year at Anglia Ruskin University. My hobbies consist of drawing and listening to music. Some newfound hobbies that have emerged since lockdown include skipping and cooking. One thing I'd really love to do at some point in my life is Skydiving!
A typical day for a student nurse at placement? Well, one thing is for sure, there isn’t a typical day, it’s all very non-identical.
However, I will try to capture a glimpse of life in clinicals and relay it into this short passage.
Firstly, I start the day at roughly 5:45am, alongside putting the kettle on and freshening up. I put on some casual clothes and head to work. I then change into my uniform or scrubs at hospital, (depending on the COVID-19 severity on the ward), and head out to find my supervisor for the day.
I attend handover and then write up my patient list, along with the times of any observations, medications and procedures that need to be done during the shift. As patients start to wake up, we go around to introduce ourselves, give any morning medications and carry out our safety checks (oxygen and suction etc). I’m still half asleep at this point and chug a whole load of cold water to waken myself up. I decide to write my break times on the whiteboard, along with everyone else.
Most of the time you get extremely busy in a shift, but on the occasional day where you get some spare time in between another task, can almost feel sacred.
During this time, I write up my reflections and my placement-related work on an online portal – this varies for each university. This work is imperative for students, as it reflects all that you have done in clinicals as evidence. You may get some new admissions later, which adds onto workload, but really good practice for student nurses to feel more confident around new patients and their families. I introduce myself as a student nurse, and under supervision, I take full history of the patient, any infections they may have (also ask if they have had COVID themselves, any symptoms recently or any contact with COVID positive people), any allergies, and any hospital admissions along with reasoning. I also take MRSA and COVID swabs after this discussion, which adheres to the current hospital policies.
The shift carries on, with many trips to the phones to bleep other specialists and send blood samples. General assessments are conducted along with standard observations, such as pain calculation, neurological examination, pressure ulcer risk, activities of daily living and many more, depending on the patient. It always makes your day a great deal better when you and your supervisor get along; of course it is normal to not get along with everyone - however as a student - you have to try your hardest as this benefits your learning. Towards the end of the shift, I attend another handover with the night team and then I change and head off back to dormitories. I usually get back at around 8:30pm and at that time I’m already dozing off.
Some days can be better, and some days can be tough, but the main picture should always be at the forefront of your mind, your end goal – your degree and where you see yourself in the future.