Hannah H.
About me
| Hannah H. | |
| Social Policy and Social Work | |
| Social Policy | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Goodricke | |
| 2008 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Staff Nurse | |
| National Health Service | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Healthcare | |
| 2011 | |
| £25411 | |
| £25411 |
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A day in the life of a Staff Nurse in the United Kingdom
My career history
Worked for VSO in Kenya from September 2008-September 2009 then returned to the UK to undertake my nursing course at Kings College London from September 2009-August 2011
Courses taken since graduation
Worked with Voluntary Service Overseas for one year upon graduating
Where I hope to be in 5 years
Nursing is such an exciting career - there are so many options! You can work up the ladder and become a matron or go into research and undertake a PhD. Nursing opens doors to all sorts of areas and the pay can be pretty good. I hope to work in A&E for a while and then undertake my diploma in tropical nursing at the London School of Hygiene in order to eventually work for a charity such as the RedCross or Medecins Sans Frontieres.I have also thought about training to be a midwife, undertaking a PhD or going into lecturing. There are lots of options!
My advice to students considering work
Volunteer! It is such an amazing opportunity and there is so much you can get involved in. Being a student means you are free (if you do an arts subject!) to really get involved in the community and meet people who aren't students! Start thinking about where you want to be but don't stress out too much if you are unsure. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing, do what you think you will be best at and think about your personality; what kind of person you are is a good indicator of where you might want to end up. Also - think about yourself in 20 years time. If you have a big goal then work out how you are going to get there.
What I do
I am about to start work as a Staff Nurse within the Accident and Emergency department at St Mary's Hospital, London. I will be working in the A&E's majors department dealing with any kind of emergency that walks through the door! I will also be trained to work in the minors department dealing with smaller accidents such as minor burns, sprains and broken bones. As well as majors and minors, I will be working in 'resus' situations (often those kind of things that you see on ER or Gray's Anatomy!) such as road traffic accidents and cardiac arrests. After sometime I will be expected to 'triage patients', this means being the first health professional to see and assess patients in the waiting room and deciding whether to send them to majors, minors or home!
Skills I use and how I developed them
For the two year course at Kings there is an expectation that students will have worked in a healthcare setting or with people in some context before applying. As I had worked on an HIV/AIDS programme in Kenya this counted.
Degree skills:
I originally thought about nursing due to taking a Health Policy module in my second year. At the time this was a joint module with the nursing school and it got me thinking about nursing as a career. It had never occurred to me before! My essay writing skills came in handy as the nursing course had a number of written components. Also knowing about research/accessing research was useful. How to deal with exams and the pressure of exams was useful. My social policy course enabled me to be more insightful when studying again and to ensure that I got my point across in writing or speaking. I had more confidence in seminars too.
Extracurricular skills:
I was on the JCRC which I think helped me to organise and oversee group tasks. I was one of the student action reps which meant I met a lot of people in the community at large and wasn't just spending all my time with students! I did a lot of volunteering which really enabled me to work alongside a vast array of people from all walks of life. I also led a community project which meant learning skills such as budgeting and how to cajole students into volunteering!
What I like most
I love being a nurse! I love the people that you meet, both staff and patients. Being able to walk away from your job knowing that you made a huge difference in someones life feels amazing. Whether its a cup of tea or life-saving treatment you get to be part of it all and that's very exciting. You meet people when they are at their most scared and vulnerable (as well as their most drunk!) and you have to be able to build up a trusting relationship fairly early on. Nurses are central to the A&E department and its brilliant feeling part of such a close team. You learn something new everyday and although you leave exhausted, you don't have to take home any paperwork like other jobs!
What I like least
Sometimes it difficult to leave things at the door emotionally and that can be quite draining. Shifts are long - 13 hours and doing nights is pretty awful. Hopefully I will get used to them! The turn over of patients can be manic and it can sometimes be frustrating not fully getting to know patients and their families.
Next steps...
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