Student Nurse Review

I enjoyed this placement as I was made to feel like a member of the team straight away - this was very challenging but gave me numerous fantastic opportunities to learn and progress with the support of others. Long 12.5 hour shifts were sometimes unbearable, especially on top of being a student but I was supported by my placement team and staff.

I was recognised by some colleagues as a member of valuable member of staff as I was given opportunities to care for patients on my own and given the trust to take care into my own hands, however some colleagues with higher roles such as doctors just recognised me as 'the student' and believed I was clueless and only good for the jobs others didn't want to do.

Each student on placement was allocated a mentor to guide them through their placement and I received ongoing support from mine when there was time for one to one discussion. There was always someone to lead you and my mentor ensured that my aims were being met by setting me goals every day.

Working in a hospital was extremely challenging and was a very busy, fast paced environment where tasks were always being juggled, however you soon got used to this and found the balance of how many tasks to take on at once. When times were quiet in the evenings, there were always documentation to be done. The NHS does not leave you bored or jobless, you'll always be on your feet.

I was treated like a qualified nurse by most of the staff on this placement, allowing me to carry out tasks with high responsibility. Every day in the NHS was different, some days only being able to carry out basic tasks, other days I was at the frontline dealing with life threatening emergencies and was expected to deal with them. Working within the NHS carries a high level of responsibility.

The skills I developed were skills for life that would be carried out during my degree, in every single placement and were skills needed for life. It made the theory work of my degree easier to understand and relate to. The skills I'd developed on this placement were going to be used for a lifetime.

The atmosphere in the hospital was very tense at times, as health and care is not to be joked about and there were times of sorrow, but the staff still joked and had a strong relationship with each other and with the patients. The atmosphere was tense but supported.

The university had contacted me with details of my placement and relevant contact details of this. This allowed me to contact the hospital directly to discuss my hours and my mentor in the hospital set me goals every week to meet my development plan provided by the university. It was very well set up and ran.

The company invested a lot of time ensuring that I was meeting my goals I had set myself to achieve during the placement, and I was fully supported during my personal training. The staff within the company threw my into the deep end when it came to personal care and helped me where I was struggling and when I was unsure of things.

The NHS had many job opportunities, whilst training and after graduation. Future employment in the company were always open as the NHS is very understaffed and struggling, so its an organisation I can rely on for employment. The job roles available are also extremely varied, and this indulges me into employment within the organisation as I can branch into different areas to find out what I prefer working in, allowing me to enjoy my job to it's full potential.

You sometimes met other students from the same university on placement, which opened up opportunities for socialising and being on the same course was a conversation started that allowed me to branch a few new relationships, but most students on placement had such a heavy work load and were exhausted from long hours on placement so there wasn't a very good social scene.

I lived in student accommodation in the area of this placement that worked out around £500 a month, which is steep and overpriced, but I was fully supported by student finance England so I did not notice this, but the cost of socialising was moderately average in the area that I worked in, however due to the high demand of work, there wasn't much time for socialising.

The nightlife was ok in the area, there were a few good clubs with moderately prices drinks. There wasn't much choice, as there were only a few places to go at night time, but they were often busy and opened up opportunities for making new relationships. Nightlife was quite expensive at the weekends due to raised entry fees.

There were no opportunities to get involved in activities relating to or set up within the placement from the organisation or with the colleagues, as I was a lot younger than most of the colleagues working for the organisation, and everyone worked such long shifts that there was not much time to socialise or get involved with activities.