"Through both the personal and professional
development made by studying at the University of Plymouth, I was able to
demonstrate a passion for holistic nursing care and a determination to be the
best nurse I could be.
During my varied clinical placements from acute
stroke to community nursing to gynaecology, I got a taster of the huge
diversity in nursing both between roles but also within roles. Nursing is more
than sometimes the public perceives it to be. Nurses are researchers, leaders,
educators and coaches, and it was hugely inspiring. I learnt how to be a safe,
effective and compassionate nurse, but I also learnt through placements where
that could lead.
Being a student nurse is both a physical and
mental demand, but it prepares you for the constant learning you will always be
undertaking as a newly registered nurse and beyond. Through practice based
learning, you are able to demonstrate cumulatively, the knowledge, skills and
attributes required for nursing today. You are expected to take on more responsibility
and autonomy as you progress through the programme so that by third year, you
are practicing as a nearly qualified nurse with confidence and increasing
capability.
I am a newly registered staff
nurse working on a haematology unit at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS
Foundation Trust. Our patients may be having chemotherapy, blood product
support and autologous stem cell transplants, but we also provide palliative
and end of life care.
After having a placement on
the haematology unit as a third-year student, I enjoyed getting to know our
patients over the long periods of time they would often be with us or visit the
unit, and providing holistic nursing care. The pathophysiology and pharmacology
of haematological diseases and their treatments was also fascinating, and I was
forever asking questions or looking things up. I learnt a huge amount, and
really looked forward to going to placement, with a team that went above and
beyond for those in their care.
The best bits of my role are
the relationships we develop with our patients. Seeing them come into the day
case after a long inpatient stay living well beyond treatment and in remission
will always be a highlight, but it’s also a privilege to look after patients
and their families in their last days of life, and doing our utmost to make
them as person-centred and comfortable as possible."