If you’re about to become a student nurse next month…

15 Aug 2011 2 Comments

by littlenursey in Being a student nurse, Experiences, Nurse knowledge Tags: advice, drug error, medication, medication preperation, nurse, nurse shoes, nurse watch, nurses, nursing, nursing student, nursing university, student nurse, university

So lots of you will begin your nursing course on September 19th at universities all across the country (my apologies to those of you who started back in May/March; I was still studying then & didn’t have time to write a post like this).

I just thought I’d write a few simple tips for you while you’re preparing for the next month. I’m sure you’re all as nervous/excited as I was, but also feeling a little lost with what to do and what to buy. So here goes.

Don’t go mad spending:
Don’t go out and spend a load of money on lots of books, every piece of stationary in Ryland’s, clothes etc etc. You will find that all you will really need is a diary, a small notebook, a good pen and highlighter, something to carry notes in and a bag big enough for whatever you carry your notes in. You’ll find that you’ll probably just want comfy clothes while you’re at uni – lecture theatres usually lack central heating & walking around campus with a big bag will put you off trying to wear trendy clothes & heels. Within a week, I’d already bought myself one of those university hoodies because I was sick of being cold during lectures.
If your uni doesn’t have a good library, you might want to buy yourself a good anatomy and physiology book, but they can be quite expensive. I bought mine for around £40 from Amazon. I also bought The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures (Student Edition), which I find quite useful. Again, it can be quite expensive. Try and find these books at the cheapest price possible online!

Don’t be afraid of talking to other students:
Most of you will start the course alone – it’s rare for student nurses to join together. Not everyone will be 18yrs old either – if you’re worried about being the only 40yr old there, I can assure you, you won’t be. Talk to other students right away. It’s how you make friends and you will need the support during the course. Also, be nice to other students! Please don’t be part of a clicky group who become rude and unhelpful to other students. It is immature, the complete opposite to what a good nurse should be, and you have no idea how much this can truly upset and dishearten other students who could really do with some support or help.

Understand straight away that this course is HARD:
I won’t lie. Nursing is really hard. Don’t go into this profession thinking that it’s all cute uniforms and tablets. You need to get good with maths (drug calculation errors can be fatal). You won’t just be giving out two 500mg paracetamol tablets every few hours – you need to learn how to mix the correct millimetre sized vials of powdered drugs with the right amount of milligrams of saline, draw up the correct amount or inject the correct amount into the correct sized bags of IV fluids and so on! You will get used to it however – it’s all practice practice practice.
Your knowledge of anatomy and physiology needs to be as sharp as possible. There is a common misconception that the doctors are the ones who deal with all of this – this is not true. As a nurse you are the first point of call and your quick thinking based on your knowledge could save lives. But don’t worry about that just yet – as a student you are not expected to make decisions on your own.

Get a good pair of shoes. And a fob watch:
My final piece of advice is to make sure that you buy a very comfortable and supportive pair of shoes, no matter how ugly they are. They need to look after your feet, have good grip for when you’re moving and handling patients, reduce leg pain and very importantly look after your back. Crocs are usually not allowed unless you’re wearing scrubs, which you won’t be doing a lot of. Your university will tell you what kind of shoes you need to wear.
Don’t go and buy a cheap fob watch – the batteries will wear out fast and then you’ll find yourself without a watch for a while… and then buying another cheap watch out of desperation! Get a good one before you start. My mum bought me a stainless steel Rotary fob watch which was amazing… until I lost it.

So that’s all for now, I will be posting more tips soon. I hope everything is running smoothly for you so far. If there is anything I can help you with please let me know!