Before you even set foot on a ward one section of nursing is probably more important than others to mention. This is the area of confidentiality. There is a lot of personal information being handed to you whether in written or spoken word. This is confidential. All of it. It remains on the ward and nowhere else. If you speak it to others family friends et al. You are in breach of this code. From time to time it does happen though. You may tell your husband or wife of lover something you have heard, seen, been part of on your shift that day. It may be a neighbour has gone in for treatment like a sexually transmitted disease. It may be a neighbour has been assaulted by her husband and left with a broken jaw. All of this sounds like juicy gossip. But remember do you want to be known as a blabbermouth. thats all you will achieve by spouting off. You need to release the feelings it has created inside of you. This will pass over time as nothing will shock or phase you as you become battle hardened. But a cautionary tale to all. Knowledge is power. And you most trusted confidante can soon become your most hated enemy. If you divorce or fall out with someone you have imparted important knowledge to them. And you will rueing the day you told them of something. Quickly learn to keep work at work. Its tough but the rewards will be immeasurable later on I can assure you.
Im going to be honest here. If you are a rookie then you will only be asked to do the menial tasks. I.e. preparing dressings, fetching information r maybe just making cups of coffee. (Dont worry it does get better). Your main reason for being there however is to get you to know the ward layout. Most wards are the same layout. You have beds, nursing stations, side rooms, sluice rooms, toilets, and equipment rooms.
And if the nurses are lucky they will have their own staff room. The sluice room is used for carrying out all the waste disposal and dirty laundry. These should be emptied several times during the day for infection control reasons. Always remember to use gloves if handling soiled bedding etc. This is the easiest way to transmit infections. Especially in light of M.R.S.A which is a predominant factor in most hospitals now in making people very ill. Learn the fire points. You may never and hopefully so need to press one but it is good practice for wherever you work so learn them. Also remember there are emergency buttons and cords to press and pull both above the patients beds and in the toilets. If in doubt in a crisis dont hesitate, use them. Time can save lives. Ive seen so many nurses care assistants just stand around waiting for someone else to act. Learn to be the first, save the embarassment till later. At the start of every shift you should head for the nursing station for a handover. This is not to be confused with hangover, although Ive seen a few of those at the start of a shift. The handover is a run down of all the patients care in the past 24 hours. This should include all relevant information and be right up to date. They usually last 20 minutes or so but some people like the sound of their own voices and can over elaborate to the detriment of the patient. Always keep the handover informative and concise. And never bring personal feelings into them as this achieves absolutely nothing. If you are asked to do a handover be clear in your statements and dont be put off by others interrupting. Keep your voice slow and steady and breathe. Also there is no harm in bringing a little hunour into it as this goes a long way in breaking the tension between shifts. It is also vitally important that you learn some of the ward procedures and how these procedures are carried out. For instance it could be something as simple as admitting a new patient to the ward. You will be watching another trained nurse carry out this procedure observing the in interaction and the paperwork necessary to admit the new patient. Try to mentally gather as much observation as possible. The nursing team wont expect a lot from you so dont feel inadequate and unimportant. You can ask questions but dont overdo it as the nurses are often working under duress and you wont be helping. Ease your way into the placement. That is start off slowly and gradually gain momentum. You may get the occasional glib comment about the student nurse but just ignore this and they will soon get tired of trying to rile you and these people are usually not liked much anyway. Dont concern yourself about filling in your books at this stage. Try to enjoy the experience as much as possible. If you are enjoying it then you will learn more as you will be more motivated.
By now you will have gained enough experience to confidently carry out simple nursing procedures (Dont worry if you arent as it isnt a race and you can still pick up the necessary knowledge through these last two years. Youve now moved on to carrying out admissions by yourself (hopefully supervised by a trained nurse). Changing dressings. Preparing and carrying out injections. Removing sutures, taking blood pressures. All the basics of nursing. The more times you carry out these procedures the more confident you will get. I became known as the blood pressure king as I always volunteered for this and began to get it down to a fine art. Dont worry if you feel you havent had enough practice at a certain procedure as there will be ample time to do this. One of the most common concerns of student nurses is that of giving injections. They often feel that they cant carry out this procedure without a major calamity happening. Again dont fret as you will over time get more and more used to this. Remember to relax put the patient at ease as if you look scared then they will too. The actual technique will get better the more times you do it. If you make a mistake learn from it and move on. All the nurses you see around you on the ward have made mistakes. We all do. Remember you are a human being not a robot. Practice. Please refer to the how to give injections in the appendix. Again when it comes to getting your books filled in then try to achieve one new outcome each day. Dont try to fit them all in at the end and get in a mad panic because of this. Each outcome is usually straightforward. Speak to your mentor or nurse in charge at the commencement of the shift to tell them what you are hoping to achieve for that day and they will usually do their best to assist you in this matter. Another piece of advice is to find out if your mentor is on a annual leave when you finish your placement. If this is the case then you will have to arrange to meet them when they return in order for your books to be signed. Or arrange for another trained nurse to complete your book in collaboration with your assigned mentor.
One of the objectives in you learning outcomes required by the course especially so in your final year will be to show certain leadership qualities. This may include taking charge of a ward for a set period. Imagine that you have complete control over a ward. Sounds scary doesnt it? Dont panic though as there will be somebody supervising you to make sure all is running smoothly. Some people rise to this challenge whilst others absolutely hate it. Where do you start? What shall you do, say, act, etc. etc. Well lets begin by saying that dont be afraid of making mistakes. We all do it and hopefully it isnt serious and can be remedied. Secondly you have the full support of all your colleagues. This is something you should and can expect. Anything less is not good enough. Feeling more confident yet? A key word here also is delegation. As the nurse in charge you cant do everything by yourself. Therefore you will need to delegate to all the staff the jobs you want them to do. Usually they will know enough to act under their own self knowledge. But if you see a job that needs doing that needs attending to then give it to someone. Dont be afraid of approaching anyone. This is an important mental obstacle to overcome. Some people can appear tough as boots and look as though they will bite your head off if you ask them for something. Remember you are in charge dont let them forget this. Another piece of advice I can give you here is not to get too involved. This can take up valuable time and achieves nothing. Ensure that the ward is running smoothly and move swiftly in all areas so as not to fall into this trap. Remember too to never panic. You are the leader and if you look scared then this will rub off quickly onto others. Be assured and confident in your manner and the troops will grow to respect you more and more.