Long Time, No... Post?

Sorry I haven't been writing very regularly, the amount of assignments my college is giving out is ridiculous! I suppose it won't be very different from University work, but I currently have 3 assignments due in this week, 5 for next week and I just KNOW I'll be given more on Thursday! I am loving it though, I must admit. The one part of my course I didn't like was watching an autopsy on a dead body at 9am... Just after I'd eaten my breakfast! Nice! I understand the shock tactic but I want to go into Nursing to help people get better, if cutting into them is what helps then thats fine. Doesn't gross me out at all. And by all means use donated bodies to look at how the body works but the way it was done... I mean that was another human being they just completely skinned... In front of an audience and cameras like some kind of freak show. I can't really explain fully why I disliked it so much, I think its because it just seemed unnecessary to me. Other than that my course is amazing and I've made quite a few friends as well :) Hopefully I'll get a distinction! I start my new job in two weeks as well so that'll probably be when my next post is :)

College!

So I'm sorry I didn't post this the night of my first day at college but I've had homework and my part time job as a barmaid to contend with! My first day was a basic, boring induction day filled with embarrassing tasks we had to do to break the ice between us and our new classmates. We weren't even in for that long. But the second day we were on timetable, planning our personal statements and having our first cells and tissues lesson :) We've already been given our assignment! And apparently we have 40 to complete in 36 weeks! Madness! By the way... For the homework we have to draw a detailed diagram of an animal cell. Now the internet says the cell DOES have a vacuole but they are small and there's more than one, unlike the plant cell. But I vividly remember being told animal cells DON'T have a vacuole during my old science lessons. So which is true? Do animal cells have vacuoles or not :S

On another note I'm looking forward to my first college trip on Thursday! To the Uni I want to go to! We're having a taster day there, looking at the nursing, ODP and midwifery courses. We've been promised an activity as well, last time I went to a taster day at this uni all I did was feel my pulse!

I shall be beginning my training for my Healthcare Assistant job soon also! I can't wait! Especially since I get to quit my current barmaid occupation which I absolutely despise!

Tiny Rant

So I've just subscribed to Nursing Times, I was all excited when I recieved my order acknowledgement and really wanted to find out when the first copy would be delivered. So onto Subscription FAQ I went, apparently there was a subscription number within my order acknowledgement that would allow me to log in and view information on my subscription. Back to the emails, no subscription number. What to do now? Well apparently they can search the records and give me my subscription number then and there. Searched. Nothing found. They have no record of me having subscribed ALTHOUGH I recieved an email confirming my order and my payment details. So... FAQ tells me to ring the subscription line, I'm immediately informed by a robot that all the phones are busy so please hold... cue dodgy music... holding...holding...holding... stil holding an hour later. Now I'm not exactly patient when I'm having dreary classical music blasted in my ear so I gave up. And now I'm stuck as to what to do. I've emailed them and can only wait for a response hoping that they'll email back, but I'm worried they'll take money out of my account for a subscription I'm never going to recieve. Arggggghhhh!!!!!

QUICK UPDATE: I've just recieved an email basically putting me on hold! Apparently someone will get back to me shortly. As soon as the phone robot told me? Double ARGHHHH!!!!!

Changes

Sooo.. I didn't get the original Healthcare Assistant job I applied for which left me pretty bummed. The hospital informed me that I needed more experience before I could work there, Catch 22 or what?! I can't work because I don't have the experience and I can't get experience because I don't have the work.

I've been on holiday since my last post as well and came back a lot more tanned :) I also now have my A Level results! C C D, not too bad for me! And, as I now have 240 UCAS points there are more options available to me, I've been looking up the top universities to study Nursing at and I can get into a lot more than I thought I would!

So after I got my results I had a long think about what I was going to do, I have an extra year, do I travel? Do I get experience? Do I stay in Education? And finally I decided that I would go back to college, I applied for a BTEC First in Health and Social Care. I went to the college on Thursday to enroll and have my interview and I hit my first obstacle. I was told I'm over qualified for the course, that really shocked me and annoyed me as I had submitted my results to the college so they should've known before I turned up.However, I was then passed onto another lecturer who told me that the National Diploma would be more beneficial to me, but it lasts 2 years. After we established that I only wanted a 1 year course the lecturer on the next table leaned over and asked me to go and speak to her. Next week I start my Access to HE Diploma in Health and Nursing. I can't wait!!

And since I turned 18 since my last post I found there are now more jobs available to me, I'm now a part-time bar maid and I start working as a healthcare assistant in the community next month! I'm so excited!!!

Update :)

So it turned out that I couldn't actually apply for the course for this September :( however! I have found plenty to keep me busy! I have applied for a job as a healthcare assistant at my local hospital and have an interview this Tuesday :) I have also applied for a BTEC in Health and Social Care at the local college so I can still study this year AND I am currently volunteering with the WRVS. Today was my first day volunteering and since I'm with the trolley that goes around the wards I got to get a slight taste of what life on the wards is like. Having watched an elderly man accidentally detach his catheter and then attempt to reattach it himself and had a patient dance around waving at me singing "I'm here! I'm here!" I simply can't wait till I actually start working in the hospital!!

I'll update again once I find out if I have the HCA job!!!

First Taste Of Nursing!

So today I went to a taster day at the Uni I want to go to, I was so excited when I walked in and saw all the dummies lying on the bed, I thought we'd get a chance to have a go at doing something! Unfortunately, the most practical we did was finding our own pulse and learning to wash our hands properly. The hand washing I understand but I learnt how to feel my pulse in PE years ago!

All in all it was a pretty informative day, I found out loads about the course and I can't wait for the placements. After asking one of the adult nurse tutors I found out that there are still several places available for this September, so I shall be spending my evening writing my Personal Statement and trying to navigate around UCAS. Wish me luck!!

5am On A Sunday Morning

Okay, so I should really be asleep but I've spent the past 6 or 7 hours wistfully reading nursing blogs and I've been inspired to start my own blog. I'm not a nursing student (yet!!) but I'm looking to spend the next year prepping myself for Uni and figured I could unleash my excitement upon the Internet :)

So... a bit about me? I'm 17 years old and I'm the youngest member of my school year, I've recently left Sixth Form and I've been meandering about, wondering what to do with my life. My first thought having completed my A-levels was to go straight to work and having tried unsuccessfully for a while to find a job I started to think about Higher Level Education a bit more seriously. As the youngest member of my school year I've come to think of myself as being too immature for University and for this reason I dismissed the idea, the other reason being that I wasn't sure what I would study.

I have had an interest in Nursing since I was in Year 9, I was placed in top set Science for my Biology and Chemistry grades and could see myself entering this field of work. However, due to my bad grades in Physics I found myself being moved down a set, suddenly I wasn't good enough to do Nursing as I'd failed in my strongest subject. I never really thought about Nursing again until I obtained a temporary position working for the local PCT, reading about these peoples illness's made me want to help them, to learn more about these conditions. However, I wasn't doing very well in my studies as I can be a slacker and I wasn't enjoying the subjects I'd chosen to take to A-Level (mainly because they weren't the ones I'd originally chosen!)

It was only whilst browsing through a prospectus I noticed that a University quite close to my hometown offered Nursing as a degree. The UCA's points required? 160. I know I've definately got above 160 points even though I haven't got my results yet! And so I realised Nursing really is a possibility for me as a career and to be honest, I haven't questioned my decision since I've made it, very unusual for me! Now I wish I'd known what I wanted to do last year so I would be starting this year, but I'm too late. But, I am only young and I've got my whole life ahead of me, waiting till next year won't be too much of a hardship I'm sure!

I'll be spending this year taking First Aid courses, volunteering in Nursing Homes and at my local Hospital as well as doing as much as I can to ensure that I definately get in on this course. I want to do it so badly!

I'll update this blog as I gain more experience and hopefully, one day, it will be my blog as I study at University to become a fully fledged nurse!