What area of nursing / healthcare are you now working in following qualification?
I’m currently based in the Emergency Department at Royal Cornwall Hospital. The Emergency Department for me is an ideal place as I like to always be developing my skills and have a varied caseload of patients to work with. I really enjoy working in the ED as there are so many different areas to work in such as Majors, Resuscitation Unit, Rapid Assessment and the Urgent Treatment Centre.
The range of patient groups and interactions changes with each area, in Rapid Assessment you’ll be taking observations, blood samples, ECG, inserting an IV line and then minutes later be taking the patient into the main ED. The patients in Majors and Resuscitation you’ll be working with for longer and get to know them on a more in-depth basis. The Urgent Treatment Centre is where we work with patients presenting with minor illness and injuries such as fractures.
Nursing is my second degree as my first was in History and Education. I’d hope in a few years time I can combine the two areas and develop towards working in Nursing Education. The other option is to combine my back up career of working as Cabin Crew with Nursing and work as a Flight Nurse. The wonderful thing with nursing is the range of development opportunities available post qualification.
How did studying at the University of Plymouth help you attain your goal?
The theory side of nursing hugely informs how effective you can be in clinical practice. It’s essential to understand the evidence and context behind the interventions and treatments in the practical environment. The days of ‘that’s what we always do’ in nursing practice are no more as it’s now an ever evolving field.
You’ll be exposed to a range of clinical environments during your training, for me this ranged from Primary Care at a GP Surgery through to an Intensive Care Unit. The wide range of placements develops clinical skills from wound assessment and phlebotomy through to recognising changes in a patient’s heart rhythm and how to escalate this to enable emergency treatment.
I was also supported with my decision to independently arrange an internship during my Summer Holiday between Years 2 & 3 with a University Hospital and Ambulance Service in Aachen, Germany. The experience allowed me to see different ways of working overseas, it also allowed me to see the work that goes on in a Pre-Hospital environment before a patient arrives to definitive care.
Why would you recommend studying nursing at the University of Plymouth?
The team are really knowledgeable in their fields of nursing and beyond passionate to share this knowledge to develop the future nursing workforce. The team frequently engage in clinical practice so it’s always a nice surprise when you see your former lecturers about in the hospital. The subjects are taught in an engaging manner through a wide range of techniques such as interactive quizzes.
The team are really supportive and proactive so usually can help to resolve things before they become a major problem. There’s access to a range of resources on campus such as The Writing Cafe who are able to help with written assignments.
