Since the day it began...

I admit I have been lacking in my blog entries recently, but really there's not been too much to go on about. I have been pretty busy just struggling through the last few weeks of placement, and the only thing remotely Red Cross related has been two healthy heaps of Hopeman Gala.

The first night was a quiz night, which my colleague and I joined in with, and left for home with not a casualty between us.

The second night had been the extravaganza that is Hopeman's Got Talent - slightly more entertaining this time, with loads of posing for photographs in the sunset against a sea-side backdrop. My lean, mean, green machine of a mighty micra served as the ambulance, as it did during the day at Elgin's funday, involving street football and rugby, and playful banter with our water-fairy friends again, and their giant fire-stopping engine. It's been a whole year since we first made allegances with those guys, and reflecting on that fact, it sure had passed quickly!

The final night was the Gala Finale. This was good fun, considering we had befriended all the bouncers and were testing their strength (and patience) for the majority of the night. Oh, and having a dance, like at the talent show the night before. Classics like the Cha Cha Slide and the Macarina just don't get old. I guess that's why they're called classics...

But I suppose the one thing I want to mention just now is the ending of my third nursing placement at DGH. I can't believe it's finally over - once I was looking out across a long expanse of weeks, filled with paperwork and clinical skills, and general hard work, alongside a bunch of strangers.
And somehow, all this has passed by in what feels like the time space similar to that of a blink of an eye. I am finished. This therefore means that I have officially finished my first year of nursing.
That's right - one down, two to go. Hopefully they'll both pass as quickly as this year has.
So I shall now take this moment to reflect on the bumpy rollercoaster ride I have finally stumbled off today...

College - what a jip. The first two days didn't raise my hopes at all. Induction was boring; the people I was to mingle with were the sort of folk I wasn't all too used to socialising with. They either seemed popular, too quiet, too mature or too... something else. But how wrong I was proved to be.
I love my college gang. I'm gonna miss them when we all split off in our different directions. They've turned out to be a great bunch, and we've all shared this same rip-roaring ride with equal enthusiasm in some cases, and different opinions in others. We can relate to each other's experiences, and I hope we still keep in touch beyond the MC year.

And placements?
Well, number one on Community was... my first real eye-opener to what I had let myself in for. And I wasn't phased a bit. I met many nurses during those six weeks who I looked to as - and still do remember to be - a great inspiration. I will probably not forget them throughout the rest of my training... maybe even throughout the rest of my career, whether it be as a nurse or paramedic or whatever I end up being. These were the people who first introduced me to the joys of paperwork and filing, the people who showed me how to inject someone in two different ways, and how fun it was to practice darts on the human arm. They told me about the basics of medication, the importance of the community team in helping those unable to leave the confines of their homes. They introduced me to nursing, and most of them made it seem pretty tempting.

Placement two was Care of the Elderly - something I know only too well thanks to my job in a nursing home. This was pretty basic. I knew all of the care procedures in such an environment already. But the staff were accommodating, my mentor (although hardly ever seeing her) was hot on updating my paperwork, and I met a fantastic nurse who told me almost everything there is to know about every drug they had in stock. Pity I can't quite remember it all...

Placement three was Acute, and although I was left to fend for myself for the first two or so weeks, I finally met the best mentor I have had to date. She encouraged me to do my best, to not take crap from the people who thought they were better than me. Yes, she taught me how to be a rebel, while still respecting the 'superiors' you work for. She gave me advice, guidance and knowledge which I will take with me for the rest of my working life - most probably - and alongside her I have met some of thee nicest nursing staff I could have ever wished to meet. Hopping from ward to ward was no hardship - seeing how every ward differed was fascinating and I loved every minute of it. It felt like we were the two spare parts of Dr Gray's, and it was great fun, as well as a real learning curve.

Although I miss the nursing crew already, I am incredibly glad for the beginning of my holidays to finally be here, and I plan to party hard and make the most of this final month of freedom, before the hard work begins again and Uni looms like a dark cloud over a sunny open summer's meadow, in which I laze about without a care in the world.