Nursing Opportunities

By -

Matt, here again, AKA professional blogger.
I feel I have my nursing spark back!!

I am going to put it down to all of the Nursing events I have been to of late and I feel energised and motivated to push on with my career, and quite possibly taking a different direction.

It all started when I  took Flo on a trip to London for an overnight stay this week, it doesn’t take much to persuade my wife to have a little break away, with the promise of some sightseeing (London Eye, Tower Bridge and of course Selfridges) The main reason for our (my) trip; was so I could attend the RCN Foundation Care Home Summit
.

The full-day event was at the Royal College of Nursing in Marylebone, the programme consisted of some incredible speakers who gave a real insight into the issues surrounding the sector including the high rates of nursing vacancies and turnover. It was also aimed at supporting and strengthening nursing, and improving patient care.
One thing that really struck a chord with me was; Dr. Gary Mitchell’s session on Non-pharmacological interventions in dementia care and Palliative care. He talked about the use of doll therapy, it involves offering dolls to adults who are living with dementia and other medical conditions with the goal of improving their comfort, engagement, and quality of life. One of the main reasons I decided to go into nursing was to make a difference to peoples lives, making them feel comfortable in what can be a traumatising time, to be in someone else’s care.

I honestly came away from the day, thinking of all the possibilities in nursing and thinking that it may be a good time to start to consider my options and take me back, to why I got into nursing in the first place, plus it’s always good to gain new experiences. We all have to grow and adapt and it has opened my eyes into all of the possibilities. The ability to be able to be instrumental in shaping change within the sector excites me. The careeropportunities are also very appealing along with the money aspect. It could mean, I will be able to provide more for when Flo and I eventually have a family. It was probably the kick up the backside that I needed.

That night I whisked Flo out for a fancy meal in Chelsea. We filled our faces full of tapas and downed a couple of bottles of Red wine, while we chatted about the options available. We ended up heading into a Karaoke bar and I had an instant flashback to my ‘Stag Do’ although this time, there were no loud ‘Geordies’ in sight. We had a right laugh, one the reasons I fell in love with Flo from the start, was her wicked sense of humour. I am so lucky that I have Flo, she always supports me in all my decisions and I think that’s why we make a good team.


So, what’s next I hear you say?...

Well, it’s time to start the process of looking into the opportunities available and I am thinking of looking into working in the CareHome sector. I am hungry for it. I want to know it all. I have so much to learn and I am willing to get my teeth into it, I also recognise this is going to be a different challenge to what I am used to, but I am more than happy to see where this next journey will take me.
So, stay tuned, the possibilities are endless and I encourage you all to think about changing paths if you are no longer getting joy from your current role.

Until next time…


Location: United Kingdom

Comments

Post a Comment

All comments welcome.

Hi, I’m Florence and I am taking you on a wonderful journey into the world of nursing. I have been qualified for only a short time but I am learning so much. In my own words I’m here to share the highs and lows of what it’s really like to be a nurse working in the UK. Nurses are the real heroes of our society. Let the next Chapter commence…

Popular posts from this blog

A Coroner’s Inquest – what an experience!

By -
Image
I won’t lie - this past week has been a scary old one. I’d known for a few months that I would have to attend the coroner’s inquest into our patient who died of sepsis last year, but what with the wedding and all, I’d tried to put it all out of my head . I’d heard from some of my colleagues that they’d been to coroner’s before and they told me how scary it had been; how they’d been interrogated by the coroner and confronted by family solicitors, so I was fully prepared to soil myself, return my PIN to the NMC and report to the local police station to request my life sentence. I asked Steve if he could go instead of me. He told me he had been called as well so had to go in addition to me. I asked Matt if it would be possible to bring our family planning forward so that I was in the midst of giving birth just at the time that I was due at the gallows. Once he’d stopped laughing, he said no. So, there I was - ready to be fed to the lions, and I said as much to Carl...
Read more

Everyone Matters

By -
Image
Both a teaching and a learning couple of weeks for me – just how I like it! The teaching part has been really interesting as I have had a student allocated to me. He’s in his second year and I was really keen to show him the ropes, introduce him to my ladies on Eden Bay and generally help him understand the often vast and complex needs of the older person. The Tom Hardy lookalike had other ideas….. It started off ok – he seemed keen to learn and asked lots of relevant questions, which was great for me too as it helped to test my knowledge. Then after a couple of days he started to get a bit flirty with me and after day 4 he was offering to wine and dine me. I very clearly explained that I was married but that even if I wasn’t, it would be highly inappropriate for me to get involved with one of the students and left it at that. Well, that went down like a bag of sick and Tom Hardy became the Kevin half of Kevin and Perry. I asked him to do things such as assist m...
Read more

Male Catheterisations

By -
Image
My brain is officially frazzled! I have just finished the last of the courses that Carla booked me onto and I won’t lie, I’m knackered. I’d forgotten just how difficult it was to study, go to work AND service a love life! Let’s not even talk about the state of my house – something had to give! Don’t get me wrong; I’m not moaning (well, not in my usual way) and I know that I am a very, very lucky nurse to have the opportunity to further my knowledge. I know that there are loads of nurses who don’t have as much investment as I’ve had in the last few months and I really feel for them. I worked out how much the individual courses would have been if I’d had to fund them myself and it would easily be over a thousand quid – so I’m really grateful and not moaning!! The first course was the male catheterisation which I was itching to do. I couldn’t stop talking about it at home which made Matt alternate between green and pale. He made sure that he knew the exact dates of my course – and...
Read more