Nursing

...always wanted to do adult nursing but left school with no GCSE's so i took a cadet nursing course at LSBU and gained an NVQ level 2 with some extra credits, this meant I had to stay on at LSBU to do my adult nursing. I started Adult Nursing on March 2008 but have been at LSBU since September 2007 due to the cadet nursing before I moved onto the nursing course to gain a degree.

So I currently attend the Harold Wood campus and am doing ...
...do we learn skills for nursing before we go on placement?

It is pretty scary going on your first placement and usually on your first placement you do alot of basic work so are left in the capable hands of a health care assistant. To learn the skills, LSBU have skills labs to practice these. They have beds/sinks/dummies, etc. They are very good. In these skills labs sessions you get to practice hand washing technique, taking manual ... more

London South Bank University is one of the oldest universities in London. It has three campuses, one in Southwark, one in Harold Wood and one in Whipps Cross, though as far as I am aware, Harold Wood and Whipps Cross campus are only used for faculty of health and social care.

I chose London South Bank, mainly, because I did not have a choice! I had always wanted to do adult nursing but left school with no GCSE's so i took a cadet nursing course at LSBU and gained an NVQ level 2 with some extra credits, this meant I had to stay on at LSBU to do my adult nursing. I started Adult Nursing on March 2008 but have been at LSBU since September 2007 due to the cadet nursing before I moved onto the nursing course to gain a degree.

So I currently attend the Harold Wood campus and am doing adult branch nursing. I am currently off with a lot of annual leave and going into my second year shortly and so far have done two placements. Luckily, I had done the cadet course first so I had an insight as I think i would of been in for a real shock starting at the hospital without any prior experience! A lot of your first placement is learning basic care so I did feel greatful that I had learnt this and was a couple of steps ahead.

So how is the application process?

Well you can still apply direct to the university as far as i am aware, though you have to register with UCAS to and track your application on there. It's a fairly straight forward process,the application form is the usual though you should sit and think through your personal statement as it can count on a lot! This is just where you can talk about why you chose the course, why you want to do it, etc. You then go for an interview and for me, this was with two lovely ladies who ask you some basic questions such as why do you want to do nursing? What is a nurse's role in your opinion? So it's a good idea to do a bit of research before you go to the interview!

How long does it take to hear back from the university?

For me, this was around a month. They say they have a lot of applicants and this takes time. Generally, the September starters seem to have more applications and is a larger cohort so I wouldn't know how long you would wait then! I am a March starter but still waited a month to here! They reply by letter. You can also track your status on UCAS.

What happens if I have gained a place?

You will receive a letter saying you have a conditional offer. The letter explains the conditions that have to be met before you can enrol on the course.

What are the conditions?

You must pass the occupational health to get into the course. You get a long form asking you to fill in all details of your vaccination history to make sure you are immune to a lot of things. Your doctor should verifiy these things. It's checking to see if you have had your MMR and to see if you have had a BCG or chicken pox before. The nurse will take a sample of blood to test your immunity to rubella and other things. You also have to commence hepatitis B injections as soon as you receive this letter as you cannot go on placement wthout hepatiis b injections. Some doctors charge for this, some dont. Occupational Health usually offer this for free.
The occupational health is also to see if you are generally fit to do the course. It asks questions about your mental health, etc. Sometimes if you have had mental health problems in the past the nurse will want to see you to discuss this but it hasn't posed a problem for me.
Another condiion to be met is to complete a CRB and be cleared by this. This is obviously to protect the patients.

So I have now been cleared and am due to start, what can I expect?

You can expect the first two weeks to be just being told about the university and getting sorted into groups. The year is divided into two groups, A and B group, then these are divided into sub groups. Example, A1, A2, A3 and A4. You will spend the next year in these same groups so generally get close to these people. However, I do reccommend you do not segregate yourself from other students as you get mixed together in second year as you move to a new campus so it's a good idea to mix with everyone. Sadly, people say Uni is a step forward from school but you still have groups of people making little groups and not socializing with everyone. This is a bad idea.

I am a male, will I be the only one?

No but you will be the minority. There are barely any males in our cohort, possibly 2 per class. However, this doesn't seem to make a difference. They all settle well, everyone talks to each other, no one is an alien!

So the lectures are starting next week. What are they like?

Well... the lectures may be to personal opinion and it all differs on the lecturer. There are only a few lecturers i personally enjoy at south bank, a lot of the others read blankly from a hand out and do not help me at all. The hand outs themselves are very good (hand outs are paper with the lesson plan on it) they are clear and easy to understand. However, these hand outs need to be expanded on (the point of the lecture) which is not always sucessfully done. Some of the lecturers have a habit of SHOUTING with a microphone on which can be hard to understand once your ear drums have been burst and like I said, some of them show no interest and like to read word for word from the hand out then put you in groups to "discuss" Generally lectures are an hour to an hour and a half long but you do have plenty of breaks.

Is it easy to get hold of timetables/results of exams/handouts, etc?

Personal opinion again. For me it is not too hard as I am ok on computers but some students struggle. You access all timetables, results, handouts etc on blackboard which you need an internet connection for. You log on with a username and password and navigate your way round to find things. It is laid out OK, it has tabs along the side such as "Timetables" "Results" You click on these, click your cohort (for example mine, 0308) then your timetables or information should be on there. For people that aren't computer whizzes though they can get confused. There is a small lesson on black board at the start of the year though I didn't find it very helpful.
Also the blackboard at LSBU has a habit of not loading some days or being incredibely slow so it's sometimes hard to get access when you need to.
Some students also do not have access to the internet but the lecturers tell the students that don't that they can come down to the university to use the computers or go to libraries. I thought this was a little unfair as some of the students live miles from the university and not everyone has transport so don't live round the corner to libraries.
Also, you have to check your email regularly for emails from tutors so keep an eye on this.

How much of a support at the lecturers?

They are OK. I have found that they are sometimes hard to get hold of. Some do not answer emails for weeks. You are better off using your fellow students as a support network.

How do we learn skills for nursing before we go on placement?

It is pretty scary going on your first placement and usually on your first placement you do alot of basic work so are left in the capable hands of a health care assistant. To learn the skills, LSBU have skills labs to practice these. They have beds/sinks/dummies, etc. They are very good. In these skills labs sessions you get to practice hand washing technique, taking manual blood pressure, practising drugs rounds, pracising tempreature and respirations on your fellow students, feeding patients (the patients usually being your students, which is fun!)
NOTE: YOU HAVE TO ATTEND THE BASIC LIFE SUPPORT SESSION TO GO ON TO PLACEMENT. THIS IS WHERE YOU PRACTICE BASIC LIFE SUPPORT ON A DUMMY. YOU MUST ALSO DO TWO MANUAL HANDLING SESSIONS TO GO ON PLACEMENT WHICH YOU GET A CERTIFICATE FOR.

Does the skills sessions really prepare you for the ward?

No, nothing compares to the ward but it certainly helps you having practicsed the manual blood pressures & drugs rounds.

I seem to struggle with learning, are there any support networks avaliable?

Yes, there are maths and english groups and other groups such as biology ones to help you learn. If you thik you may be dyslexic the university have special tests you can take down at Southwark in london to diagnose you and if you are dyslexic you are given a lot more help. When taking an exam you automatically have 10% added and you can get a free laptop and dictaphone to record lectures.

What do we learn at the university?

The lectures differ year to year but generally everyone does Biology and everyone does a maths exam. I did psychology and socialogy and frameworks which was essays.

How many exams/essays are there?

Again, this may differ but we had two essays (2000 word ones) and three exams. The three exams were Maths, Biology and psychology and Socialogy. There are also observed exams called OSCE's. These are osberved by examiners who watch you perform an aseptic technique for example on a dummy.

Is the university good at organizations and giving you a lot of notice to do exams/essays?

Yes and no. With the essays these are on the timetable from day one so you can prepare. They are useless with the exams.
For example, we were given two subjects each on psyhcology and socialogy to focus on. We focused on these all year preparing for our exam in December though in November we suddenly got told that it wasn't just them two subjects, we had to focus on EVERYTHING, which was pretty much impossible! Cue panic from all the students! THEN it changed last minute again and we got told it was only the two subjects again.
Also with the OSCE's (the observed exam) we were given a basic life support OSCE and was only told a week before. Some people did not see this update on the timetable as not everones blacboard loads and sometims it takes a while to update.

How much do you need to pass exams & essays?

40% which isn't bad. However, all essays are marked by different people so i strongly believe your mark a lot of the time depends on what lecturer is marking your work. Some lectures have different styles of what they like to read. Some lecturers like simple writing which flows. Other's like it to be academic with lots of long words. My essays are always the same layout obviosly with different input depending on the essay. My mark has varied from 80% to 52%
The exams are quite hard. The biology you have to be spot on with, even if you describe the heart functon very well but miss one part out, you don't get less marks, you get 0 marks.

How long does it take to get results?

Well! The longest we waited for results for an essay was over two months, the shortest was a month! So yes, they are pretty bad with distributing the results.

Where do we do our placements?

It varies. I am not sure about the Southwark campus but Harold Wood and Whipps cross either work for Barking, Havering and Redbridge hospitals or Whipps Cross NHS trust. The hospitals are Whipps Cross University hospital, Queens hospital in Romford and King George hospital in Goodmayes.

How long are we on placement for?

You do two six week placements in the first year though this changs in the second and third year.

What sort of placements will we be given?

Most people get put on acute wards for the first placement to get them to grips with basic care such as washing and feeding. It can be medical, respiratory, neurology wards... can even be outpatients on yoyr second placement which is completely different to working on a ward.

What will be expected of us on our first placement?

Not much! You just need to show your interests and eager. Ask lots of questions and always ask to see things. Ward staff are very busy and yes they will forget your there sometimes so you have to put yourself forward. You will most likely get to watch staff nurses do drug rounds which is a good way to find out what drugs are and ask questions. You will be expected to do observations on patients which are blood pressure, tempreature, respiration and pulse monitoring. You will be assisted by someone on your first couple of goes. You will learn the "normal" range rates here.
Most of your first placement you will spend with Health care assistants. Health care assistants do things like washing, feeding, etc. All though this seems boring it's a vital part of nursing which you must learn. When doing these things, it's when you talk to the patient most. don't be afraid to ask Health care assistants questions. Some of them have been working so long they have a lot of knowledge. Some students look down at Health care assistants but HCA's are valuable members of staff who I have learnt a lot from.

So how much gross stuff can I expect!

A lot! you will deal with a lot of poo, vomit, sputum, urine. Everything! You should have a strong stomach. You will come across superbugs, deep wounds, everything. C diff diarrhoea is foul smelling! You do get used to it but everyone has their ew point. For me it's sputum! However, it's just something you have to do. no one is going to lie and tell you it's a wonderful experience. It's not nice but thats a part of nursing I'm afraid! You will do a lot of poo clearning on your first placement, fetching bed pans and commodes and emptying them and cleaning them. Some patients are doubly incontinent so you will come across people that have no control so poo and wee in the beds. Some of them are so confused they will not notice this which is heart breaking so getting them cleaned up and normal for their relatives to see them is a nice part. It sounds silly but when I see a patient lying there in muck and looking down, it cheers me up to clean them up and have a chat and see them smiling again.

When do i get to do injections?!

Most students seme to be excited at this but it's quite scary! (You practice at uni first on bits of sponge!) You can do this from first placement. One of the most common injections to give is in the stomach, usually called clexane if your on an elderly ward. It's subcutaneous so it's injected in the fat. Many nurses will tell you different things with this injection. Some will tell you to pinch and inject at 40 degrees, some will say straight down as the needle is so small on a clexane. All other sub cut's though should be pinch of the skin and injected at 40 degree angle. These are pretty simple to do. The intramuscular are injected in the muscle which I HATE doing as they are quite painful! There are also intradermal injections (under the skin) and intravenous (in the vein) though you cannot do these ones.

Is there anything else I can't do?

Yes, blood glucose. This is where you test blood sugar levels. You can't do this to third year as you don't learn the science behind it till then. Generally, anything you haven't covered at uni can't be done at the hospital.

What are the shifts like?

it depends on the ward. General wards have early shifts (usually 7 - 3pm) and lates (12pm to 8pm) In second year you do nights. In places like outpatients and the community hours are usually 9 - 5.

Do we get much annual leave?

Plenty though the uni calls some of these study days (even when the exams are over!) so it looks like you are doing something!

What are the breaks like?

In Uni breaks can be long waiting for a next lecturer, sometimes 3 hours. At the hospital for normal 8 hour shifts it's half an hour with some short tea breaks. For long day shifts (13 hours) it's one hour with short tea breaks.

Do I wear a uniform?

Of course! It's plain white tunic with LSBU written on it. You wear navy blue trousers and a name badge (all provided by uni) You have to supply your own shoes (flat, black lace-ups) and fob watch. You can only wear one pair of stud earrings and no other jewerllery aprt from your wedding ring. You get five tunics and two pairs of trousers. These have to be washed at 60 degrees to get rid of infection. At uni you wear normal clothes!

Do we get paid?

Yes, you get a bursary, it's roughly six hundred pounds a month though this varies from whether your in London or live with your parents.

How often do we get paid?

Every third Friday of the month!

Is the pay system always reliable?

Yes, they are usually not late though getting your first payment is a palava! They give you two months in advance then you miss a month and you have to fill in lots of forms. Some girls didn't get their first payment till two months into the course.

I seem to be struggling. Can i get more financial help?

There is an acess to learning fund avaliable once a year with a minimum payment of 250 pounds and a max of 1500 though some students get nothing at all if they are assessed and the assessors think they don't need it. There is other support that you can get information from in the uni from the support offier who is avaliable most days.

TOP TIPS

* Make friends with health care assistants. They are valuable members of staff, you will learn a lot from them!

* Prepare yourself for a lot of bad smells and sickly sights! Some students have vicks vapor rub to rub under there noses which helps block out foul smells!

* Call up your ward once you've been allocated your placement to introduce yourself. Find out what the ward's speciaility is and have questions to ask when you arrive.

* Present yourself well togive a good impression. A well pressed uniform and neat hair and a big smile is good!

* Remember if you have a bad experience on a ward, not every ward will be like this. Whether its a moody staff sister or lazy staff nurse! You have a link lecturer on each ward who you can call for support and if you ever feel you are being bullied, inform your tutor at once.

* Join a union! Students pay peanuts! For unison it's only a tenner a year, well worth it!

* Don't segregate yourself off in a small group in the irst year. It will backfire when your mixed together in the second or when some of your mates drop out!

* Make sure you sign that register in lessons or you get marked down!

* Try not to have time off in placements as you have to make this all up anyway! Very hard to fit in once exams come round!

* That said, if you are really ill, don't force yourself in!

* Sign yourself up for a agency. When you have lots of time off, it's a good way to top up that measly bursary!

* Get yourself a student oyster card, it saves 30%!

* Nursing is hard work. Prepare yourself for sleepness nights and late shifts into early shifts the next day!

* Some days you will wonder why your doing this and will want to quit. some days you will get called names by patients (confused and not confused), some days you will get talked down to by sisters & doctors, some days you feel like a spare part. These days are tough but being thanked by an ill patient when they are discharged or seeing a patient smile makes it all up.

* Nursing can be heartbreaking but it gets easier. The first couple of times you lost patients it's awful and you will need to cry. Most ward staff understand if it's your first death and you will be excused. Don't be ashamed to cry. Sometimes it's so sudden. There are times you will be talking to a patient and a few minutes later they are gone.

Nursing is a challenging but rewarding career. I would defintely reccommend nursing, but I am not so sure about LSBU! If I were you, i would look around at other uni's, but as for nursing, I feel lucky to be in such a fantastic job. 

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