The 12 months has been full of ups and downs. I’ve completed one academic year of the mental health nursing course. This has involved three placements, two 8 week inpatient settings and a 4 week community setting. One of these placements involved an informal case study and presentation and another involved a formal case study and presentation. There have also been 20 weeks university time, lots of coursework, a practical clinical skills exam, 2 essays (one 1250 words and one 2500 words), a maths exam, 2 reflective pieces (1250 and 1500 words), and a short answer mental health exam. As a direct result of the course, I have felt every emotion from despair to elation. I have made lots of, a few really good friends (and a load of other friends who I quite like a lot of the time). Overall my mark for the year (adding up all the results and dividing them by the number of assessments) was 85.2. They were all fairly similar. I’m slightly embarrassed because it’s a lot higher than I thought I would be getting when I started a year ago but I’m also obviously very pleased. Placements have been a lot better than I expected too. Being somewhat agorphobic, I was particularly worried about this aspect of the training. When I’m looking for work, I’ll have to take into account how I’m going to get there and be pretty selective. I know this will put me at a serious disadvantage but I also know things have a way of working out. But placements on the course cannot be selected. They can be (and have been) in Warwickshire as well as Coventry. As it turns out, there is a lovely lady at Coventry university called Rosie. She can, if need be, talk to placement allocations about keeping them local. I haven’t done that so far. Because there is also a thing called DSA. Students with a diagnosed physical or mental health condition or learning disability can apply for help they need to complete the course. For me, this has involved the payment of taxis to placements and occasionally to university aswell as a few useful bits of equipment and some help with books and stuff. The process was a nightmare and there were many hoops to jump through but the support with finances really helped. Forgetting the travel issues, I have loved my placements. The first was a shock to the system but the last two were great. And I passed with good feedback and stuff.
So here I am at the start of year two. By christmas, we will have completed two more modules (one double) and will have produced a 2500 word essay about assessments and assessment tools, a 3000 word report about evidence-based-practice and research and we will have sat an exam on the metal health act. I think there is an assessed brief presentation in there aswell but I’m not a hundred percent sure on the assessed bit. Following that little lot, we will be out on placement again from January. I don’t know when we find out where we will be going. Last year it was about three weeks before we were due to start. Looking ahead, it’s all very daunting. The workload and the placements. But looking back and seeing what we’ve done already puts things into perspective. I would have passed out if I’d known at the start what would have to be acheived in the first year. But it did all get done.
Looking a bit further ahead, I’m starting to think about switching to the degree at the start of the third year. You can do that on most nursing courses. Some courses allow you to switch but only award an unclassified degree. Other courses award a degree with honours. I was a bit unsure about how it all works but (as of yesterday) I have it on reliable authority that that my cohort at my university will receive an honours degree if they make the switch. Interest has to be declared to personal tutors in writing as early as possible and then the personal tutor makes the recommendation following an interview with the student. I will be £4000 worse off during the third year which is one of the reasons for my uncertainty about the decision. If the degree were unclassified, I would have to really think about it. But with nursing likely to become an all-graduate profession over the coming years and the option of the full honours degree, I’m pretty sure I’m going to do it. I don’t think the honours bit makes any difference to becoming a nurse but I’m interested in carrying out research and similar academic roles so I think it would be good. I’m also thinking these kinds of jobs are likely to be based in one location although that may not actually be true. As for money in the final year, I have a bit of money saved from when I was working. And Emma said she’ll help me out. You never know what’s round the corner anyway. I think it will probably all be okay financially.
This is probably sooo boring for anyone else to read but it’s my blog and I feel better for getting it all down so there you go! I’m going to go and read now. Something about assessment or research or the mental health act. And there’s a Columbo on later!
) bloggers. Lots of white space. Kind on the eyes. Maybe people will keep reading. etc. etc.*
