NURSING
default
default
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
make set appointments for the<br />
next month with these areas<br />
to make sure I can meet with<br />
someone on the team.<br />
Relationships take a long time<br />
to build but without the effort<br />
the students’ learning really<br />
suffers.<br />
I hope the mentors will be as<br />
pleased to see me as I am to be<br />
here. MHN<br />
Name:<br />
James Nicholls<br />
Role/setting:<br />
Staff nurse,<br />
Somerset<br />
‘‘<br />
’’<br />
My day starts with the beep of<br />
the phone alarm. I get up, get<br />
showered and piece myself<br />
together mentally but not so<br />
rigidly that I won’t be able to<br />
adapt to whatever the ward has<br />
in store for me today. It is never<br />
the same twice, let’s put it that<br />
way.<br />
Then it<br />
suddenly<br />
hits me that<br />
there has<br />
only been<br />
one nurse on<br />
shift today –<br />
me<br />
Then it is time for food, the<br />
healthier the better. The fuel for<br />
the engine has to be optimised<br />
because every ounce will be<br />
needed through the day.<br />
Once the shift starts there<br />
won’t be time to stop.<br />
Cruise control allows my<br />
commute to be used for<br />
reflection from the day before<br />
and gentle preperation for the<br />
day ahead.<br />
Anticipation starts to mix with<br />
excitement as the journey to<br />
work draws to a close, and my<br />
mind begins to bubble.<br />
What will today bring? What<br />
will the service users need? How<br />
will the team be? These thoughts<br />
are allowed to pass like<br />
clouds in the sky and mindfully<br />
any ideas about the day are<br />
released.<br />
The moment and the ‘now’<br />
is embraced and the speed at<br />
which everything can change<br />
is remembered as something<br />
which cannot be controlled.<br />
Suddenly I am buzzing onto<br />
the ward, my NHS badges are<br />
on and it is time to deliver the<br />
best care possible with the<br />
tools that are available, namely<br />
myself, the team around me and<br />
our skills and ability to adapt to<br />
whatever is thrown at us.<br />
Handover finishes with a<br />
splash of humour and we go<br />
onto the ward to start the early<br />
shift.<br />
Some service users are<br />
up already and so we have a<br />
relaxed catch up over breakfast.<br />
Others are needing close<br />
observation and are still<br />
struggling. Staff rotation for<br />
one-to-one observation is<br />
discussed and the members<br />
of the team take it all in their<br />
stride. Someone says: ‘No<br />
breaks again today.’<br />
Then it’s onto the morning<br />
round of medication. Some<br />
service users come to the clinic<br />
while others are still a bit sleepy,<br />
but all the necessaries are taken<br />
care of just in time before the<br />
doctor’s ward review starts.<br />
Any potential confusion<br />
over daily notes is resolved,<br />
outstanding phone calls are<br />
dealt with, 48-hour follow-ups<br />
are logged, and S17 leave is<br />
rewritten and communicated,<br />
then signed and agreed.<br />
New medication plans are<br />
revised, visitors are welcomed,<br />
coffee and tea is prepared, new<br />
care plans are devised, new<br />
care pathways are created with<br />
consent and multidisciplinary<br />
discussion, and patients are<br />
able to express themselves<br />
freely and openly. Phew, the<br />
ward review is done.<br />
Then it is lunchtime – for the<br />
service users at least, that is.<br />
For me it is team catch-up time.<br />
Wait a minute – it was 9am last<br />
time I checked. Where did those<br />
three hours go?<br />
Luckily as always the<br />
healthcare assistants are totally<br />
on it and the ward is under<br />
control with only minor issues to<br />
be dealt with.<br />
Thankfully the weather is good<br />
today too, so some one-to-one<br />
time in the garden allows a few<br />
service users a brief distraction<br />
from their troubles with a bit of<br />
table tennis.<br />
Meanwhile a few of the others<br />
are enjoying an art and crafts<br />
session with the occupational<br />
therapist. The ward is feeling<br />
sunny.<br />
I realise there is only<br />
30 minutes until lunchtime<br />
handover, so it is speed typing<br />
time.<br />
Hopefully the phone won’t<br />
ring too much either. I type up<br />
patient notes and update the<br />
handover.<br />
Then it suddenly hits me that<br />
there has only been one nurse<br />
on shift today – me.<br />
I check with the healthcare<br />
assistants and they assure me<br />
that everything is together and<br />
that everything has been done.<br />
A quick wander round the<br />
ward confirms that everything is<br />
‘ship shape’.<br />
So it’s off to handover I go.<br />
That was certainly a whirlwind.<br />
Happily for me, the morning<br />
shift ends with the feeling of<br />
satisfaction and knowledge<br />
that I have helped and changed<br />
people’s lives.<br />
The energy given to me<br />
on this day has not gone to<br />
waste. That’s a day in the life<br />
of a mental health nurse – it’s a<br />
challenge, that’s for sure. MHN<br />
20
Change language