Part Two of 8 Months a Nurse :As One Journey Ends Another Begins

-

As one journey ends another begins

 On the 19th of January the journey that I began on six years ago came to a end as all my endeavours came to fruition, qualifying with a 2:1 BSc Hons degree in Mental Health Nursing my journey has been full of highs lows self-doubt and self-discovery. 

I have met so many wonderful people and made friendships that will last a lifetime, I have  grown in so many ways learnt so much and experienced so much I’ve seen a new life come in to the world and held the hand as one has left  .Arguably the main thing is I’ve learned to enjoy learning something I never did as child. This may be that as back when i was in School I did not now I was dyslexic, I all new was I found reading writing and learning


in my earlier blogs i discussed how being diagnosed with dyslexia in my 50s has been life defining and helped me understand me myself and my past .This has consequently led to me taking control of how I  learn and led to me finding strategies personal to me that support me to manage and mitigate the effects of my dyslexia .

I would argue I have learned more in the last seven years of my life than I had in my first fifty. For so long I had judged myself harshly and believing I was incapable of achieving any academic qualification and  never ever dreamt I would end up being a nurse .On the  22nd of January I began my role as a band 5 nurse and a new journey began and new hurdles have now presented themselves relating to my dyslexia however, I have been supported by my trust Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Trust and have had several meetings with Human resources and work place wellbeing and contacted department of pensions regarding  access to work, consequently  had an assessment and recommendations were made regarding the best way of supporting me in the workplace with my dyslexia .

The assessment also identified some issue’s which I was not aware of but people around me were; such as my habit of becoming easily distracted and going off at a tangent and also the reason behind my dislike of reading was also explained ,during the assessment I could feel my smile broaden as I learned more about myself ,I came out of my assessment feeling positive  about my future in nursing .

I would recommend to all nurses who have dyslexia or other issue’s that access to work can help offer support with to access their support.

Please find some links for dyslexia support however please contact me if I can help in anyway

https://studyingwithdyslexiablog.co.uk/blog/the-new-look-studying-with-dyslexia-blog

British Dyslexia Association

www.bdadyslexia.org.uk

UK Dyslexia action

www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk

Wolverhampton University Student Support and Wellbeing webpage

https://www.wlv.ac.uk/current-students/student-support/student-support-and-wellbeing-ssw/students-with-disabilities--splds/

UCAS  DSA information

https://www.ucas.com/finance/additional-funding/disabled-students-allowances-dsas

Pattos website to help find an assessor

https://www.patoss-dyslexia.org/

RCN

Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia: a toolkit for nursing staff  https://www.rcn.org.uk/professional-development/publications/pub-003835

If you require a assessment please look at :

http://www.dyslexiapositive.org.uk/

 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

So you’re going to be a student Nurse

-
Image
  So, your about to start you’re your nursing journey Some things for you to think about before and when you commence your Nursing   journey, remember we all have self-doubts and have imposter syndrome you will doubt yourself on multiple occasions you will think you have failed when you’ve passed .These doubts are not a failings they are part of you and the expectations you have of yourself  .you may resent the fact you are dyslexic or blame your dyslexia for holding you back  ,but if I may id like you to take a different view of your dyslexia ,take ownership of it and accept it will be the cause of much frustration but it will also force you to take a alternative view to learning leading you to find alternative ways of learning .I wanted to discuss some strategies I put in place as a student nurse and the strategies that I use in my daily nursing life. Firstly, have you got support in place? If not, why not here are some things to think about and make sure you have them in plac
Read more

Spoke placements, spoke in the wheel or spoke in the Works

-
Image
Firstly, sorry for not posting recently; life has been so very full on of late with preparation for exams and the dreaded ‘D’ word (dissertation). All this on top of the mind blowing whirlwind of emotions involved in attending the Student Nursing Times Awards, trying to find time to write my poetry and attend placement which leads me nicely on to this blog “ Spoke placements, spoke in the wheel or spoke in the Works ”     What is a spoke placement? For those who have not experienced a spoke placement, The NMC Standards for Pre-registratio n Nurse Education (2010)   argues that a spoke placement allows for a more flexible and innovative approach to practice learning. Spoke placements can last anything from 1 to 4 weeks and works alongside the hub placement. Typically, hub placements last longer, between 4 to 11 weeks, depending on a student’s year of study.   Positives/Negatives For me I find anything less than 3 weeks in a placement a wasted learning opportunity,
Read more

Part one of 8 months a Nurse : Into the Blues

-
Image
  Welcome to part one of eight months a nurse, into the blues ,  blues is  the term used for the uniform that a qualified nurse wears.   I chose to do my electoral placement on the ward  i was going to work on and had wanted to  work on from my first year as it was my first placement .However as a consequence of  claiming extenuating circumstances my academic work interfered with  my time on elective placement. While on placement  I was still in the process of writing my dissertation and had a viva exam still to do, all which detracted from the experience and joy of my electoral placement. I found writing my dissertation particularly challenging because the framework i had been given was ambiguous and confusing ,and when seeking advice from my fellow students it transpired that all our mentor’s had different  expectations of how a dissertation should be wrote  and what should be in it . which added to the confusion and heightened  my anxieties and affected how i wrote my dissertation
Read more