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

- October 26, 2020

As one journey ends another begins

On the 19^th 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 22^nd 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.