PART I
Do you want to enhance your knowledge of careers in healthcare, stand out to Admissions tutors, and choose a fabulous career that you will love? You are in the RIGHT place! This interview will emulate the insight gained on a medicine work experience placement. Today we start with the real movers and shakers… Nurses!
Below is an interview that I conducted with a newly qualified staff nurse. I know that many of you will have had medical work experience cancelled or may think there is just “no medical work experience near me!”. Not to worry! I’ve got you covered right here with the real deal.
gimme the insight!
Although this can’t replace real work experience, it will give you all the insight into healthcare you need! This is only Part I, make sure you join the email list to find out when you can hear the rest! Enjoy!
“The best work experience for medicine is talking to the people that make the medicine work!”
Please could you tell me your job title and what a typical day in your life might look like?
“So I’m a Staff nurse, I was a student nurse until recently. A typical day would be very busy, I’d be treating patients, doing what the Doctors tell you to do, caring for the patients. Play by play You’d start by doing your drug round, administering the drugs to the patients. You then do the ward round, the Doctors will say the plan for the patient, and the nurses deliver it all. You’ll then do more drug rounds in the afternoon.”
In your opinion, a brilliant nurse would be what animal and why?
“Oh haha! I don’t really like animals so this is quite hard to put characteristics to them. A lioness, because they are fierce and they don’t let people walk all over them. They are also the most caring animals for their young and those in their pride, similar to how nurses care so much for their patients. They are good at putting doctors in their place when discussing patient care because they know the patient on such a personal level and they are so empathetic!”
“The best work experience for medicine is talking to the people who make the medicine work!”
What is the biggest thing medical students/junior doctors don’t know when they start placements?
“They don’t know basic care, they have crazy knowledge of things I would never know but the other day, I had a Junior Doctor with me and he was telling me parts of the brain and all of this insane knowledge but then he asked me what numbers a patients blood sugar should be between. I thought “ I cannot believe you are a med student and don’t know what a blood sugar should be!” They sometimes lack basic observational and caring skills, but they are very very clever and know a lot of other stuff.
“The best Doctors are the ones who have good manners.”
This is why I think it is very good when med students have been healthcare assistants before medical school because they know all of that stuff, those smaller details, It helps get the foundations. You need the practice because otherwise if you have no bedside manners how can you break bad news and even good news. The best doctors are the ones who have good manners. If a doctor behaves abruptly or in an unempathetic way, the nurses often have to clear it all up with the patient who could be really upset afterward!”
Are there different types of nurses and within that what are the different ranked positions of nurses?
“So you begin as a Band 5, this is where you register as a staff nurse. This will go through to Band 9. So the order kind of goes: Staff nurse, The Sisters, the Senior Nurses, and then Matrons. Within band 8 you have 8a 8b and 8c and then you have Band 9 and these bands are heads of nursing so they help run the entire hospital.
“There’s a specialty for everything”
Within the job, you can train in Adult nursing, Children’s nursing, Disability nursing and Mental Health. Once you have the fundamentals you can specialise, there is a specialty for literally every body part because nurses are needed for everything. You can also be a nurse practitioner; meaning that you can prescribe medicine and treatments etc with the approval of a Doctor. You do this through a Nursing masters.”
“Medicine work experience is less about the actual experience and everything about what you’ve learnt”
What is the biggest misconception you think general people have about nursing?
“That nurses are just bum wipers! No, genuinely! There is so much more to it than just wiping bums. Also, that nursing is a super sexy thing, and that it is glamorous too, this perception is just false. Until you are actually a Nurse, you have no idea how hard the Nurses work. I think that nursing is one of the most emotionally draining things because we deal with not just the patients but with the families as well. The doctors don’t always deal with the “behind the scenes”. There is definitely a lot more holistic care in being a nurse.”
“Medicine work experience is less about the actual experience and everything about what you’ve learnt”
That’s it! Part one, all done… I would recommend that you write a reflection on what you have read as medical schools will LOVE this. Furthermore, more than having work experience in a medical field, schools will want to see that you have reflected and learned! See you back here on the blog for part two before we move onto the next medical professional…
Much love xxx
Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed the post, feel free to leave any comments or questions here. X