First year almost over..........a bit of reflection......

[Traveller]

I am finding the double degree quite hard going. Academically it is fine but the nursing is so far from anything I am interested in. I locked myself in the loos during my last placement and had a little cry before I could go back out and continue. Maybe it was just the nurse I was buddied with but I woke up every morning having to persuade myself that it would be unethical to throw a sickie, and I would just have to make up the hours anyway. I contacted another uni about switching to direct entry but I can't take all my credits from this year with me so I would still have 3 years to go and with the extra travel to Melbourne I just can't justify it.

However the mid more than makes up for it, and I am just hanging out for my grad year when I can drop all nursing and get on with my career. Only 3 more years...

[Me+him+bub]

Traveller: The nursing will get better, first placements were always horrible! its all elderly people and yes the nurses in medical wards are often Biatches and "old skool" But as you go along it will get better, my last placements were in Gold Coast emergency on schoolies! and in Coronary Care unit and in antenatal clinic, once you can do more than shower and make beds it gets more interesting, having said that it still isn't everyones "thing" hence why I am doing midwifery after only 18 months or nursing! Best of Luck and hang in there!

[Hannahbanana]

It sucks when you have to force yourself to get up and go and I thought for sure that would be me too but I haven't come across a bad buddy nurse yet but some of the others have.
I have also been picking small-ish hospitals to do my placements so that I get to see more and do more and not just hygene and old people (even though 80% of patients are over 70 around here). It's the way I am getting through the general nursing. The smaller hospitals around here let you go to theater and casulty and if there is a birth or CS on the shift they let you go in if the mother is ok with it. (I haven't been fortunate enough but a couple of the other mid girls have). Sometimes in the big hospitals you see the same thing everyday and there is no variety because of the ward you are on. Not sure how I am going to go with the 4 week placements next year because I'll have to stay local but I still have a couple of hospitals I can choose from that are small-ish without being tiny that I haven't been to yet.
I am leaving the big hospital for all my mid placements!!

[Traveller]

I have got a fellowship place with a small private hospital so there will be the option to see some more interesting stuff (one girl got to see IVF during her placement, and lots of other interesting surgeries because they were so quiet). Also our facilitator is really nice and very flexible so when I had to be late on my last day because of childcare issues she was absolutely fine about it. I think I prefer a small hospital to the big one I did my last placement on, and the patients are in general really lovely. I don't mind looking after old people, wiping bums, giving showers, etc, and I got to remove staples, give meds and do dressings and things which was interesting. I guess it's hard to put my finger on why I hated it so much. I think maybe because you are dealing with illness and death, instead of new life. The nurses discussing that of they were in the position of one particular patient they would kill themselves didn't help though. How can they provide care for someone when they don't think their life is worth anything?

[Hannahbanana]

I found it hard to listen to how much the nurses hated their working conditions and in some cases - jobs and how the management just expected things from them without actually taking the time to ask. And it's hard to work with people who are unhappy, but I just decided not to dwell on that stuff because I've always been of the opinion if you don't like what you are doing then make a change.
But I know what you are saying about nursing being all about sickness and death, instead of life and creation. I often think about that too. How the two professions can be a part of the same organisation but can be so different, but then there will be times when we will have to deal with that too. And I suppose a nurse there would be times when you get confronted by illness or death and feel your own mortality. I know even just studying for a year and learning what we have learned, I am scared about getting old and how my body will fail and then where I will end up.
But I am looking forward to getting into the nitty-gritty of mid next year and I often think about what my long term plans are for after I finish and where my career will take me. I think my path will lead towards educating women about birth as a natural process and something that doesn't have to be feared, CMP, maybe VBAC education and support for this region. I just want to get these next 3 years done and some experience under my belt and then focus on changing the perception of birth as a medical process to a natural process Open peoples minds that it doesn't have to be the scarey most painful experience that is so often portrayed.
Ahhh gotta love some personal reflection on goals and aspirations to get the juices flowing..........pity it's at the end of the semester and not the start

[My Three Sons]

Reflection on my 2nd year as a midwifery student.

Uni life has been hard, with 3 days of uni and 2 days of prac each week, plus an online subject which was very poorly organised and had a massive workload!
Am on my 2nd day of my mental health prac- with a CAT team, and loved today, it was really interesting. Certainly not what i want to do, but a great experience.
So far, am happy with most of my grades, i think i have had mostly HD's with one credit and one Distinction. So praying i can take that form into exams in the next month.

OH how I LOVE midwifery. I have had a few crappy shifts with ****ty midwives who forget i am just a student- but over all, i have had wonderful midwives to work with, fantastic women, and have loved all areas of my placement! I caught 10 babies this year, and am off to a good start. I attended 2 follow through births, both of which will stay with me for life...but one in particular (a member here) who will forever hold a special place in my heart. I followed the pregnancies of 4 other wonderful women this year.

Am shocked that i made it through my whole year at a tertiary hospital placement with 16 birth suite shifts: Witnessed 5 births, caught 10 babies, but i only saw 2 epidurals, 3 episiotomys, and NO c/s! I spent time with 17-18 different women during those shifts. Pretty cool!

I am a bit frightened about next year. A 3rd year... almost a graduate! That means i have to know stuff, and know it well! Eeek! Starting at a new hospital next year- no idea where yet though, but possibly a private hospital! Eeek! (guess that may change my c/s viewing rate lol)

[Hannahbanana]

Am shocked that i made it through my whole year at a tertiary hospital placement with 16 birth suite shifts: Witnessed 5 births, caught 10 babies, but i only saw 2 epidurals, 3 episiotomys, and NO c/s!

Wow, no CS!!!! I am shocked too!! Also makes me feel hopeful that things can change and birth doesn't have to be medicalized so much I hope when I go on my clinical placement in two weeks I don't see too many CS, lots of vaginal births please!!! My ultimate goal is to see a vaginal breech but I am quite sure I will never see one

[My Three Sons]

Wow, no CS!!!! I am shocked too!! Also makes me feel hopeful that things can change and birth doesn't have to be medicalized so much I hope when I go on my clinical placement in two weeks I don't see too many CS, lots of vaginal births please!!! My ultimate goal is to see a vaginal breech but I am quite sure I will never see one

Is that a lifetime goal? They are so friggin rare now
One of my friends is at the same hospital, but has seen more instrumental birth, and epidurals. I don't think she has seen a c/s through the hospital other than with her follow through though. I know there were plenty on shift, but i just wasn't in with those women. Had a few inductions too in that bunch.
Love clinical placement though- it is so exciting to be a small part of the woman's journey and witness a baby's first breath.