Hi, my name is Katherine and I am a student studying Adult Nursing at the University of Birmingham. Before applying to University, I knew that I definitely wanted to do something in healthcare and I wasn't sure whether that was medicine, nursing, PT or something like that. I was really undecided for a while, until, unfortunately, I spent a lot of time in hospital with a family member who was in critical care. The nurses that were there really helped us and showed their passion to care, their expertise and support which inspired me. It takes a very special person to do this and I remember thinking, if I could make that difference to someone else's life, then that is what I would love to do - A job that is so fulfilling and makes a difference. I knew that I didn't want to have a desk or an office job, that is just not for me, I could definitely see myself doing what the nurses did so from then on, I decided that I wanted to study Adult Nursing.
“My experience so far has been great. Every year just gets better and better!”
Placements are definitely one of the best parts of studying Nursing. The range of experiences you get are very diverse. For example, you have the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, the Children's Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth (QE) Hospital as your potential placement providers and all really close by. I've had six placements so far over my two years here, and they've all been very, very different. I think that is such a unique opportunity and it has been really helpful to work out where I want to work in the future.
A placement in particular that stood out has to be when I was on the Liver Transplant ward at the QE. I got to watch a liver transplant surgery which was an amazing experience. The surgery was actually on a patient I had known for a while, who had been on the waiting list for a long time so they were finally getting their transplant. Just seeing the difference that made to their life was amazing. You develop connections with your patients and then when you see them having something that is so life changing and you are there to witness it, it is just a great experience.
“Another great thing about nursing is that there are just so many routes for you to progress into and if you want to change fields or move to another country even, you can! The career is very versatile.”
For me, having a fulfilling job and job satisfaction is so important. But that doesn’t mean that Nursing is always good – it’s a hard job! The shifts and days on placements are very long and you have a lot of responsibility which I think is very different to other university courses. Some of my friends finish around 5pm and then they are able to go out and have that free time but for us, it is tough trying to balance a social life as well as placement and your studies. This been said, the job is just so fulfilling. You're making such a difference to those that need you and even if you are having a rubbish day but then one patient that says, “thank you” to you at the end of the day, that makes your whole 12-and-a-half-hour shift worth it!
In my free time, I enjoying running and find it is a good way to clear my head especially after an intense day on placement. I am also part of Christian Union society, so we meet once or twice a week. This year, I'm also part of the Medical Society, MedSoc, committee. We also have a nursing society called, NurseSoc. This sits under MedSoc as one of the 50 plus different societies that fall under it. As part of the committee, I am able to represent Nursing and make suggestions of how it can be more inclusive to every healthcare course. We plan events and sports training sessions around placement schedules so our members could potentially go after a day at work. It is really great to see that this year, we are getting more nurses and other healthcare students involved with MedSoc! Some of my closest friends I have made have been through being part of MedSoc. Some of them don’t study nursing, they actually study medicine and pharmacy so it’s a great way to meet people from all different healthcare courses.