Diary: Week 10

Week 10 brought my first week of Placement. Switching from predictable days in University to back to back 12 hour shifts was 'interesting' - especially when my housemates insisted in screaming the house down when they came back drunk at 2am in the middle of those shifts... twice. So for anyone reading who is due to start Uni - try and get housed with other Health Care Students!

Read on to find out how I got on...




My first two weeks of Placement are in a local Hospital in an Acute care ward. You might think this is strange as I'm training to become a Paramedic however the logic is sound. Here I get to learn how to talk to patients in a safe and controlled environment, it also gives me the chance to learn how to deliver on patients basic care needs such as feeding, washing, and toileting.

Basic care has been the bulk of what I've been upto, as that is what my Placement outcomes are based on. However I thought as I'm here for two weeks I might aswell try to take advantage of all the opportunities being a Student in a Hospital would allow. So far I've had the opportunity to spend the day with a Cardiology Nurse interpreting ECGs and carrying out 12-lead assessments, I was also lucky enough to sit in on a handful of CT Scans of the brain and abdominal/pelvic regions. The CT of the Abdo/Pelvis in particular was very interesting, initially all you can see is bones and gas just like an x-ray, a radioactive dye is then introduced and left for 70 seconds, then another CT scan is carried out and that empty skeleton image is now like a page from an Anatomy book and you can see all of the organs appear.

Other than that I've got involved with the drugs round, delivered a few injections, carried out dozens of observations and I've also had the chance to work with a Doctor and carry out a few chest and abdomen examinations which was good practice for when I get out on the road in a weeks time. For now though I've got a few days off and then my final 3 shifts on my Ward to look forward to!