Diary: Week 5 & 6

It's been a busy two weeks so I missed last weeks update.

So, as alluded to I've been very busy, if you regularly read this you'll see I had my first OSCE a week ago and on the build up to it my nerves got the better of me. Despite practicing day and night for Adult and Child BLS/AED (not lay-person BLS, it's the Healthcare Professional one which includes BVM, Suction and Airway Adjuncts), on the day my brain went to mush, the morning of the OSCE I did another practice run through of both OSCEs I'd need to complete and I was making mistakes that I'd never made before. Suffice to say walking into the room with that mannequin staring up at the ceiling, the anxiety was crushing, read on to find out what happened next...


I passed! Alot didn't pass unfortunately (I'm confident they'll pass the re-sit though), but because I was practicing pretty much around the clock - even though my brain had gone to mush my body just took over and knew what to do. I ended up getting some great feedback on my performance that I was really chuffed with and I treat myself to a week of actually relaxing and socialising after Lectures rather than being a Hermit and spending my night jumping up and down on mannequins chests in my room...

From a learning perspective, we've been moving onto taking detailed and structured histories from Patients and the critical moving and handling ahead of our impending placements. On the Placements front I've been given my Ambulance Station for the next year and also found out where my first Specialist Placement will be - an acute coronary care unit in a large local Hospital which I'm very excited about, hopefully it will provide me with opportunities to talk to patients and deliver some fundamental care - but also to get a look at some ECGs post MI and CVA to start exposing me to irregularities.

I've got a few weeks left of Lectures before being let loose on the general public and I'll be sure to keep you update!

Thanks for reading.