Big changes!

Its been about a year since I last did a blog but after reading a friends blog over the 2 months I decided to pick up where I felt off.

Things have changed since my last blog and I'm walking down a new path... I'm now a student nurse!!! As you may remember I was an AP on a surgical ward. I enjoyed my time as an AP and ended up helping all the newly qualified international nurses we had join the Trust. It was hard at 1st, but a good experience. I was also an RCN Learning Rep but I think that role was a little under used by the Trust. I tried to sort things out but without the support I needed it fell a bit short and the main thing I helped with was MNC Revalidation.

I also attended RCN Congress 2016 and was able to get funded for all 5 days. This year was special as it was the RCN Centenary, 100yrs old!!! It was particularly special as a friend was giving a 'topic for discussion' on the new Associate Nurse role and is it all that different from the AP role (the correct answer is 'NO!'). I ended up getting up and talking in front of Congress to support her (and all the AP's out there). Everything was going well until I was in the queue and looked out at Congress... What a mistake that was!!! Being sat at the front in the voting groups I had forgotten that there was a whole audience of nurses behind me! There were about 500+ people... And it was being streamed live on the internet... I almost wet myself in fear! That said, once I was up and my 2 minutes started I got right into the swing of it and let fly (and remembered not to swear! LoL). In the end the 'topic of discussion' was voted to become a resolution, but Chair of Congress said 'No'... 'This should go straight to Council in my opinion'... What the funk!!! Shut the front door!!! This was a huge move for the AP's in the UK. A truly memorable thing.

Anyway, as I was saying at the start... I'm now a student nurse! I had applied for secondment through my Trust but the funding was pulled. With the financial issues arising as of 2017 I said I was going to Uni no matter what... And so I left my job as an AP behind at the start of September and started Uni. Having been an AP I was able to skip the 1st Yr and go right into the 2nd Yr. Amazeballz I hear you say. But going in this route has had it's problems and has involved lots of phonecalls, emails, meetings, interviews and chasing things up, but the main thing is that I got on the degree and skipped 1st Yr.

Well I think that's everything that has  happened since my last blog back in 2015. Its been nice to write this and can't wait to keep everyone up to date with my life as a student nurse.

Shaniepoo out.