The University Diaries

Week four of hospital placements was based in a Cardiothoracics centre for my intensive care sign off.  The Cardiothoracics centre is important to me to understand as if I have a patient with a stemi that meets required criteria, I would likely be bringing them to this centre as there are only two PPCI centres in my area. Background I was required to be on this placement for three days, for 13 hour shifts.The centre is for planned procedures and emergency cases, whilst also having a really large ward for patients varying in severity from 'ready to go home' to high dependency. I was based in the high dependency part of the ward with the opportunity to end up in different departments throughout the centre, such as the waiting rooms, operating theatres and intensive care. Day 1 With another long day ahead of me, I woke up at 5am, left the house at 5.30am and arrived just before 7am. I went in and found the nurse in charge who directed me to get changed, and then to the staff...

The Practice Assessment Document (PAD) will rule your life during your 10 weeks of placement in your first year of uni. Here are my tips for passing your PAD, and how to make it easier. Enjoy! What is the PAD and what does it include? The PAD is your evidence for completing certain skills whilst on placement which is pass or fail. Your mentor (or PED) has to fill it out identifying which jobs you have been exposed to, and how you handled them. They can grade you as assisted (needing help), minimal supervision (the odd prompt here or there) or independent (woo, go you! Did it safely all by yourself). It includes skills from your Skills Passport and adds in other essential skills too, such as: airway management, cervical spine immobilisation, fracture splinting, IM injections and signposting to alternative pathways. There is are patient assessment pages, which patients fill out about how they feel you treated them, and there is a personal review on your time on placement. Your me...

Placement is such a hectic place! Due to my shift schedule I am five weeks in but have done 4 blocks due to the four days on, five days off schedule. Somehow I am currently working almost full time over the placement block. I will finish at 6.30am on my last night shift, come home and head to sleep until 12pm, wake up and head to work. This is a great way for me to be able to afford placement, but I don't have a life! It is very difficult acting this way, especially as I am either on placement or asleep the rest of the time. Fortunately due to the crews I am working with, I am enjoying the shifts so much it feels less like a job and more like a lifestyle. Update on my First Five Weeks I have had such a variety of shifts. I am placed on the border of London, but as we do not respond to London Ambulance Service (LAS) calls, we can only head out in one direction, which means we regularly finish (very) late. On the plus side, you must have 11 hours between shifts, so usually if yo...