 Hi everyone and welcome back to another vlog. It's Sunday again. These weeks are going way too fast for me So I start placement in one week tomorrow So I thought this would be a perfect time to do just a little vlog about how I've been preparing and how you can prepare for your placements I have done videos on placements before some hints tips how to prepare sort of different things But today's video is going to be slightly different hopefully and a little bit more information and just those basics that you Should be doing or you can do just to help you just make that first placement so much easier or any placement so much easier So at the end of this video you are going to see me phoning placement because that is what I do This is tip number one Make sure you phone your placement two weeks in advance Sometimes three weeks depending on how excited you are how nervous you are and Just ring them get your first week's rotor find out who your mentor is and some details about the trust that you're going to be Working in for that amount of time So things like if they have a staff room if they have a kettle if they have tea and coffee milk If they have a fridge if they have microwave toaster all of those sort of things to help you prepare Like for your meals and things like that when you're out on placement It just massively helps you to prepare so that you know what to take to your placement meal wise and Sort of drink wise fluid wise Or that sort of thing. It's just a massive tip of mine Not only that but actually ringing and speaking to the team It really does put you at ease because you're so nervous because you don't know what to expect So speaking to someone on the other end of the phone and just having those nerves Settled because they are all lovely and they're all amazing Sometimes you will call and they might be really busy and really short with you. Please. Please. Please don't be offended by this they are just busy like I said and Don't judge that on how your placement will be because I have had this before I've rang and they've been really unorganized They didn't even know who I was they didn't know I was coming. They weren't very helpful on the phone But actually when I went on that placement, I absolutely loved it. I got on with everybody. Everyone was amazing I still have no idea who I spoke to on the phone. I'm still trying to work it out They're all they were all lovely. So please don't judge your placement on that one phone call That might make you a little bit nervous and a little bit anxious before you start if you do have that sort of phone Call, but please don't judge that just go in with a fresh mind a fresh pair of eyes positivity pants on and Hopefully you'll have an amazing time Tip number two for placement preparation is make sure you research the area you're going into So what sort of speciality is it? Is it cardiology? Is it orthopedics? Is it stroke? Is it rehabilitation? Is it community and gp? Is it a sort of mental health trust? Whatever you're going have a little google and research around the area speak to students put Comments on twitter on facebook groups on instagram get some input from other students that might have been in that particular area And just figure out what you sort of need to know and what you need to sort of brush upon ready for that placement And tip number three. I am going to say Get yourself organized get yourself a little notepad. I have a couple of notepads These are actually my own university notepads. These were freebies. I know So I use these for my placement But you can buy little tiny notepads for like 99 p.m. Or a pound from places like wilkinson's poundland I was gonna say walworth's then but walworth's isn't open anymore. Sorry B&M's those sort of places do really cheap notepads. So don't pay a fortune We are students. I keep saying this save your money, please But I just keep just all of my little notes in here in both books I I write my medications at the back for some reason I put all my medications to learn at the back and then all the info at the front to split them up Same with this book. I've also got measuring tapes hidden in this book You know to measure the circumference of the arm if you can't physically weigh a patient That's what we do. So, yeah, so make sure you have your pen and paper little notepad ready And anything you learn on your placement jot it down That is going to be your lifesaver And it's just it's so so much better to just look back on your own notes and understand something Then having to keep constantly asking questions. I think but at the same point ask questions Don't stop asking questions to your mentor ask everything you can and find out everything you can jot them down Tip number four So do your route planner make sure you know how to get to your placement Make sure you know how long it's going to take work out the bus routes travel routes Train routes your car so google map it iphone map it whatever you have to do to map it See when the busiest time of traffic is going to be Make sure you leave well in advance and leave plenty of time in the event that something does happen Because it just looks professional if you're arriving on time. There's no lateness. There's no delays. It's just I'm just really organized like that. I'm really sorry if you're not at the end of the day These are placements. These could these could be potential employers. They could be employing you See this placement as an interview type thing. Okay. That's how I see all of my placements These are interviews. These are places that I might potentially work. I yeah, just I'm not gonna say anymore. I've said enough. I think on that. Sorry guys My final tip for placement tip number five is going to be meal prep So if you are making something the night before like a pasta or something like that lasagna Keep some leftovers make extra so that you can take it to placement the next day This is what I do if I know I'm on placement and I'm cooking something I'll always have in the back of my mind make double also think about with your meal preparation Think about if there is a microwave or it's a fridge or anything And if you can or can't cook foods at your placement Just sort of organize it that way. So if you haven't got a microwave, no means of cooking anything You're going to be taking cold foods like salads sandwiches for nowhere You can eat rice cold Things like that and then if you have got a microwave then you can take more hot foods that you can heat up in the microwave So, yeah, so make sure you have your meals and snacks and plenty of fluids. Oh my god Cannot stress enough keep hydrated keep yourself well and healthy on placement because it can be stressful It can make you run down can make you feel drained You want to make sure you've got the really enough nutrition enough fluids to keep you going So that you can care for your patients effectively I'm coming up coming up to my management placement and these are things that I'm doing right now So I'm preparing for my management by researching the area. I've checked the distance. It's 1.2 miles I'm going to be walking to placement I don't need transport. Um, this is going to be amazing. I'm so excited to walk to placement So, yeah, so that's what I'm doing. I'm writing out. I'm making some new placement cards for myself For community based are based around COPD, asthma, hypertension, diabetes wound management, pressure areas, all of that and making some more placement packs Once I've actually finished them, I might put them on Etsy And if anyone wants to get some you can it's up to you Um, I know a lot of you have purchased the other sort of standard ward hospital based placement packs And that's been absolutely amazing. So thank you so much for purchasing them And I really hope that they help you out there on your placement. They've really really helped me I'm going to be taking mine on with me on my next placement as well as the extra community ones that I'm going to throw in It's going to be amazing. But anyway, just to end this video I'm going to show you now the phone call when I was contacting my next placement Which is my final management placement. It's so excited So I did a little video. I wanted to record what I do and like a live video recording of what I do when I go out there on placement and when When I'm phone in placement And the sort of things that I say on the phone and what I do how I am on the phone I just wanted to show you that sort of process because I think that's really interesting for people I don't think there's anything out there like that I'm not going to tell you anymore because I know what happened because it was the other day So I'm going to let you watch it now and I shall see you next week Hi everyone. So it's Monday. It's two weeks before I start my management placement So that means it's time to ring them and find out my hours and everything before starting and for the first time ever I'm a little bit nervous. I've been really excited for this placement But suddenly I've just got really nervous, which Is absolutely brand new for me. So I'm going to record it and show you what I do when I ring Without breaking confidentiality because I will edit the names out. You ready? Here we go guys Oh my god, let me turn the volume down because I don't want to Break confidentiality like I said Um It's ringing. Oh my god Nobody's answering Maybe they're busy I do have two numbers. So if this one doesn't work, I can ring the other one Okay, I'm gonna try the other one The other one's a mobile. I'm not too sure about sorry. I'm just balancing it. I'm not too sure about ringing a mobile But I mean it's on there for a reason. So I must be okay to ring it. Oh my god Let's see I don't think that's the right number Oh my god, why am I panicking? Here's a question. How long do you leave the phone ringing for before you hang up? It's always that panic like if I hang up now, what if they're just about to pick it up? You've got this You've got a lovely student next on the other end ready to be lovely and make your day Come on. I'm gonna turn that off because that's not in now. Sorry guys It's like the fifth time it's after lunch. It's like nearly three o'clock. This is the last chance now Come on It's ringing again Nobody picks up this time. I'm just gonna send an email Maybe she's probably gonna pick up her emails a lot quicker than the phone possibly Especially people are out and stuff with they've got a laptop. They're probably more likely to answer emails. I think So nobody's answering. So I'm gonna send an email and I'm going to run through what I would be saying if somebody answered Just so you can see what I say when I ring placement So what I do is Hello, my name is so-and-so. Can I speak to so-and-so? So ask for the person that you Have been given to contact Ask for their name And then once I speak to the actual person that I'm supposed to be speaking to I'll say hi My name is Claire Carmichael. I introduce myself again. I'm a final year student nurse I'm coming to placement with you on the 2nd of September And I'm just ringing to get my first lot of shifts and see who I'm going to be working with And any further details of my first week if that's possible, please that'd be amazing They're usually quite good. They usually like, oh, yeah, I know who you are And they'll give you your first week and your mentor and tell you what to do and everything And they'll answer any questions and they'll be really helpful But I have had a couple of times where I have rang up and they didn't know who I was They didn't have my name on the list. They didn't have a clue So I've had to contact the uni and then the uni's contacted them And then there's just been I don't know some sort of communication loop missing somewhere But it's rare that happens. So please don't worry if that does happen It is sorted at the end and you will be having your placement Another thing that's happened to me is They've only given me my first day. They won't give me the whole week So they'll just say, oh, yeah, come in at 7 a.m on Monday and we'll sort out the rest of the week from there That's mainly I think because they're just so busy. They're just saying, okay Just come in at this time We'll sort it out on Monday when we've got some time and please don't be disheartened by that I know it's really frustrating because you want to sort out your life and your social life around Nursing Just don't be disheartened by it and if you're really really Stressed about it Then you can maybe just say do you mind if I have to just the rest of the week shifts because I've got a few things on And I just want to plan around it Just be really polite and professional about it and I'm sure they'll be more than happy to help you I'm now going to put all of this into an email and hopefully have a reply to the emails My assumption is I know we shouldn't assume things but my assumption is they're just really really busy And she's because it's community nursing. She's probably out with patients They're more than likely going to have I'm assuming a laptop of some sort that they Use to fill in patient details when they're out in the community and get their emails and things like that So I'm hoping she's going to pick up her emails because she's out Maybe fingers crossed we'll find out and I'll let you know when she replies They're getting it for her now I've got through she's going to get her placement hours That's so hard Are you happy with nice Three of them on how you can I said I'm on a study day on Monday Study day, what are you studying? I might call back tomorrow Just clarify your study day No three o'clock in the morning, it's not that no, that's not okay When you've got to get back to Dudley Are you feeling positive? Start now Morning everybody, so it's Tuesday now. I just wanted to do a quick update before I go to work I had an email back. So as you know yesterday I had a nightmare trying to Call this number, which was actually the wrong number in the end I knew there'd be something wrong because it was literally just ringing and ringing the whole day So I knew there'd be something wrong, but I did get an email back from the lady So she did email me back that was the right email address. Thank god And do you know what when I checked my emails? She replied within like 30 minutes. She was on it. She was on the ball And she basically just said show up on the Monday 9 a.m. The security guard or come and show you where you've got to go So that's it. That's all I know. I did say this in my email though yesterday Sometimes they do do that they just say do you know what just show up and we'll sort out the rest when you get here Which is absolutely fine with me. I've got no problems with that But for some other people it might be a little bit frustrating. So just be mindful People are busy and they have got clinics and patients to see but that's it. That's all my updates for now I start in two. I'm so excited. Yeah, so that's it. That's it from me for now. Have a good week guys I shall see you all next week