How to get the most out of your student nurse experience

This video is about how to make the most out of your student nursing career and your time as a student nurse so that when you're qualified you're ready for everything!

Topics covered in this video

0.00 Introduction

0.45 Have a goal

1.41 Create connections

2.56 Speak up for the things you're passionate about

3.50 Focus on the positives, even the little ones

4.42 Conclusion

0.00 Introduction

Hi, welcome back to my channel. Sorry it's been a long time since I've uploaded. I've been super busy with uni and essays and placement and everything like that, but there's no excuses and I'm back now. So today's video is going to be about how to make the most out of your nursing career and your time as a student nurse because you're only going to be a student nurse once or once for a few years. So you want to get the most out of that time and the most learning you can, so then when you're qualified you're ready for everything.

0.45 Have a goal

I think the main thing when you are a student nurse, which is actually really beneficial, is to have a goal and whether that be a goal towards placement or essays or exams or just for your future as a nurse. I think having something to strive towards actually really helps because it is really difficult sometimes being a student nurse and sometimes it's so easy to get bogged down with the essay you have or if you're having a hard time at placement. But having that kind of final goal is something to look towards and kind of a light at the end of the tunnel in a sense that it just makes you realize that everything is not bad and things will get better and eventually there will be something that you can achieve on reach.

So I think having a goal is a really, really good one. And like I said, whether that be really, really small, like, "Oh, I want to manage an airway in placement," or whether that be, "One day I want to be an oncology nurse practitioner or something like that." It can be small or big, but I think having a goal is a really good one.

1.41 Create connections

This might sound like a funny one, but I think creating connections can be a huge asset to you in your nursing career because if you can manage to get on with people you're working with, whether that be as a job or on placement, then you will have these people that you have already created connections with and in the hard times or in the good times, you can go to them to debrief or just to talk or to ask a question. And I think not being alone on a team is really important. So you feel like you're supported.

In order to feel well supported, you need to create connections with people because it's hard to feel supported with people that you're not close to you or you don't have connection. And I'm not saying we have to be best friends with everyone, because that's not true, but just have even one or two people that you can go to that you know they're there for you. You know you have a bit of a connection, whether that be just a colleague connection or as good friends, but someone you can go to to talk about things because there will be times where you just want to turn to someone and if you haven't built those connections then it can be kind of hard to know who to go to. And so definitely make as many connections as you can. Obviously within reason.

2.56 Speak up for the things you're passionate about

Making the most out of your nursing career sometimes be really difficult because we are often faced with things that are challenging and unexpected. So for instance, maybe you're on a ward and you see care that you're not happy with, in order to progress in your nursing career as a student nurse, I think finding the ability to stand up sometimes can be a really big factor and actually really beneficial in the future. Not only as a student nurse but so when you are qualified you know what to stand up to, how to stand up to and also just how to escalate things further if you see something you are not happy with. So I think finding the courage to be able to speak up for things you're passionate about or things that you are not happy with I think can be really big step in the right direction for your future nursing career.

3.50 Focus on the positives, even the little ones

Although I was just saying that sometimes nursing can't be easy and that is completely true. There is a lot of positives to the work we do and the group and teams we're part of. So I think often focusing on the positive can actually make more positives. Now hear me out, if we focus on the negatives such as staff shortages, such as really difficult work, such as difficult patients, sometime difficult relatives, that's all fine, but we're not building that morale that we need in order to do our job properly and in order to make the most out of our nursing career because we all know there will be difficult times, but it's what we do with those difficult times. So for instance, if you're having a difficult day instead of focusing on more of the negatives that we know exist in every place of work, focusing on the things that we're doing well.

4.42 Conclusion

So focusing on your strengths such as maybe you had a really good connection with someone today, maybe you've really helped a relative feel more comfortable. Maybe you helped a staff member out who was struggling or having a difficult day. And it's by focusing on the positives in this difficult sometimes job, then we will take more positives out and it will become less negative and more about the little wins. So we're not talking huge big positives like everyone's happy all the time because that's not necessarily true. But if we talk about the little positive such as like what I was saying about making a relative happy or going a little extra mile for a patient. And if we focus on that, then hopefully we'll have more positives in our nursing career and within our teams, on colleagues and all of those connections that we've made.

So these are a few steps to getting the most out of your nursing career. You liked this video, please give it a like. And thank you so much nurses.co.uk for sponsoring this video yet again. I really appreciate it. So thank you for watching. Bye!

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