New Placement

Where has the year gone? I swear I'll blink and it'll be Christmas again! Those of you who have read my blog before will know I'm training to become a nurse, and I'm now currently on my first placement of second year. I have one slight concern and that is I'm half way through my training and still haven't worked on a ward. I've been told not to worry and I suppose I'm not really because I'm a quick learner, but exceeding people's expectations of me is what I pride myself on. I just don't want to get to 3rd year, be placed on a ward and be expected to know what I'm meant to be doing. Scary!
So this placement I'm on community with the district nurses. I love how it's building my confidence in talking to patients and increasing my clinical skills tenfold, however, I suppose I've had a bit of a culture shock seeing "how the other half live" so to speak. My immune system has taken a battering (I've already come down with a bit of a chest infection), and also, coming home with these (see pic) is definitely what I'd call an occupational hazard. The satisfaction from making someone feel better, look better and generally see improvements in their overall health massively outweighs the bad points though. I'm relieved to say I still love it and excited to see what the upcoming weeks will bring!