Matt, here again, AKA professional blogger. I feel I have my nursing spark back!! I am going to put it down to all of the Nursing events I have been to of late and I feel energised and motivated to push on with my career, and quite possibly taking a different direction. It all started when I   took Flo on a trip to London for an overnight stay this week, it doesn’t take much to persuade my wife to have a little break away, with the promise of some sightseeing (London Eye, Tower Bridge and of course Selfridges) The main reason for our (my) trip; was so I could attend the RCN Foundation Care Home Summit . The full-day event was at the Royal College of Nursing in Marylebone, the programme consisted of some incredible speakers who gave a real insight into the issues surrounding the sector including the high rates of nursing vacancies and turnover. It was also aimed at supporting and strengthening nursing, and improving patient care. One thing that really struck a chord wi...

She’s finally flipped her lid!! It's been like something straight out of a Hollywood movie – with the bad guy being found out and getting their comeuppance! Let me tell you all about it...It all started after my days off. Carla had been planning my hen night alongside my personal development plan and word had got around the ward that Susan was retiring at the end of the month. It didn’t take Einstein to figure out that I was being prepped to go for the Band 6 opening that would leave, and almost everyone offered their help towards my development. I bet you can guess who wasn’t happy about it?! Since her particularly cruel words in the staff room, she seemed to be laying off me a little – I think she was scared I would spill my guts to Carla, but when she realised that all was good, she started to stick the knife in as per her usual whispered taunts and subtle jibes. To be fair, most of it rode well over my head as I was busy trying to keep up with all that Carla ha...

I’m thinking of changing my name…how does Whirlwind Writingale sound? Everything in my life is at full speed ahead at the moment and I’m not sure I can keep up! Matt is my biggest news this side of Christmas so far. He only went and proposed over a lasagne and a bottle of Rioja at our local Italian restaurant. I should’ve known it was a special occasion when he upgraded from our usual bottle of house red! He told me that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, his crazy, kind and outspoken ball of spunkiness. I wasn’t quite sure whether that was a compliment and all sorts of images whizzed through my head, but seeing the pure love in his eyes, I let it lie. Of course, my answer was a massive YES! My mother is over the moon as she was convinced that no-one would ever take me off her hands. She immediately got her laptop out and searched for ‘plus size bridal gowns’ – I though Matt was going to shut the laptop lid with her head in it!! So, my next bit of news is that ...

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ‘N’… Nurse ? More like Numpty... It’s been a painful week. Painful in every sense of the word. Let’s start with the physical pain element and get that out of the way. I nipped into my favourite bargain shop on the way home from work feeling quite smug and prepared for the cold snap that’s been screamed out of every radio station. It’s clearly time for 100 denier tights and I grabbed a couple of pairs for less than the price of a mega kebab with chilli sauce! Happy days!! And that was where the happiness ended. Fast forward 12 hours…stumbling round in the dark trying to get ready for work and I am knackered before I even run for the bus, wrestling into these bloody tights. I swear they must have been sized wrongly, as they wouldn’t fit an anorexic scarecrow. I look in the mirror (just to check I’m not severed at the midriff) and see a giant black pudding ring staring back at me – which reminds me that I haven’t got time (or ro...

Last week we said a final goodbye to Gramps, on what would have been his 67 th birthday. I’d never been to a funeral. I’ve been lucky enough not to have lost anyone from my family before, so this was a first for me, and despite the great sadness and sense of hollow loss, it was a beautiful service. I learnt so much about Gramps that I had never known. He’d had such a hard and tragic life that it was a wonder he kept smiling. He’d lost his Mum at 11 to bowel cancer, and then his Dad had died of a broken heart a couple of years later. He had two younger brothers who he’d tried to look after but they were eventually taken into care and he ran away, and stayed hidden until he was old enough to join the Army. He’d only found one of his brothers a few years before – he’d emigrated to Australia. They had reunited only once before Gramps left us. So sad… I remember looking at his memorial card with the dates of his birth and death. In the middle was this tiny little dash that signifie...

 I thought that when I took this job on a busy hospital ward I would turn into Miss Efficiency – someone who would go about her duties in an effective and productive manner, someone who gives the impression of being in total control. Haha!! How wrong was I? I’ve clearly been watching too many episodes of Casualty if I thought that I wasn’t going to be affected by the people I am caring for –I know in my heart that that’s what makes me a good nurse but I’m not sure that all of my new colleagues ‘get me’ yet or whether they will try to change that?   It all started at the beginning of the week when a new patient was admitted. He reminded me of my late Grandad, only he looked frightened and confused. His slippers looked as though they’d seen better days and he had food debris in his not-so-designer stubble. We’re quite used to patients looking not quite their best when they come to us, but what struck me about this man was the raw fear in his eyes. He wouldn’t le...

 I’ve just completed my first round of shifts and it’s been another of those whirlwind weeks. My first week as Staff Nurse Writingale in the NHS, and I’m not sure just how much I will remember, there’s been so much to take in. I couldn’t believe how quickly my new starter details were processed – I suppose it reflects just how desperate the NHS is for nurses. Before I’d had a chance to say ‘A pint of Old Peculiar and a toffee crisp chaser’, my DBS was through and my references received. All of a sudden, my conditional offer was honoured and I was officially on board. Scary but very exciting!  I’d forgotten how fast paced things were in the ward environment and how many people there are from the MDT who pop in and out. I’m not the best at remembering names so I’m sure I’ll get some things wrong! I won’t forget one of the Registrar’s names though. I was looking at some notes on the computer when he was paged. He picked the phone up and announced ‘ Dyer ‘ere’! I auto...

   Did you guess which one of the two fepic job offers I decided to take? Once I’d made my decision and made that all important call, I felt like the whole world had been lifted off my shoulders. The call seemed to go on forever as I scribbled down all of the things I needed to do next. In typical style for me, I couldn’t find anything to write on so had to make do with ripping apart a jaffa cake box and scribbling with my favourite eyebrow pencil – and of course, I couldn’t resist a couple of those jaffa beauties! There really is so much to do and they’re keen to get me started as soon as possible. They have provisionally pencilled my induction days in for 2 weeks time so I really need to get my ass in gear. I’ve got to take my documents in for my DBS to be processed. I’m pretty confident that I haven’t committed any crimes in the last year since I had my last one but apparently, it’s just protocol. My last DBS isn’t portable (whatever that m...