Can you give me some tips for surviving in practice

Clare Marsh — Sat, 27 Apr 2024 18:16:51 GMT

Hello all,

I’m a first-year diploma student nurse, having started in September. I’m getting on well - so everyone tells me - and starting to feel like I’m able to contribute as part of the nursing team. I do solo anaesthetics and feel like I’m pulling my weight during kennels shifts and the occasional consult shift, but I’ve found recently that it’s getting to be a lot. We’re a busy first opinion hospital and we’ve been through a bad patch recently - new computer system to master, lots of staff off - and I’ve been getting to the end of the day exhausted. I might be on my feet for 8 hours, and I’m terrible at taking my full half-hour lunch break because I’m worrying about my colleagues and am desperate to get back to helping out. I also struggle to hydrate properly when it’s busy and finishing the day with a thumping headache is quite common. I even found myself envying the smokers who have their nicotine fix to help them out! (I’m a life-long non-smoker and have no wish to start, but for the first time I can see the attraction.) I also find myself reaching for sugary snacks to keep going, although in the whole my diet is a lot better than a lot my colleagues, judging my the number of Deliveroo riders who turn up…

All of that is to say, does anyone have any tips for keeping body and soul together when it’s getting hard? I’ve been warned numerous times that I need to pace myself or I’ll burn out, but I hate seeing my team struggle and want to do as much as I can for them.

Fiona Peacock's Groups Activities

Can you give me some tips for surviving in practice