Sunday 20-11-2022 - 09:00

University can be an amazing experience, but it can also be difficult.

 

For a lot of students at Edge Hill, it’s not just all about exams and essays they have to worry about, but also the prospect of upcoming placements and work experience.

 

If you have felt like this (or are currently feeling like this), please read on. Trust me - you are not alone!

 

My Experience as a Student Nurse 

 

As a student nurse and social worker, who is also a mother, daughter, and carer I have felt the pressure of juggling life as an adult learner. 

 

Starting my first placement was nerve-wracking. It’s hard enough for students to balance their studies with their day-to-day lives. The combination of stress from my home life, trying to memorise all my literature and lecture slide, with the added experience of going into a new environment with strangers who have been on the job for many years was often overwhelming.

 

Sometimes I finished shifts feeling like an imposter, scared to go back the next day and face a possible failure. I put a lot of pressure on myself and often forgot the most important thing about placements: I am there to make mistakes and learn from them.

 

And other times, it was less about what I was doing or not doing and more about culture on the wards. 

 

Whilst staff and patients were generally friendly, all it takes when you’re nervous is one person to make you feel like you don’t belong. A throwaway comment or a roll of the eyes may feel small in the moment, but if you’re a new student on a ward with veteran professionals, it can make you feel disempowered.

 

Students in that situation would be right in feeling like this is not how our teachers should be making us feel.

 

Reflections for Students Going on Placement

 

Placements are often a transformative experience. Your work experience has the potential to be an incredibly fulfilling part of your University journey. 

 

However, if you experience or have experienced any kind of stress, feelings of isolation, or imposter syndrome, I have some advice. 

 

Firstly, it’s important to remember while on placement that you’re entering a workplace which has its own pressures and stresses. Throwaway comments are often less about you and more about other staff members’ own experiences and worries. This is not to say you should accept being belittled but remember that one comment is not indicative of your value in the workplace.

 

And secondly, remember that placements are not forever. Not all placements will be awful, and one bad day at the beginning doesn’t mean it won’t get better. There will be some placements where you’ll will be sad to leave, but others you will be glad to put it behind you! That’s natural, and it’s all part of the learning experience.

 

The important part is being able to identify what experiences are temporary, and what situations require support from your peers and from staff.

 

One issue I found worrying was the stigma of asking for help, which is a massive issue in Health Social Care and Medicine professions. 

 

Medical students have reported they feel they have to be “invincible”, caused by unhelpful work culture. Similarly in nursing and allied health care professions, there have been issues of intimidation if a nurse displays behaviours which are seen as undesirable. 

 

Such cultures are especially toxic when you add relatively unexperienced students into the mix. They can cause us to blame ourselves and feel shame in what are actually reasonable responses to being confronted with negative attitudes. 

 

We feel we should be more “resilient” and be able “cope”. Resilience is an important trait for anyone going on placement, but alongside that we also need support to deal with what we are exposed to.

 

Good Advice

 

I spoke with Dr Kathryn Drury, Associate Dean Student Experience & Quality Enhancement at Edge Hill University. Dr Drury had a successful career as a nurse. She told me that while training, she went through an event involving cardiac arrest. As a third-year nursing student when this happened, she was that she found the situation hard to deal with and felt she should not still be finding this difficult. 

 

The advice Kathryn was given in that moment is the same advice she offers to students today. 

 

Kathryn said: “If I ever get used to it, I should give up nursing as I would have lost my compassion. Coping is not a sign that you have stopped feeling. It means that you have developed ways to process emotions and address the physical impact, to acknowledge what has happened, process it and move through it”.

 

This is true for all our experiences on placement. One way we can acknowledge, process and work through our emotions in response to these events is to talk about it with someone. We need and deserve support!

Support available

In the coming days, I will launch my consultation investigating the experiences of Health, Social Care & Medicine students on placement.  

 

In the meantime, if you are on placement and you’d like some extra support, you should in the first instance contact your placement support lead, personal tutor, programme lead or academic assessor. 

 

If you’re feeling stressed, or if your placement and university experience is having a negative impact on your health, you should book an appointment with the Wellbeing team at Edge Hill University.

 

If you need to raise an issue, you can also contact our Advice Team. The Students’ Union advisors are independent from the university and will support you through any disputes or complaints. 

 

This article was contributed by Health, Social Care & Medicine President Doreen Morrin.