Your Nursing Survival Guide

OUR KNOWLEDGE IS YOURS

Your Guide to Surviving Nursing School

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WELCOME FIRST YEAR NURSING STUDENTS Congratulations! Your nursing journey starts today! The next few years will be a whirlwind of deadlines, late nights, coffee and stress mixed with a whole stack of fun, self- discovery and accomplishment. It might not always be easy, but never fear, we'll be by your side every step of the way. Here at Elsevier, it's our job to provide you with invaluable resources for nursing school that will help you not only pass, but excel. Trust us - we've been doing this for over 100 years! This Survival Guide has everything you need to deal with the highs and lows of nursing school. You'll find accumulated wisdom from fellow students, coupled with a taste of the unique, rich content that makes us the global leader in health and scientific information. Good luck, and enjoy the ride! - Elsevier

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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CONTENTS

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Page 1 – Nursing: A Career for Life

Everyone’s smart when you’re at med school Maintaining relationships helps you get through your degree and your career Next title Maintaining relationships helps An annotated Hippocratic oath Senior doctors see bits of themselves in you - Think like a junior doctor See one. Do one. Teach one. Page 5 - Top Tips for Acing your Clinical Placement Page 6 - Virginia Henderson's 14 Fundamental Human need Page 2 - Advice for Effective Communication Page 3 - Your Friends are K y Page 4 - The Art of Reflect ve Practice

So chill out!

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Page 7 - Why I Chose Nursing: A Student Perspective

Page 9 – The Florence Nightingale Pledge

Page 10 - Carry Pens! And Other Things I Learnt From my First Placement

Page 12 – Nursing in the Digital Age

Page 13 - Match the Stereotypes

Page 14 - Looking after You!

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NURSING: A CAREER FOR LIFE Nursing is a unique and wonderful career choice. It is a curious mix of technology and myth, of science and art, of reality and romance. It blends the concrete and the abstract. It combines thinking and doing, 'being with' and 'doing for'. Nurses have privileged access to people's homes and share some of the most precious and highly intimate moments in people's lives - moments that remain hidden from most other people and professions. Nurses witness birth and death, and just about everything in-between.*

*Extract from Contexts of Nursing, 5th Edition by John Daly, Sandra Speedy and Debra Jackson

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ADVICE FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Speak clearly and audibly Do not interrupt your patient Do not seem in a hurry Use silences to encourage explanations Do not use professional jargon Look for fears, anxieties and expectations Be patient Negotiate common goals

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YOUR FRIENDS ARE KEY!

In Nursing School, it's important to maintain and nurture solid relationships. When you're busy, and assessments are piling up, it can be tempting to lock yourself away. While that might be ok sometimes, remember that your class mates are some of your best assets. From someone to study with to someone to council you through your stress - they know better than anyone what you're going through! Plus, they're more than just people to share lecture notes with, they're your future colleagues and alies - so take care of each other!

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THE ART OF REFLECTIVE PRACTICE Callum Mitchell Berry - Elsevier Ambassador I might be the biggest advocate for writing you'll ever meet. I have enjoyed writing for as long as I can remember; I find my ability to express myself through the written word so much clearer than with speech. What's more, the overbearing perfectionist in me loves being able to edit things before they enter the world. So what follows probably has an inherent bias but I’d like you to read it anyway, because I think it carries some merit. In this article, I'm writing about writing, or more specifically, reflective practice. As you get further into your nursing study, you'll hear the term "reflective practice" being tossed around. To boil it down, reflective practice is essentially the act of writing about your experiences and reflecting on how you felt and acted, and what you could do better next time. It is particularly pertinent to healthcare professionals, whom often have to think and make decisions with great speed, leaving little time to analyse what they do and why they do it. intensive physiology classes, applying clinical manifestations to the body. It is not the case study on the patient presenting with COPD and pneumonia undergoing respiratory alkalosis due to her hyperventilation. It is not learning to recognise a ventricular fibrillation on an ECG or undertake a mental health assessment. Within our nursing training, it tends to be considered a soft skill. It is not the

One of the things I’ve found of most value about reflective practice is how much it helps me to clarify and understand my strengths and weaknesses. This is paramount to the work of a nurse. No one should be put at risk because we fail to identify where we fall short, or because we don’t know when to ask for help. If I can write down, in clear words, that I have weaknesses that I must address, those weaknesses become tangible to me and are at the forefront of my mind when I am confronted with them again. In short, by knowing my enemy, I am able to develop an effective battle-plan. Given the nature of our work, the act of reflection has the added benefit of being cathartic. Nurses, like many healthcare professionals, are confronted every day with the stark brutalities of life and death. Holding the burden of caring for people during what is often the worst time of their lives, is a difficult task—and while I don’t think that writing about one’s experiences is the silver bullet against the stress and anxiety that can creep into our lives all too readily, being able to step back from our experiences and analyse them can help us get out of our own heads. Self-expression is a priceless tool. It is too often the case, that those of us working in health forget to look after ourselves. There are a number of models for reflective practice, all with varying methods and levels of depth: Gibbs, Kolb, Borton. I implore you to go out and find one that works for you. My call to arms is this: go out and write down your experiences and dissect them. Perform surgery on your actions: pull them apart and stitch them back together, and know that in the future, they will be better.

But it is valuable nonetheless.

While we as nurses need this vast reserve of specialised knowledge and skills to know how to best care for our patients, our analysis of what we have learnt is imperative in the safe use and honing of that knowledge.

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Tracy Levett-Jones' Top Tips for Acing your Clinical Placement

1. Make your own health and wellbeing your first priority

2. Always volunteer to take the "difficult" patient

3. Make empathy a deliberate practice

4. Be brave

5. Know that it won't be easy, but it will be worth it

Learn more about how to approach your first Clinical Placement from Tracy Levett-Jones, author of The Clinical Placement: An Essential Guide for Nursing Students, 4e

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VIRGINIA HENDERSON'S 14 FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN NEEDS 1. breathe normally 2. eat and drink adequately 3. eliminate body wastes 4. move and maintain desirable postures 5. sleep and rest 6. select suitable clothes—dress and undress

7. maintain body temperature within normal range by adjusting clothing and modifying the environment 8. keep the body clean and well groomed and protect the integument 9. avoid dangers in the environment and avoid injuring others 10. communicate with others in expressing emotions, needs, fears, or opinions 11. worship according to one’s faith 12. work in such a way that there is a sense of accomplishment 13. play or participate in various forms of recreation 14. learn, discover, or satisfy the curiosity that leads to normal development and health and use the available health facilities.

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WHY I CHOSE NURSING - A STUDENT'S PERSPECTIVE Jacinta McKay - Elsevier Ambassador

To be brutally honest, I didn't want to be a nurse when I finished high school. I applied for paramedicine and nursing was my back up. I chose to go with nursing as I got in close to home and knew I could easily transfer over to paramedicine, or worst case scenario finish nursing and then do paramedicine. Over time my career goals changed. I completed a year of my degree at one university then transferred to a combined arts and nursing degree majoring in history. Early in my first year, I realised that nursing was where I was supposed to be. The choices that lead me to nursing and the reasons it attracted me weren't clear, even to me, until I realised what nursing was. To someone who hadn’t spent a lot of time in hospitals and knew nursing from

Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs, I thought I would just go to work, be told what to do by a doctor and then go home. I realised many things in my first year of nursing that are impossible to learn until you find yourself in the thick of it on your first placement. So instead of writing about why I chose to start my nursing degree, I'll tell you what I have learnt about nursing and why I chose to stay in my nursing degree. Firstly, I learnt that being there for someone else is also beneficial to you. TV shows are horrible at showing the nurse-patient relationship, instead they tend to make the patient a problem to solve. But when you find yourself in a room with a person who’s life has been turned upside down because of their health, you realise that nursing is more than problem-solving. It's not just

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about helping people get better, it’s also quite often about helping them deal with not getting better. Being able to help someone at their lowest point is beneficial to both parties, and that is truly a gift. Secondly, I learnt that nursing could help me grow tremendously. It allowed me to see the suffering of others and it has shown me the power of empathy. Nursing is more than just physical assistance, it allows someone to experience an illness without being sick. I started my degree when I was only 17, now at 21 I am an entirely different person because of the lessons I have learnt from the people I have cared for. Finally, I chose to stay in my nursing degree because of the satisfaction I feel after finishing work as a nurse. The fulfilment that you get on the way home from a day of helping people is enough to help you sleep soundly at night and wake up excited for the day ahead. I initially picked nursing to eventually move onto something else. Now I choose to continue nursing because of the rewarding career paths I can take. I can help people in Australia, Afghanistan, England, Syria or any other place in the world. Upon completion of

my degree, I will have a skill that will allow me to do good both on the other side of the world and in my own backyard. It’s easy to say, “I chose nursing so I can help people” but it’s a lot harder to actually do it. Nursing isn’t and will never be easy, but after the experience my degree has given me, I can't imagine doing anything else. A degree in nursing is a lot more than just following doctors’ orders, it’s an opportunity to grow as a person and learn tangible skills to help others. The degree you are about to start will afford you so many valuable life lessons that will help you on the path to a career you will love.

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THE FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE PLEDGE - 1893

I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practise my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping, and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavour to aid the physician in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.

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CARRY PENS! AND OTHER THINGS I LEARNT FROM MY FIRST PLACEMENT Callum Mitchell Berry - Elsevier Ambassador

1. What on earth a call bell sounds like.

3. Carry a pen! Carry 600 pens!!

Now it sounds ridiculous, but it’s those tiny details that get taken for granted and subsequently missed. Which is precisely what led me to standing in the middle of a hallway like a deer in headlights thinking what on earth is that beeping?! It can take a little bit of adjusting to get used to the hospital environment: there are so many new sights, sounds, smells. So heads up, try to be a bit less daft than I was and find out what the call bell sounds like early on.

I am a firm believer in the idea that you can never have too many pens. Of course, they will absolutely all run out at once, but there are only so many safeguards you can apply. At least everything’s going electronic now though, right? For many years now, nurses have been Australia’s most trusted profession. This is actually reflected in the way the patients treat you. Sometimes you’ll have trouble getting the oxygen saturation because your patient’s hands are too cold, and some- times you just won’t be able to find a pulse. Don’t be scared of your patients - they want the same thing as you do; for them to recover. They won’t mind if you fumble a little, or take a bit longer than the RNs. They know that if you don’t practice, you won’t learn. 5. Bringing food for everyone to the break room is always a good idea. Seriously! Healthcare is such hard work! A little something to fuel everyone will not only get you in everyone’s good books, but more importantly, will show them how appreciative you are for everything they’re teaching you. 4. Your patients really will be patient.

2. Carry scissors. And tape.

I can guarantee you that there will be a point where you, or somebody around you, will need them, and they’ll be lost in that giant black hole that contains all the lost bobby pins and pens too. Speaking of which…

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6. That I wasn’t going to kill anyone!

8. It will be so difficult.

I was so anxious doing my first set of obs! Of course, I wanted to get everything perfect, but I think it helps to step back and think about what you’re doing. Stay calm, and remember that if you’re too nervous, you’re probably going to be a bit less accurate in what you’re doing. Try to relax, because by the end of the week (maybe even the shift) you’ll be so much more confident in your skills! Getting on the ward for the first time is the perfect time to consolidate all the skills that you’ve learned. Blood pressures, ECGs, handovers, there’s so much to do! But it can be all too easy to forget about some of the soft skills that we learn too. So, if you have a free moment, have a chat with some of your patients and check if they need anything. Sometimes, all someone wants is someone who’ll listen, and maybe a cup of tea. 7. A little kindness goes a long way.

You’ll see some really tough things. You might even see people die. You might cry. You might need to have forty minute showers each day when you get home so that you can make sense of everything you saw, like I did. But, in saying that…

9. It will be so much fun.

You will feel so empowered knowing that you are using the skills you’ve learnt, and knowing that even so early on, you’re already helping people and making a difference.

10. That this is what I’m meant to do.

It sounds corny, I know, but as soon as I actually got into the hospital and interacted with patients, other nurses, families, doctors, pharmacists, social workers and everyone else, I really knew that nursing was my calling. I cherished the patient interactions, I adored learning from the RNs and I was exhilarated by the problem solving I had to employ to navigate each of my days there.

1 glass of oats 1/2 glass of peanut butter 1/3 glass of honey 1 glass of coconut chips 1/2 glass of ground flaxseed 1/2 glass of mini chocolate chips 1 teaspoon of vanilla METHOD * Mix everything, let it rest for 1 / 2h and roll into a ball BRAIN BALLS Or any nut butter

GREEN HORNET SMOOTHIE 1 tablespoon of natural yogurt ½ pineapple 4 leaves of curly cabbage 1 handful of spinach leaves

1 glass of coconut juice 4-5 leaves of spearmint Lemon or zest

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Nursing in the Digital Age

posted using social media, often led to disciplinary processes, legal proceedings, exclution from university and termination of employment. Derogatory comments about fellow students, patients, staff or healthcare institutions, when discussed online, may breach university and healthcare codes of conduct. The AHPRA social media guidelines help health professionals and health students to understand their obligations when using social media* *Taken from The Clinical Placement: An Essential Guide for Nursing Students, 4e

The increasing use of social media as a means of communication presents many legal and ethical issues in nursing education and clinical practice.

What might be considered harmless chat or gossip has, when

DID YOU KNOW...

27% of nurses admit to using social media to share stories about working life.

41% of nurses say colleagues from their ward have used social media inapproriately.

32% of these posts contained information about patients.

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12% of the posts contained photographs of patients.

THROUGHOUT YOUR NURSING CAREER, YOU'LL ENCOUNTER A RANGE OF DIFFERENT HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS. BUT HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THESE UNIQUE CHARACTERS? HAVE A STAB AT MATCHING THE BELOW DOCTORS WITH THEIR STEREOTYPE!

The carpenters of the medical world: they are as comfortable with hammers, scissors and saws as they are with stethoscopes

This doctor is paternalistic and kindly, with a penchant for corduroy jackets and elbow patches.

PATHOLOGIST

This jack-of-all-trades is addicted to adrenaline - the faster the pace, the better!

SURGEON

These are the vampires of the medical world: give them blood and a dark room and they're happy!

EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN

PAEDIATRITION

This doctor is cute and cuddly, with a permanent smile and a small koala attached to their stethoscope.

GENERAL PRACTITIONER

GENERAL PRACTISIONER

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We can be heros - David Bowie Survivor - Destiny's Child I'll sleep when I'm dead - Bon Jovi How to save a life - The Fray We can work it out - The Beatles Shake it off - Taylor Swift I wanna be sedated - The Ramones NURSING STUDENT PLAY LIST

LOOKING AFTER YOU!

Physical and psychological risks to nurses can be many and varied. From the stress of dealing with patients and there loved ones, to the risks that come with this important job, self-care is essential. The key to minimising these risks is managing stress and maintaining wellness, such as through work-life balance and appropriate nutrition, exercise and sleep. Where necessary, seeking appropriate support both within and outside your organisation, can also help maintain an overall sense of wellbeing.* *Exract from

Potter and Perry's Fundamentals of Nursing, 5th Edition

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Have you downloaded NurseGuide yet?! As a nursing student, you may find it challenging to deal with medical jargon, terminologies, and procedures. NurseGuide is here to help. Our extensive dictionary list of nursing terms and definitions will be your go-to guide for all your nursing doubts

• Look up 12,000+ jargons, terms and abbreviations • Accessible both online and offline • Browse through fundamental procedures to prepare you for clinical rounds • Stay ahead of the game and familiarise yourself through clinical conditions • All content is developed and reviewed by Elsevier's team of experts

Trust us - we've been doing this for over 100 years!

Download now:

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The Elsevier Ambassador Program

The Elsevier Ambassador Program is back for another year! In 2019, we’re recruiting nursing students to share their unique and creative perspectives on student life. We're looking for fresh and creative ways of sharing your tips, experiences and recommendations with your peers. This may be in the form of videos, photos, podcasts, memes, gifs, art - anything that allows you to tell a story.

In return, you’ll receive a byline, Elsevier book credit and endless bragging rights!

Ready to hit play? If this sounds like something you’d like to be involved in, we’d love to have you on board! Complete the application form now!

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This skeleton is anatomically correct...

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Our knowledge is at your fingertips. For more information on how to excel in your Nursing degree and beyond, visit our Nursing Destination Site and discover the books and learning resources your lecturers have set. Or, browse hundreds of world-renowned nursing texts online now at the Elsevier Bookstore: www.elsevierhealth.com.au

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