Posted on Sun 31 Jan 2021 at 15:51 by
Carrie Calvin Hello all,
I'm not quite sure how we are in semester 2 and 2021 already - I feel like time is going by so fast!
2020 was a difficult year for everyone, and certainly added challenges for student nurses. So far, it seems that some of those challenges are going to continue into 2021. However, I am so proud of each and every one of you that continues to juggle your personal responsibilities, university work, placement, employment, and the other various commitments we all have. We will be a generation of nurses that can say we trained during a pandemic, and we overcame every obstacle to succeed. Every single one of you has played a crucial role throughout, whether that be through placement, opting in, working bank shifts, or supporting your loved ones and colleagues throughout. I'm sure we can all agree that the whole experience continues to teach us a lot about ourselves, our peers and our loved ones, and I share in the hope that we will soon return to some form of normality.
Throughout semester one, it has been wonderful to meet so many students (albeit virtually). Thank you for your continued support and understanding throughout the time since I began my role. I would also like to thank all of the wonderful course reps that continue to find new and innovative ways to engage with their cohorts, and maintain the support they provide, despite not being able to meet physically. I hope to soon be meeting many of you in placement areas or, better yet, for a coffee on campus. However, until that is possible, remember that you are not alone and there are many services available to you if required, so please reach out for support.
Throughout semester 1, we received a lot of feedback from students, highlighting both concerns and positive elements. Thank you for continuing to raise these with me to enable me to work with the university academics to bring about positive change, and credit appreciation where it is deserved.
Semester 1 Progress:
- Regular meetings between myself and the course leads to maintain open communication channels to escalate concerns and highlight positive feedback.
- Monthly meetings between the course leads and course reps at Walsall Campus.
- Development and publication of a contact signposting list to help students to rectify issues/queries - this is available via CANVAS.
- The introduction of yellow background name badges enabling them to be easily read by service users.
- An increase of the uniform allowance for students.
- Development of a "Preparation for practice/what to expect in placement" session for first year students due to attend placement - this was really well received with lots of positive feedback so will now be implemented for future cohorts too!
- Discussions to increase the support provision for students with hopes that this will soon be implemented.
- Building increasingly proactive working relationships between the school reps, course leads, heads of nursing and other academics, to continue the progress we have made so far.
- Improvements based upon student feedback where needed, and positive feedback sent to the relevant individuals/teams to show appreciation.
Next Steps:
Throughout semester 2 and beyond, we plan to continue to build upon the developments we have made so far. We have lots of ideas to implement but if you have any ideas that you think would benefit your cohort and others, please contact me via email to discuss them. Please keep an eye out for developements regarding our ideas/initiatives as we hope to share news of them soon!
The Student Union award nominations will be opening soon, so get thinking about your peers, course reps or academic staff that you feel deserve recognition!
Thank you for taking the time to read my semester 1 summary, and I will provide another update soon.
Whether you are currently in placement or theory, please make sure you take some time for self-care. As always, please get in touch if there is anything I can do to support you.
Thank you again for your continued hard work!
Carrie :)