Q&A with Second Year Mental Health Student Nurse.

OP

Hi,
I'm thinking of firming my offer for UClan and was just wondering how you find the placements for mental health?
Do you find the mentors helpful and the uni supportive?
I've heard the placements are great for UClan you see.
Thanks

Hi there

Sorry for the delayed reply, TSR didn't show me you'd replied to this thread. But anyhow :smile:

The placements I have been on have been absolutely wonderful. Great staff, great mentors, lots of learning experiences and extra learning opportunities!
The staff including mentors try teach you as much as possible, and are always there to help if you need anything.
Some others on my course have had some not so good placements (which you're bound to get everywhere tbh).
This has included mentors who just couldn't be bothered, not getting students involved, not learning anything etc.
But everyone who mentioned it to the uni had it sorted out no problem - moved placements, had meetings with trust employees etc about it.
I think it's a learning curve though - seeing the bad practice, the bad mentors and bad attitudes etc makes you want to strive to not be like that when you qualify, and better yourself so you don't end up like that! Throughout placement we constantly get emails and updates off the placement support team and they come visit placements on a rota basis, but you can book in for them to come and see you if you needed to. So all in all, the support is very good - I'd say :tongue:

Reply 41

upagumtree

12

Original post by rachaelftw

Hi there

Sorry for the delayed reply, TSR didn't show me you'd replied to this thread. But anyhow :smile:

The placements I have been on have been absolutely wonderful. Great staff, great mentors, lots of learning experiences and extra learning opportunities!
The staff including mentors try teach you as much as possible, and are always there to help if you need anything.
Some others on my course have had some not so good placements (which you're bound to get everywhere tbh).
This has included mentors who just couldn't be bothered, not getting students involved, not learning anything etc.
But everyone who mentioned it to the uni had it sorted out no problem - moved placements, had meetings with trust employees etc about it.
I think it's a learning curve though - seeing the bad practice, the bad mentors and bad attitudes etc makes you want to strive to not be like that when you qualify, and better yourself so you don't end up like that! Throughout placement we constantly get emails and updates off the placement support team and they come visit placements on a rota basis, but you can book in for them to come and see you if you needed to. So all in all, the support is very good - I'd say :tongue:

What sort of areas have you worked in? Have you had a good range of different experiences? Also, pardon my ignorance but I'm from the far north, where is UCLan?

Reply 42

rachaelftw

OP

17

Original post by upagumtree

What sort of areas have you worked in? Have you had a good range of different experiences? Also, pardon my ignorance but I'm from the far north, where is UCLan?

Hi there

Haha, don't worry about it!
UCLan is the Unicersity of Central Lancashire.
It's based in the city of Preston :biggrin:

My placements have been-
Memory Assessment Service (dementia)
-The base for this was also on the ground floor below 2 dementia wards, so I got to go spend some time on there too, which was good for me.
North Lancs Recovery Team (stable mental illness)
-Anyone with a serious but stable mental illness who is getting back out into the community and based a lot around social inclusion. We did get to see people relapsing thought and seeing how they can go back to being unwell in such a short time. Lots to learn.
Acute Psyhciatric Male Ward
-This was by far my favourite placement. I love the idea of working on a ward, so I loved this. It was good being part of such a big team who all worked together. And I love how you get to spend more time with patien'ts and get more personal.
Complex Care and Treatment Team
-This was another community based placement where you basically work with the Community Mental Health Team and try and get service users back on track. Maintain their progress. Keep up with medication reviews and Doctor's appointments. I also got to go and spend some time in the depot clinic and got to administer anti-psychotic medication to patient's in the form of an injection. This was good because it helps keep on top on my injection technique because I don't get to practice it much so that's good :biggrin:

Reply 43

amyc123

9

Do you know of any good resources for an adult nurse starting work in the ED?

I have a little bit of MH experience but feel I need to know more when qualified :/

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Reply 44

gevdb

Can you tell me how much 'personal care' (i.e. bathing and dressing patients ect) is envolved in being a MH nurse? Just want to know what to expect. Thanks

Reply 45

deviant182

15

Original post by gevdb

Can you tell me how much 'personal care' (i.e. bathing and dressing patients ect) is envolved in being a MH nurse? Just want to know what to expect. Thanks

There's no need to repost the same question, give people time.
But like all branches, there is always going to be aspects of personal care and if you cannot deal with this then nursing is not the career to go in to.
A student nurse is expected to cover the basics, such as personal care, making beds etc and you will do a lot of this throughout your 3 years of training and beyond.

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Reply 46

amyc123

9

Original post by gevdb

Can you tell me how much 'personal care' (i.e. bathing and dressing patients ect) is envolved in being a MH nurse? Just want to know what to expect. Thanks

What is it with people bothering about personal care? Personal care is part of nursing!

Reply 47

gevdb

Original post by deviant182

There's no need to repost the same question, give people time.
But like all branches, there is always going to be aspects of personal care and if you cannot deal with this then nursing is not the career to go in to.
A student nurse is expected to cover the basics, such as personal care, making beds etc and you will do a lot of this throughout your 3 years of training and beyond.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Hi, thanks for getting back to
Me. When I reloaded the page to check if someone had responded the question was posted again so I applogise for that. I have no problem with this aspect of nursing what so ever but simply wanted to ask the question so I know what to expect. Thanks.

Reply 48

Cuetot

Hi there! I'm a spanish nurse and i was thinking of doing my children mental health placement in lancaster, do you know if that part is working fine there? could you reccomend a good place to do the practice?
Thanks a lot!!

Reply 49

MollieC15

Hi, I will be starting mental health nursing in march at edge hill, and just wanted to read more about the placements and was just wondering what kind of duties and responsibilities are involved within the placements? :smile:

Reply 50

maisie1957

5

Original post by MollieC15

Hi, I will be starting mental health nursing in march at edge hill, and just wanted to read more about the placements and was just wondering what kind of duties and responsibilities are involved within the placements? :smile:

Hey there I am starting mental health nursing in March too, do you live local, how old are you if you dont mind me asking!!

Reply 51

MollieC15

Original post by maisie1957

Hey there I am starting mental health nursing in March too, do you live local, how old are you if you dont mind me asking!!

Hey, I live in Liverpool and I'm 18, but I'll be 19 when I start☺️

Reply 52

maisie1957

5

Original post by MollieC15

Hey, I live in Liverpool and I'm 18, but I'll be 19 when I start☺️

Brill, see you in March :smile:

Reply 53

Hopefullyanurse

Hi do you do a foundation year and then decide what area to work in or do you have to decide an area of nursing when applying. Also do you get proper training on things like injection techniques and taking blood etc at university ( that part terrifies me lol). Also have burserys stopped?

Reply 54

Charlotte's Web

21

Original post by Hopefullyanurse

Hi do you do a foundation year and then decide what area to work in or do you have to decide an area of nursing when applying. Also do you get proper training on things like injection techniques and taking blood etc at university ( that part terrifies me lol). Also have burserys stopped?

Bursaries in England have now stopped. You need to decide on either Adult, Mental Health, Learning Disability or Children's nursing when you apply via UCAS. This needs to be supported by relevant work experience or volunteering in or closely related to the area you are applying for. You don't choose a specific area to work in until you apply for jobs in the final year of your degree.

You will be given theoretical training on these skills, and also sometimes do online modules or clinical simulation before you are expected to do them in practice. Even then, you must not do anything you do not feel competent in. There is no way you would be asked to do these things without proper training as this is a patient safety issue.