The paperwork’s completed and flights are booked, so I guess there’s no going back now…

This summer I am embarking on a rather exciting adventure to Lerwick in the Shetland Islands in aid of completing a 3-week elective placement as part of my nursing degree. While I’m in Shetland I thought it’d write a blog about what I get up to, and I’ll also be taking my camera with me as I’m hoping to capture the beauty of the Islands to share with you all too. I decided to write a blog because although sitting in uni lectures can teach you some things about nursing, the real learning comes from placements and meeting patients, and it’s important to reflect on these encounters. Hence why I’m writing a blog to help me get down my thoughts and feelings during my time up there as well as share any amusing tales.

Exactly 2 months from now I should be settled into my accommodation (although I probably won’t unpack for at least a week knowing me), have raided the local shops for supplies and be finding my bearings in the town before commencing my placement as a community nurse. I’ve been so lucky with how it has all panned out, and despite some panicked messages to my parents about unforeseen application deadlines and travel logistics, somehow it has all come together rather nicely.

I’m not the most intrepid of explorers, I get really stressed just getting on the local buses most of the time, so this is going to be a rather nerve-wracking experience for me. I will have to navigate airports, actually get on a plane and go to a place rather far away from home all by myself. This may not seem too taxing for most however for me it’ll be a real test, but I’m up for the challenge.

Having already done a community nursing placement in a large city, I have some idea of what to expect when it comes to the ailments I’ll be treating. Leg ulcers, palliative care and patients with long-term conditions like diabetes will all be on the cards. However, the difference will come in what resources there are to treat these and this is the main reason why I’m going to be doing this placement. After watching the BBC TV show ‘Island Medics’ I was amazed to see the level of care the services in Shetland could provide for patients, even those who were acutely unwell, without sending people over to more equipped hospitals on the mainland. Nurses in Shetland get to work to the limits of their registrations to provide specialist care for their patients, and I’m so excited to see the sorts of advanced skills I could one day be able to practice.

For now, I think that’s all I have to say about it until closer to the time, so I shall stop waffling and return to the revision that I am helpfully procrastinating from by writing this blog entry. I will write updates on Facebook whenever I post something new on here, so you get to see my adventures as and when they happen. I look forward to sharing them with you all 😊.

Freya xx