Hi! I’m Abbie and this is my first blog post! (This was written two weeks ago but due to technical difficulties it is only now being uploaded!)

I am an Adult Nursing Student about to start my 3rd year in September, which means going straight out onto our elective placement. I will be blogging throughout the placement when i get the opportunity.

As myself and 3 other students decided to travel abroad for this placement and we’re not entirely sure what to expect when we get there, I’ll be sharing what we all find and how it differs from placements here in the UK.

In just 3 days we will be making the long journey to Sri Lanka for our elective placement. There are 4 of us going from Stafford Campus and a 5th joining us the week after from the Shrewsbury Campus.

Truthfully, my reason for travelling abroad for this placement was because one of the girls going had decided way back in 1st year that she wanted to go abroad, and when it came to actually making the decision, we all decided we wanted to go to!

The costs seemed feasible, and we knew it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. It will be interesting to see how the healthcare system differs to here in the UK.

Not only that, we’ll be able to do a bit of travelling around Sri Lanka whilst we are there!

We chose the company Work the World as our tutors and other students had said that they had used this company before and they were reliable.

There were lots of places to choose from, from Cambodia, to Peru, to Tanzania. Prices ranged from £1340-£1890 plus a £300 fee when you first apply. On top of this we had to buy flights and save up some spending money, so cost is definitely something to consider if you’re thinking of going abroad for your elective.

We all set up a gofundme page and were able to raise some money through that, and I know the other girls were working a crazy amount of hours to afford it all, but we knew it would be worth it in the end.

On your elective placement, even as an adult nursing student, you can choose to visit any area, even midwifery or mental health areas, and so I’ve requested to spend two weeks on a General Surgery ward, and two weeks on Obstetrics and Gynecology to see some babies be born!

I’ll post some updates whilst we are there so keep a look out for future blog posts to see how we are all getting on!