These bikes started as part of my leadership module where I wanted to introduce a change. I have a keen interest in health and fitness going back to my BSc in sports science, so I looked at an area of health currently overlooked within the School and wider NHS. Getting inspiration from a recent BBC documentary on the truth about getting fit I came across the idea of exercise bike located within the school at a fitness tool. Based on short duration Height intensity interval training (HIIT) that could be done while staff and students are in the building and that required minimal time or preparation.

I was able to discuss this with our School’s Dean, Ann Ewens and colleauges from Universitys campus life, and the Sir Stanley Matthews Sports Centre in Stoke who provided the bikes. My aim now is to monitor how much these bike are used and what benefits they are providing. Ultimately removing the excuses form why we don’t do enough exercise when all we need is a few minutes 3 times a week.

Mickie Donnelly, Paramedic Lecturer

I graduated from Staffordshire University with a degree in adult nursing in 2013.

The three year course flew by with 50% theory at the University and 50% practice placements. Throughout my time there, I felt highly supported by engaging, experienced and passionate nursing lecturers. The faculty of health skills labs provided a comfortable environment for practicing new clinical skills for the first time in preparedness for placement. The university work very closely with different placement areas and provided a great combination of experiences for me towards my transition to becoming a registered nurse.

Since becoming a registered nurse, I have progressed within the specialist field of Infection Prevention and Control; I am currently working as a senior Infection Prevention and Control nurse for acute and community services. I love my role, no two days are the same and I get to work with a variety of staff towards delivering high quality patient care with a vision that no person is harmed be a preventable infection.

The teaching of skills and core nursing values at Staffordshire University set a high standard and on reflection have contributed towards the way I work and teach in my role to colleagues and students. The skills labs inspired me to develop practical teaching sessions in infection prevention which I won an award for as a new Infection Prevention and Control nurse. Along with my team colleagues we have also been shortlisted for National awards in Infection prevention.

I’ve had the honour of returning to the university’s centre of excellence as a guest lecturer teaching on the pre-registration nursing degree. I’m in disbelief at what has been achieved in the last 5 years of my nursing career and I feel so grateful that it all started at Staffs.

Amy Basford, BSc Adult Nursing Graduate, Staffordshire University 

I began my career in 2014 as a student paramedic within the ambulance service.

After 2 years I’d reached a stage where I was prepared for further development so in 2016 I started a Paramedic Science degree program at Staffordshire University. I hadn’t studied or been in a classroom environment since finishing college many years prior; however the lecturers were really supportive. They used their own personal experiences as Paramedics to assist us during the course, and helped us put our theory into practice whilst on placement.

There were a few skills that as a student it was difficult to fully experience on placement, however this wasn’t as issue and didn’t delay my development as there was plenty of opportunities to apply the skills in the well-equipped practical labs.

It wasn’t simple completing a degree, working and juggling a social life but it was made easier by the support of the lecturers at Staffs Uni. I made some lifelong friends during my time here; not to mention the encouragement and positive vibes given by the staff and my mentors on placement. They’ve helped me achieve my lifelong ambition of being a paramedic.

In this line of work every day is different and at times challenging, every day is a school day but I honestly believe I have the best job in the world”

 Katie Hill, Graduate Paramedic

I graduated with a degree in Social Work in 2015.

I found the course and the content really useful during my studies. In my first year I had a placement with the YMCA which enabled me to get to grips working in an environment containing such and diverse range of people; it really consolidated my communication skills!

I feel the course really helped prepare me for working life and since graduation I’ve been involved in a wide variety of projects.

I have co-wrote and presented some peer reviewed work at an international conference for social work and psychology and also returned to Staffordshire University as a guest lecturer discussing the “voice of service users”. I’ve spoken at several other Universities and delivered conferences and training sessions to social work professionals.

Contribution to a variety of academic text books with renowned researchers, becoming a care leaver ambassador for the North West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership and most recently becoming a supervising Social Worker for independent fostering agency- Match Foster Care; I’ve achieved so much during both my time at the University and after graduation!

Laura Newman, Social Work Graduate

I started my Adult Nursing degree course at Staffordshire University in 2013.

The lecturers, as experienced nurses, were knowledgeable and supportive so I felt prepared for my first placement which was in a community hospital.

On that first placement, and then in the variety of other clinical areas I experienced (theatres, wards, GP practice & District Nursing) I was supported by lecturers, tutors and clinical mentors to develop my nursing skills and seize learning opportunities.

Between time spent at University and on clinical placements, it was definitely busy – but hugely rewarding! As a Student Nurse you’re in a unique position with a lot of patient contact and so you are able to get a direct insight into what nursing is all about. After spending so much time together during during the course, I’ve also made some lifelong friends.

When it came time to choosing where I would like to work once I qualified, I had a difficult time deciding as I had had such good experiences in all of my placements. I qualified in 2016 and my first job was as a Staff Nurse in the Emergency Department. Although it’s challenging at times, it’s a great place to work, there’s really nowhere like it. That led me on to my current role as an Acute Kidney Injury & Sepsis Nurse. Each day brings new opportunities to enhance patient care – I’m really enjoying it!

Clare Donnelly, Graduate Nurse

My name is Natalie and I am a second year student midwife. I will be briefly sharing some information with you on what to expect upon starting your midwifery journey.

As you may know our course is not like no ordinary degree where you are in university for three times a week. The midwifery degree is a full-time course divided into 50% academic learning and 50% practical learning. In the academic learning you will be in university Monday to Friday and expected to attend every lecture in line with the NMC requirements of our degree. Theory will enable you to gain the knowledge, understanding and skills required as a midwife and practical learning will give you the opportunity to gain hands on experience of being a midwife.

Recently staffs have changed how our placements are structured. We are now on block placements where you will be in practice for approximately 6 weeks working 37.5 hours per week. Placements hours can vary depending on where you are based clinically. For example, you could work 8 hours a day if you are on community placement or a 12 hour shifts when based in the hospital. Prior to going out into practice we have days in the university skills lab where we learn how to undertake various skills such as blood pressure, urinalysis, abdominal palpation, adult resuscitation, venepuncture and many more. I love skills day!!. I would say make the most of the opportunities you have on these days, don’t be afraid to ask questions, don’t be afraid to try a certain skill more than twice until you feel happy about it. I say this because after you have been trained in university you are then able to undertake these skills in practice in the discretion of your mentor, who you are required to work with 40% of your placement block.

A big tip when on placement buy plenty of black pens, they will become your best friend. When you “borrow” pens out ensure you get them back or they will be gone forever!! So remember pens are a necessity!!

I have two children and prior to starting my degree I ensured that I had the adequate support from my family and friends as I knew that this degree was going to be full time and demanding. I would give the same advice to those who have children and to those who don’t, supportive family and friends is a key on this degree. Ensure that you use your cohort for support too I know that my cohort are so supportive of each other and they are amazing as we are all going through this journey together.

Any problems or concerns do not forget your lecturers and personal tutor, they are very approachable and want to help and support you through this process too.

Finally, I hope I have not put any of you off, yes this is a full time degree, no it is not easy, yes I know that when most of your friends are out on the weekend and your on a 12 hour shift. However, you can have time out for yourself and have a social life too, yes this is the most amazing and rewarding career and most of all enjoy this journey. I am absolutely loving it and cannot wait to qualify as a midwife next year.

Natalie Haven, 2nd Year Midwifery Student.

Adventure, excitement and diversity are only 3 of the things the life of a student paramedic brings. The facilities at Staffs University are second to none and provide us students with the opportunity to practice paramedic skills in a safe environment before being  placement where you get to put these skills into place in the public responding to real 999 emergency all across the West Midlands. The paramedic science course at Staffordshire University is the best programme offered across the west midlands to go on to be a paramedic, meeting new people everyday and being the first point of contact for people at the hardest times of their lives. If you think you have what it takes, apply for Paramedic Science at Staffordshire university. #proudtobestaffs

Mark Wilson, 1st year Paramedic Student, Staffordshire University

If you are a health and social care student who has contact with vulnerable patients/clients then yes you should get your annual influenza vaccine.
If you are eligible because you have a long-term condition, are pregnant or registered carer of a person you look after (not employed carer) your GP surgery or local vaccinating pharmacy will provide this for you free of charge.

Hospital and Community Trusts are hosting clinics provided by local occupational health service providers and certainly student nurses & ODPs can access this service for free. Trusts also have teams of ‘roving’ staff who will vaccinate out of hours.
I am sure similar will be available for social care sector, ambulance services and social work students.

Remember it is important to get vaccinated early in the season, before a patient/client has the chance to share with you or you with them. Equally you could take it home to your nearest and dearest. Flu is not a pleasant illness to have and may have serious consequences in the longer term.

More information can be found in:
The National Influenza Immunisation Programme 2017/18
Information for Health Care Practitioners about the use of the inactivated influenza vaccine.

Click to access Inactivated_influenza_vaccine_information_for_healthcare_practitioners.pdf

Check your eligibility and make your appointment early before you are too late!
Some health and social care university employees may be eligible depending on their interaction with health care environments, notification about this expected shortly.

If you want to protect yourself then a number of pharmacy chains and supermarket pharmacies will be able to administer a flu vaccine for a small fee (TESCO £9 plus loyalty card points! – other supermarkets are available)

I’ve had mine, have you had yours?

Sharon

I am finally in my last week I Ghana, time seems to have flown by now that I am days away from going home.
My time on the children’s ward was a good experience, I managed to see a lot and learn how nursing care is carried out.
We are able to do spoke placements while we are here, and one that is popular with other students is the mother and baby HIV clinic which is on a Wednesday, I have been to this clinic twice now and plan to go back tomorrow as I have really enjoyed my experience there. All patients attending the clinic has to have their height and weight checked and also blood pressure, as soon as I arrived there on my first day they put me in a room and I was to do the blood pressures, this is always done manually and I can only describe it as a conveyor belt of patients coming to have their blood pressure checked and written down on a scrap peice of cardboard. This has helped me a great deal with my manual blood pressure skills and I feel a lot more confident now. The mother’s and babies sit in the waiting area and a nurse speaks to them about HIV and the medication required, nutrition and family planning. They were very kind and spoke in English so I could understand, the relationship between the nurse and the mother’s was incredible, they had a bond and it was kept quite light hearted even though it is a serious subject. They then go to collect their medication and some babies have the blood spot test done to see if they have HIV from their mothers. They also carry out counselling sessions to all patients who come to the clinic, they are very empowering nurses which was a joy to see and experience. I am looking forward to going back this week and learning more.

I did get the opportunity to visit the mourge at the hospital, I have not been to visit one before so I had not idea what to expect, four of us went after our shift and we all took face masks, the staff at the mourge were very accommodating, it is as if they enjoy showing people around their place of work. I won’t go into too much detail as I am aware it isn’t a nice subject but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw, the smell was indescribable and there were bodies piled up everywhere, the staff were injecting the bodies to preserve them and Vaseline is put on the faces. We looked into the cold room which had a couple of hundred bodies in all piled 4 or 5 high, I did take some photos which I still can’t look at now and that night I had to sleep with the light on, it is something that will always stick in my mind. One of the girls was unable to come with us but wanted to visit, even though I wasn’t dealing with what I had seen too well i did not want her to go on her own, So I offered to go back the next week. The staff thought I was crazy for coming back, but we’re happy for us to look around. This time the mourge was a lot more organised, earlier in the week there had been a peer review at the hospital which meant that inspectors came round and the hospital was graded, the staff described this to me as a competition between hospitals, I saw it more like when a hospital has a visit from CQC. This time in the mourge I felt much more in control of my feelings and when invited to go all the way inside the cold room I did, stood there with hundreds of bodies around me was an experience I will never have again but it did help me a great deal, I feel that revisiting it has made me at peace with what I saw and I can now talk about it and I am proud of myself for going back to help a fellow student nurse.

Onto happier things, I started my 2 weeks in NICU (Neonatal intensive care unit) last week, as soon as I stepped onto the unit and saw the babies I knew I had made the right choice to spend some time there, I have a great sense of ease and confidence around babies and this was reconfirmed to myself while working with the midwives, nurses and doctors. I really enjoyed my Neonatal placement at the start of my 2nd year at home and knew that at the back of my mind it is an area I would love to work in once I am a qualified nurse. Working in NICU here in Ghana this has made me realise it is where my heart lies, to help a baby to have the best possible start in life when they might have had such a tough beginning coming into the world is something I want to achieve and succeed in with my nursing career. The unit is run my midwives and doctors, there are sometimes nurses around too, the house officer and PA’s do the ward round in the morning then the Doctor comes onto the ward and they present each baby to her, this was quite an infuriating part of what I saw on the unit, the lack of confidence from the staff presenting each babies case to the Doctor was quite sad to see, she would ask questions about why the baby is cold and why is the baby not under the phototherepy lights, they would never have an answer, I would never judge how they work but it is a part that I struggled with because as a 3rd year student nurse these are things I picked up on and knew the answers to but it was never my place to speak up. The doctor teaches well and I have learnt a lot from her, any questions asked I would answer and if I wanted to know anything she would be happy to take the time to explain things to me. This is something that you don’t get with the midwives and nurses, as mentioned before they don’t teach but they will answer questions if you ask, I have found that it is about how you phrase the question for them to feel comfortable about answering it, this was to make sure they did not think I was questioning why there where doing things as if it was incorrect, I only asked questions to understand why and how they did procedures, I didn’t ever want them to think I was trying to change how they do things. It is important to remember that I am a guest in their country and place of work, I have always stayed true to who I am and what I have been trained and believe in, but I would never want them to think I was better than them. An example of this was when I was asked to feed a baby, he was abandoned by his mother at birth and the unit are looking after him until social welfare care find him a home, he is formula fed and this is done with a cup and spoon, I spoke to a midwife about why they do this and not bottle feed as the baby is old enough to feed from a bottle, she explained to me that if they were to bottle feed babies they would get the teat confused with the mother’s nipple when breastfeeding, we had a conversation about how at home we feed babies and she was interested to hear about it. In Ghana breast feeding exclusively is a must for the first 6 months of the babies life, there would have to be a very good reason for a mother to not breast feed and they would be looked down on in the local community by friends and family. It is also to do with the cost of buying formula due to many families not having the money to buy it.

As I come to the end of my time in Ghana I am feeling a little bit anxious about coming home, this has been my home for the past month and I have fitted quite well into the laid back and slow paced life here, I have missed so many people while I have been away but it has been worth the experience. It has been a pleasure to write my blogs, I am sure once I am at home I will write at least one more in reflection of my time here. I have more than exceeded my expectations of what I had expected from this elective placement and I would recommend it to anyone who was thinking about it, it certainly changes the way you think about not just nursing but also about life and how we take many things at home for granted, we are very lucky, but the great thing to see is that the people in Ghana are very humble and make the most of what they have got. They are a very laid back and a happy country who make people feel welcome and part of their community.

I would like to thank Work The World for making this placement possible, to my friends and family for their support, to everyone who helped me raise money and donated and last but not least the staff at Staffordshire University for their continuing support and feedback while I have been away.

https://theconversation.com/could-it-be-that-religion-is-more-like-sex-than-school-84168