Being squeamish might not be the best trait to have as a nurse.
But as viewers of ITV’s Bedpans and Bandages will find out tomorrow night, a University of Salford student nurse isn’t going to let it stop her chasing her dream.
The show focuses on the diverse backgrounds and lives of students from the University of Salford and Birmingham City University, with all the pressures, emotions and challenges they face in training and on the wards.
Tomorrow night’s episode features a University of Salford nurse called Kelly, a first year student who has to deal with being squeamish despite her placement on dermatology.
She said: “You just feel a bit uncomfortable don’t you, but it’s all part of the learning. I’ve told myself I’m not going to let it phase me. I might go a bit queasy, I might not deal with it so well my first few times, but I’m going to overcome it. It’s just a mind thing.”
One of those new experiences on her first shift on the dermatology ward was witnessing a patient getting an injection.
Kelly added: “I’m sure I will get used to it. And I’m sure with things like wounds and stuff, when I do come to it I’ll find it fascinating like I just found that (injection) fascinating.”
As part of her degree, Kelly will spend the next three years on the ward gaining 65 weeks of experience – and it is proving quite a challenge juggling practical experience and the pressures of study.
With that in mind, Kelly has a warning for all you budding nurses out there: “When they say long days, they’re not joking are they? They are long days.”
Student Nurses: Bedpans and Bandages starts at 8pm tomorrow on ITV1.
Picture courtesy of ITV, with thanks.
