Surviving your first year of nursing by a student nurse | Nursing school UK

[@IIJunoII]

I start nursing this year and your videos are really making me feel a lot more confident and excited about it :)

[@smack3030]

wow its so interesting listening to your first year. Your uni year is structured so different to mine. Well done you have done so well. Really hope the second year goes just as well

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Sarah Mcerlean Thanks! You’re at Wolverhampton aren’t you? Someone said you don’t have OSCE there?! 😱 haha. How long are your placements there too? :-)

[@smack3030]

ive got seventeen weeks of placement this year. And no OSCE until next year. Not looking forward to that. I think i'll get stage fright lol

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Sarah Mcerlean 17 weeks altogether?! Whaaaat! We had 9 weeks and then 11 weeks. 20 weeks total.

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Sarah Mcerlean OSCE will be fine! You’ll smash it easy :-)

[@smack3030]

Claire Carmichael lol no just for the year. I've already done 6. 11 to go but not back till march now

[@MegB6593]

Amazing videos! Thank you so much, I am a first year student and your videos are really helping me gain confidence :)

[@ClaireCarmichael]

@MegB6593 Morning! Aw that's great to hear. I hope you're doing well:) xx

[@iraira7511]

Inspiring video , thank you . You are such a sweet person and a good nurse I’m sure !

[@maraenyindah7946]

I'll keep watching your videos, one by one till I'm done! So insightful💯

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Aw thank you!! 🥰💙

[@fritzieloma4665]

You're an inspiration!

[@katrinaodummcqueen2613]

i enjoyed watching your video...i can see the passion ozzing out of you.

[@odoblackstar]

You have such a lovely personality and I like your sincerity as well! Keep up the good work and best wishes with your career xx

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Odo Black That’s lovely!! Thank you so much ☺️ Have a great weekend xx

[@danas3148]

Much love to you from a fellow nursing student in the southern US.

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Dana S Thank you Dana! Much love from a very wet and windy England haha.

[@2OrdinaryGuys]

Love this video - gave you a massive like. Amazing to see what you done over the past year!!!

[@ClaireCarmichael]

2OrdinaryGuys Thanks Guys!!! ☺️ You’re the best

[@jenihagger3376]

Hey! Just seen your video. I’m hoping to begin my nursing degree down in Kent next September 2019. I’m 37 with 2 children! 😳 #terrified. What are the best KZbin videos that helped you? What revision tips do you have? What websites helped you most? Thank you 😊

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Jeni Hagger Jeni Hagger Amazing!! I’m so excited for you!! 😁 How Old are your children? Have you got enough support? :-) I think all the students doing this course with kids all deserve an extra degree as a reward! You’re all amazing. Khan Academy is your new best friend! It’s a KZbin channel thats amazing. They also have a website with quizzes etc on there for you. It’s helped me so much with all the anatomy and physiology. Revision tips: Use everything you can. Someone told me ‘use all the parts of your brain because if one gets blocked during the exam you can rely on the rest!’ Best advice I ever had! So write, read, listen and watch videos, draw and use colours! There’s some good A&P colouring books out there too. I’ve got one 😁 It just helps you remember. ALSO make bullet points instead of long winded answers. Make flash cards! You aren’t going to remember whole sentences but you will remember little bits you jot down :-) x

[@beautiful94x51]

Hii! Typically when you have an exam coming up, how long do you spend revising in advance? Also what form do the exams come in? Like is it multiple choice? Or just question answer? Kinda like how it is for GCSE exams....I'm starting in first year and have been out of education for awhile! And certainty wouldn't consider myself an 'academic' person so just trying to brace myself and know what to expect so I can be well prepared and do my best. 😊

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Beautiful94x Great start!! For me, my memory is awful haha. So I revised any chance I could, it’s good to use different parts of the brain too! So watching KZbin videos, using colours and diagrams, colouring books (anatomy and physiology ones), Going over it all with someone else, my friend used to revise and then teach her daughter what she just learnt and that helped her :-) It depends what type of learner you are too. Some people can revise in a few days before. Are you going to BCU? For OSCE use all the time you can to practice practice and practice on everyone that will let you haha. The more you practice it the more confident you’ll be on the day :-) x

[@beautiful94x51]

+Claire Carmichael Aw thank you so much for all the tips!! Yes BCU 😬 x

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Beautiful94x also the exams are a mixture of a diagram to label, multiple choice and short answers for physiology :-) Hope it helps! BCU is amazing 😍✨ I love it so much. X

[@beautiful94x51]

+Claire Carmichael Big help on what to expect thank youu. Arh glad I chose to study there😊 xx

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Beautiful94x You’re welcome! Just enjoy it. Find your feet with it all :-) you’ll be fine! Always ask for help if you need it too. Don’t be afraid to ask. Good luck! ☺️ xx

[@holliehudson9922]

I thought you was 21 !!! Great video :-)

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Hollie Hudson Hahaha thank you!!!! I’ll take that haha 🙈🙈

[@mariyamariya4123]

Hi I’ve just seen your video . You are amazing I love the way how you’re really enthusiastic about your course and how you find everything even when talking about operations and intestines interesting. I start my course in January, and I was hoping if you could explain how your holidays are. For example do you get the same holidays as the rest of the uni students , or do you do placement when they’re off . 🤷🏽‍♀️ I’ve tried finding out about this , but I haven’t come across anything so far that could elaborate how uni January intakes holidays are .

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Mariya Mariya Morning! Thank you so much 😊 I absolutely love it all! Haha. Holidays are different for nursing. It depends which month you start as well to when you get your holidays. I’m January intake so my main time off is the whole of December and the first couple of weeks of January. 🎉 we also get 2 weeks off in May and a week in August. If you’re September I take you are normally on placement over the Christmas period. But I think at our uni they rota you as having a week off the week of Christmas so you don’t have to work it? It just depends on the university as well. Because they are all different 🙈

[@arzoo9221]

Hi! After watching you videos on adult nursing, after finishing sixth form, I applied for adult nursing at University. I can't say what University just for safety reasons though.

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Arzoo Imran whoop!! Well done! How exciting 🌟🌟

[@starryoffical]

Very inspiring!

[@fritzieloma4665]

Hi Claire I am 52 y.o starting in May 2022 at C.U, hope my age will not be a hindrance to my journey!

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Amazing!! Whooop! Absolutely not. We had loads of people over 50 in our group and they all passed and did amazing ❤️ x

[@bernhardzabel159]

Hi Claire! I love your videos😃, just have a question for you-did you find your bioscience courses in your first year hard-going? Do you have any tips to studying it? There's just so much to learn and we are doing a different system every week, help!!

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Hey! Aw thank you so much! :) Don’t panic, nothing sank in for me either until second year 😂 I watched khan academy KZbin videos and this helped me massively! 🥰 start basic and work your way up :) x

[@bernhardzabel159]

@@ClaireCarmichael s So sorry Claire, I've only just seen this and thank you for your reply. I will definitely try Khan, and try not to get stressed!😊

[@mohima1367]

Love how passionate you were about Nursing. My Uni doesn't do proof reading or look at a draft of an essay, do you have an tips for perfecting my essay assignments? Also I don't know how to read the BNF😕

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Mohima B/k Thank you, I absolutely love nursing! I did do an assignment tips Vlog :) which might help a little bit. My uni won’t proof read as such, they will check one paragraph to make sure you’re on the right track basically. There’s something called grammerly that you can download onto your laptop which is supposed to be really good to check spelling and grammar :) I’ve not tried it out yet tho! If you go to the back of the BNF it has all of the drug names in alphabetical order. Pick the drug you need and go to the page it says :) x

[@riyanayee5660]

What university did you go to, such great experiences! (If you don’t mind me asking)

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Birmingham city uni :) x

[@beeaboutabbabusiness8738]

I am doing pre courses and eventually leading on to nursing I think. What are the nursing exams like in university, and what element of mathematics is needed, I am guessing measuring quantities in syringes etc. ? Thanks

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Kerry Wallace We have a mixture of anatomy and physiology and then the maths too. First year maths is more ‘simple’ like adding, subtracting, fractions, decimal places. Our next exam is drug calculations, working out mg - ml over so many hours via IV. which... I’m not the best at! So I’ll need to practice these 100%!! Haha. The anatomy and physiology exams are good I think! Our first year one was the body systems; cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, skin. The next ones were based around case studies and patients which really helped me to remember everything! So we had 3 pretend patients with asthma, stroke and renal colic. A written paper of around 50 questions all based on these conditions 😊 it’s not hard if you know the answers haha! If you revise you’ll be fine! :-) x

[@beeaboutabbabusiness8738]

Claire Carmichael Thanks sounds similar to the anatomy and physiology exam I did at level 3. But obviously be in more detail. Im going to buy a ml chart I think, as yes it's my weak arear. Got 2 years anyway before I think seriously about university, but I always like to plan ahead. And plus always feel less stressed being prepared. I do have an anxiety disorder, but I hide it well at interviews. But Im making the most of support services at college, and study skills. I was told my written skills need to be improved. So know how you felt when that person critiqued your work. Guess having tough skin,and seeing constructive critism as a positive thing, helps. But realised that its paper written? not on word processing. A friend told me to be a nurse years ago saying its easy! it doesnt look like. But have huge respect for nurses

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Kerry Wallace The A&P is written for us. But they don’t want spelling and grammar etc. As long as what you’re saying is what it is, if that makes sense? The only time they would mark it down for spelling is if you got the word wrong and put something like hypertension instead of hypOtension. The assignments are all word document so that’s a little bit easier with the spelling etc and get someone to proof read it for you before submitting. Also looking up linking words! Linking words helped me so much! Makes my assignment sound so much more professional now haha! Maths is computer based at our uni, so far anyway! It’s lovely to see you’re getting all the support available. It’s the same at uni, you’re not just left alone, there’s lots of support to help you. No one has to struggle in silence. Honestly, if I can do this anyone can! I’m not academic at all 🙈 I get anxiety too, mainly around public speaking tho. But I’m getting help with that :-) it all helps! X

[@fatboyjim5422]

Are they're many males on ya course? I'm 25 male and looking to join uni next year after a HE access course

[@ClaireCarmichael]

FatBoy Jim yeah we have a few on ours :) not as many as females but we have a few still :) it’s nice to see! X

[@fatboyjim5422]

@@ClaireCarmichael yeah. Me mam passed not long ago. And what the nurses did to keep her dignity made me want to try and become one. X

[@ClaireCarmichael]

FatBoy Jim awww so sorry to hear about your mum 💔hope you’re ok. Glad it’s given you the inspiration to go into nursing 💙 it’s an amazing career :) x

[@fatboyjim5422]

@@ClaireCarmichael is the placements really as bad as they sound? My best friends mate is current studying to be a nurse. And say the placements are horrible. The staff nurses treat you like dirt etc? Sorry for all the questions lol x

[@ClaireCarmichael]

FatBoy Jim I just did a new Vlog yesterday on this one. Because I know some students have had bad experiences out there. But Ive enjoyed all of mine. I’ve not had a bad experience in placement as such and I’ve learnt so much from them. But the positives out way the negatives 100%! I hear a lot more positive experiences than negative ones ☺️ which is lovely. But it’s not a easy ride, it can be tough, you might have such a bad day you come home upset, tired and really want to give up. But it’s like that with any job out there. But these days are rare and few :) and don’t define the rest of your career 💙 x

[@h_9424]

what alevels/ BTECs did you do? x

[@ClaireCarmichael]

I did the access to HE Diploma 💗 which is the equivalent of A-levels :) xx

[@karolina.1208]

Can you recommend any good youtube videos which helped you with the exam preparation ( especially math ) I know only about khan academy... Thank you :)

[@ClaireCarmichael]

I didn’t watch any videos on maths exam prep 😅😅 I just researched bits online and did our practice tests to help me. Khan academy I used for A&P :) which was the best for me. I know there’s other videos out there, so you just need to google and search 😭 sorry that’s not much help x

[@karolina.1208]

@@ClaireCarmichael Thank you 💙

[@ngberrylive8362]

Starting nursing this September and just found out am pregnant. Am a bit scared.

[@ClaireCarmichael]

You can defer your place until next year which might help 💙 x

[@Mohabatullah]

how many years you have to study for nurseing

[@ClaireCarmichael]

Meena Khan 3 years :-)

[@usrafieckx9]

Nypd?