Nurse Gintare

Since I last posted on this blog. I had so many plans and ideas and have wanted to update and keep posting but somehow all the commitments in my life have held me back. After slacking on this front for so long I asked myself if I wanted to continue with this blog and my Youtube channel as I haven't been able to dedicate any time to it, and the answer surprised me. It turns out, I do. Lately,  I have felt a renewed sense of motivation to revamp this blog and keep posting more videos. I still want to have my own platform for sharing my experiences as well as learning from other people's. Now more than ever, as I am nearing an exciting milestone in my journey, I feel like I can contribute something as well as learn from everyone else.
For so long, I have been struggling with this whole technology thing as I am not the most tech-savvy person. Even though we live in an age where technology is so vital, I am still learning to use certain aspects of it. In the last year I have learnt more and more about the importance of social media-not only how it can benefit you, but also how you have to be cautious about what you put out into the world. This has reinforced my initial resolve that I wanted my social space to be a positive one. I am still learning bout the technical aspect of it all, hence why I'm slowly updating all of my platforms and putting my vision into practice. As in all other areas of my life, I am aiming for progress, not perfection. If you are a technical genius, I would love your tips/advice!

Love,
Gintare xo

I cannot tell you how exciting this is to me, mainly because I've been trying to update this blog for a few months now. Not being technologically savvy (at all-I'm a little ashamed to admit it!), it took me MUCH longer than I expected.
Mostly I wanted to update this because I just didn't like the look of the blog itself, but also I felt that it wasn't an accurate representation of what I want to write about. I started this blog and my YouTube channel to talk about my journey to being an RN, but along the way I realised that I didn't want to limit both this blog and my YouTube channel to JUST nursing (as much as I love it!). I also wanted to include my other passions- beauty (I'm a fully qualified beauty and body therapist) is something I've been interested in for years; planners and stationery in general are an obsession that just keeps growing hahah; and health and fitness is something I strive to learn more about every day. So this is my way of sharing those passions with you!
I hope you enjoy reading this blog <3

Gintare
XO

Here is a random compilation of things I've been wanting lately:

Since I came back for year 2 of nursing school in September, I've been basically straight out into placement (aside from a week's orientation). We started specialities in the last semester of year1 and back then I did my Care of the Older Person placement (which was wonderful). As we have 7 specialities altogether (COOP, A&E, OT, Community, Mental Health, Peds, and Maternity), years 2 and 3 will be spent completing these placements, which is super exciting, because it gives us an idea of the different types of nursing and the services available, and maybe an idea of what we'd like to do when we're qualified!
This semester I have 2 different placements- OT (Operating Theatre) and Community. I have 3 weeks at each one. I've my theatre placement done and at this stage I'm almost finished with community.
Before I went into theatre, I didn't really know what to expect. Some of my friends had been there last semester and they all said that they had an amazing time there, which put my mind at ease, but at the same time I wasn't sure about what kind of prep I should be doing etc. One of the girls told me I should ask to scrub in at the earliest opportunity, which I was super excited about because I was dying to get in on the action! I also knew that I had to be confident about what's going on, so I definitely wasn't scrubbing in on Day 1 haha! In theatre, you're not thrown into things as much as you are on the wards, and they definitely take the time to explain things and teach you. You also do a lot of observing and asking lots and lots of questions! I think the one thing you need to be aware of in theatre is how aseptic technique works and what the sterile field is- the last thing you want is to contaminate the sterile field, whether you're scrubbed in or not!
As part of theatre, we were rotated into the different specialised theatres, such as ortho, ob/gyn, general and ENT. We didn't spend much time in the emergency theatre (if any), but that's for essential personnel only so it was definitely understandable! There were so many different procedures going on every day, and it was kind of hard to memorise and get my head around them all, but I did commit the most interesting ones to memory for sure! Needless to say, my time at theatre flew and I had an amazing time there. I was delighted to get great feedback from my preceptor which was the icing on the cake!
Then I went onto Community. I'm still there for another week, but I've already learnt so much in the last 2 weeks. Going into it I knew certain aspects that would be involved in community nursing- such as dressings and home visits. But let me tell you... There are soooo many services out there that I knew nothing about! I was lucky enough to be assigned to my local community setting, which instantly made it easier-I'm saving myself 10 hours/week not having to commute! The nurses at my facility are exceptional-I've never met a team that works as well together. I find it very inspiring there- the nurses are lovely, they're constantly teaching me things and even arranged day visits for me, where I could go and visit an Intellectual Disability setting, a Special Needs centre for children, a palliative care centre, a primary school and many more amazing opportunities. Going into the community setting I knew it would be very different from the hospital environment, but I never realised how much the public health and community nurses do! They definitely have a wide scope of care, which I admire-you need a whole load of skills to be able to go out to someone's home and be confident that you can help them with (almost) anything they need!
I don't know if it's luck or my general outlook on it-but I've had nothing but lovely placements so far! I think that you meet obstacles anywhere you go, but a lot depends on your attitude- if you're positive about it and give it 110% you'll get on great anywhere you go :)

I hope you're all enjoying nursing school and placement-wherever you are!

Ever since I finished college for the summer, I have been taking some time to rest, reboot and rediscover some of my hobbies and interests that I-unfortunately-had to abandon while in college due to lack of time (and sometimes-energy). As most of you probably know nursing school can be quite tough at times, due to stress, obstacles and different issues that arise throughout your experience in college. For me, it took it's toll in the form of a non-existent social life and a general feeling of exhaustion after a year of working my butt off. In my first semester of college my schedule was packed to the brim and looked something like this:
Monday-Thursday: leave the house at 7.30 and drive an hour to college, where I would have class until 5pm and then go to the library for an hour or to, and finally get home at 8 or 9 after driving for an hour.
Friday: class until 1. grab lunch and drive straight to work where I would be until 10 pm
Saturday and Sunday: work from 7 am to any time in the afternoon (it varied from week to week).
The above is what my schedule looked like during the class portion of the semester. As you can see it was a busy time and had I looked after myself better I probably would've been able to do more. My diet wasn't the best (eating junk on the go), exercise was non-existent and sleep was poor. I loved my job and equally loved college as well, but doing both was increasingly difficult, when you add a 2 hour commute into the mix. Something had to give. After the Halloween break (a week of catching up on sleep and working on assignments non-stop), I was facing into a 5-week block clinical placement. As excited as I was about it, I also knew how demanding this time would be, and how much pressure it was going to put me under. I know that all nursing students go through the same stress and demands, so I'm in no way complaining, by the way. (I know how lucky I am).
During clinicals my schedule looked something like this:
Monday-Thursday. get up at 5 am, leave the house at 5.50, get there at (or before) 7 to get a good parking space and change into uniform etc., start work at 7.45 and stay there until 5 or 8 in the evening. I would usually have one day off during the week, which was nice because it gave me an opportunity to run errands and do all those little jobs that we can only do mon-fri (ring insurance companies, go to the post office, bank..you get the jist).*During this time, the only thing that made this whole routine bearable was the actual nursing work itself, which cemented my determination to become a nurse. I enjoyed every minute of placement, and learned an incredible amount, so the early starts were more than worth it. In a way, I think it was the universe's way of testing my desire to become a nurse. I think I passed :).
And Friday, Saturday and Sunday my routine was the same as before, so again it was quite busy. And because I was working in healthcare at the weekends as well, sometimes it felt like I was working 7 days a week. Which, if I didn't love my job as much as I did, would be incredibly tough.
So by the time semester 2 came along, I knew what to expect, and what changes I had to make in my life to make it easier. I gave up the junk (slowly but surely haha), started walking more and going to bed earlier and eliminating distractions. It was a long process, but by the end of the year I felt like I grew and gained confidence in my abilities. I learned how to cope with huge amounts of stress (school-,work- and personal life-related, sometimes all at once!). I learned how to shut out the negative voices and people who were draining me. I learned my strengths and weaknesses and made some big decisions which affected my life in a positive way.
My point through this is that in order to go through this journey I had to sacrifice certain things. I could no longer spend 24/7 with my family, I couldn't run to my friends' house when they were upset about the little things. I also couldn't read as many books, watch as many movies and tv shows as I would like to. You learn to pick and choose your battles.
So it's probably no surprise that during the summer, when I've had more time, I've been indulging in all my favourite hobbies and activities, and feeling amazing about it. I've been exercising literally every day ( which is a huge achievement for me, because I used to hate working out. Now I freaking LOVE IT!), eating healthy (which helped me lose over a stone in weight-yay!), and sleeping miles better. I've been reading lots of books, catching up on my TV shows (my Sky+ box was full with series link'ed shows) and watching lots and lots of YouTube videos, as well as reading blogs. I've been spending lots of time with my family. In fact, I'm heading away to visit my grandparents in 10 days for 2 weeks-can't wait! I've been looking after my mental and emotional health too. My stress levels are at about 0 right now and I must say it feels amazing.
I wanted to write this post as a form of therapy in a way. I wanted to write down my thoughts about this amazing journey I'm on in a candid way. I'm hugely grateful to be on my way to becoming a nurse and all the blessings I've been given. I'm now officially 1/4 of the way there. That's an achievement in itself.
If you're reading this and you're in nursing school: what was your 1st year/semester/week/day like? What advice would you give yourself/someone in that situation? Do you think it's possible to do it all and be all things to everyone? And if you're a parent or working a demanding job, what tips/thoughts do you have to share on the subject?

Thank you for reading my ramblings and I hope you're having an amazing day.

xG

Ever since I made the decision to get healthier and fitter and embraced this fitness journey, I've realised the importance of exercise in my overall wellbeing. Whereas before I would have avoided working out at all costs, now I enjoy it and can't go a day without it. I discovered walking a few months ago and nothing is as enjoyable for me now as lacing up my running shoes and getting out and about. I particularly love hiking and fortunately I live in an area where we're blessed with hills and mountains and my favourite place to go hiking is a local waterfall no more than a 20 minute drive away. Because I like to work out on my own (that includes walking/hiking too), I need music to set a positive mood to my workout, but also push me to go further, faster and become stronger and better overall. I enjoy seeing other people's playlists and get inspiration/ideas from them, so why not share my own?

Hiya!
I filmed a video today about the application process for nursing school here in Ireland and my story, as well as some tips to help you get through the long (and sometimes stressful process). Last year (and the year before) when I was going through the application process I would've loved to watch a video on someone else's experience, just to give me peace of mind and ensure that I was doing everything right. Now, having gone through it and ended up at my first choice college I decided to share my experience in the hopes that it will help someone else and reassure them that everything is going to be OK.
I mentioned a few of the following links in the video, and posted some of these in the description box, but just in case you don't come across them, I'm going to link everything here as follows:

www.cao.ie   This is the website where you can get loads of information about the application process, FAQ's, as well as info and links to the different courses available. Like I said in the video, please apply early and save yourself the hassle of having to worry down the line, when you could be concentrating on other things :). Plus, you'll be saving yourself money as well.

www.publicjobs.ie This is the website where you register for the mature student assessment and where you can also access previous exam papers and materials that will help you prepare for the assessment. You will be reminded to do this after you've applied through the CAO, but make sure to remind yourself to register on time.

www.susi.ie This will link you to the authority that deals with  all student grants. Just like everything else, apply early for this as well. You will put yourself at an advantage by being organised when it comes to the application process and the grants.

www.studentfinance.ie  Super handy website. Tells you about all the financial supports available, as well as budgeting tips. Check it out if you also want to know about the different tuition fees that you might have to pay.

www.nursingboard.ie Have a look at this website to familiarise yourself with the nursing board and all the different things they do, as well as information on scope of practice and the different requirements you have to fulfil before you can register with them.

www.inmo.ie An organisation that supports nurses and midwives (as well as students) by providing information, education and advice. Once you're in college you can register with them, but in the meantime you can check it out if you want some of your questions answered.


These are just some of the websites that can help you in this long (and sometimes torturous) process. If you want to know more about this or any other topic please don't hesitate to contact me either on this blog, my e-mail, twitter or instagram.
In the meantime, check out the video (apologies for it being so long!)

Xo,
Gintare