So this week I have been on lates Mon-Thurs which meant relatively long days during very unsociable hours so I've not had much of a life this week. It was ok in the end though once I arrived at placement and got going - to be honest the shifts really did fly by and it was nice to get a bit more one-to-one time with the radiographers for mentoring. Also, with it being a bit quieter out of hours it was also nice to have the opportunity to get to know the staff more personally which was great.
There have not really been many students in the department this week so that meant I got to see and do a lot. I went to theatre a couple of times and on Wednesday I felt so proud of myself. I actually had a go with positioning the image intensifier and taking the x-rays while the radiographers did most of the control panel side of it. I could barely contain my smile. All of the cases were for steroid injections so we didn't have to wear the masks and they were short procedures but it doesn't matter. I conquered my fears and had a go since I've seen a few injections done and they don't seem to bother me since they are short and as I say you are mask-free for the procedure.
The surgeon obviously knew I was a student and was learning and they were very patient and helpful which I really appreciated at the time and am still grateful for. Even when I misunderstood his instruction and made a silly mistake right at the end they quickly accepted my apology and didn't make too big a deal of it but obviously next time I won't do it again. I guess mistakes are often how we learn or at least that is how I always like to look at it.
I did attempt to position for an ankle ORIF the day before but it was more of a complex procedure and the surgeon required laterals at the time I stepped in which was pretty tricky so the radiographer stepped in which was just as well because soon after that I started feeling funny again which I was a bit cross with myself about. This time though, I think it was partly due to tiredness. We had been in theatre a good few hours with the full get up as several cases were booked in and due to the long shift and the funny time of day I started it meant it was kind of too early for lunch, break times were a bit awkward and uncertain and on this particular day as we'd gone to theatre not long after I'd started and been there for such a long time my energy levels just took a real dip so I guess I started to feel feint.
The more I tried to get up off my stool and stand for a bit the less time I was able to and the more I needed to sit down. So in the end although I was disappointed with myself I gave in and just took a seat because I realised even sitting down on this particular occasion my breathing behind the mask was still not right whereas sitting down would normally calm me down a bit.
Anyway, that was that. Aside from theatre I have seen quite a lot of trauma this week and feel my confidence has really come on in working with trolley patients, especially doing AP erect chest x-rays. Others may find them easy but I've struggled up until this week but something suddenly seemed to click. With the icy weather this week there have been a few RTAs and people coming off bikes, or simply falling over so there has been plenty to see and do. I'm less stressed about the clinical assessment I will have on radiographic technique this year now though since I seem to be getting my head around trolley patients and angling the tube. Obviously I will be very nervous when the time comes but now it has clicked in my head I think I should be okay as long as I continue to put the practise in as far as things like chests, shoulders, abdo and pelvis go etc.
As for trauma spines though, that is a different kettle of fish! My brain just turns to mush trying to convert what I've learnt using the bucky table to using the trolley and the vertical bucky with a horizontal beam. Need some real practise there, that's for sure! I know it was towards the end of a long shift and the last one of the week but I really didn't have a clue what needed to be done, and even watching the radiographer my brain really was quite foggy so I need to get practising those peg views and HB spine work so that will go on my to do list I think. I have seen quite a few shoot-through hip examinations as well now and last night would have attempted it myself but the patient was in quite a bad way and the "good" leg couldn't actually be raised which was a shame.
I went on quite a few mobiles as well this week, most of which were on the wards rather than ICU which was unusual. I'm not very lucky as far as mobiles go because most if not all of the cases were tricky ones where the radiographer needed to take charge or had to because we had to work so fast to even have a chance of getting an x-ray at all in some cases. I had a go with one or two but I wasn't really confident in how I'd positioned it and quite often it needed a fair amount of adjustment but this also tends to vary depending on who you are with at the time because everybody does it differently. I should have probably pushed myself a bit more in this regard and maybe next time I will have to ask again if I can be more involved as this is another area we are assessed in and probably what I'm most worried about assessment wise.
Overall I would say I had a good week at placement and already I probably feel like I've made much more progress compared to last placement where I was out of the department for half of it. So that is a good sign :-) I'm on theatre next week which I'm actually looking forward to but obviously a little apprehensive about too due to past form, but at least I had a good stint in there this week which eases my mind somewhat as well. I'm picking up my new car tomorrow which I'm looking forward to. Got to sort the insurance for that today and also do some uni work (or that's the plan). I'll see how I get on, it's been a long week and I'm pooped.
That's enough for today, I'll be back next week with more frequent updates since I'll be back to sensible shifts. Sorry if I've used terminolgy that isn't familiar unless you are a radiographer/student but I'm just thinking to myself what I need to get done and to help me remind myself of a few things for a write-up I need to do at some point.
Also, while I remember I'll put up a link of some useful tips for theatre for anyone else who struggles like me. I found it a few months ago and saved it for my theatre week as I thought it gave good advice and made me look at it from another perspective which is probably better than how I was looking at it previously. Anyway, here it is: Top 20 Practical Tips for Radiographers in the Operating Theatre
Friday, 30 November 2012
Thursday, 22 November 2012
End of Round 2
I'm just approaching the end of my latest academic block and it has been hectic and stressful and all the rest. It has now swung back the other way where I feel like I'll get a bit of respite on placement but I know I won't really. I've got through all of the presentations we had to do: some were absolutely terrible and others I surprised myself. I've learned that practice is key and never to leave the house without my calming remedy on a presentation day. I've made a start on one of my assignments so it's looking all good. In the past 24 hours I have suddenly become quite motivated and have been taking the bull by the horns in terms of uni work rather than feeling sorry for myself. It seems to be doing the trick. I'll be back to report next week when I'm on placement as there isn't an awful lot to report at the moment.
Saturday, 10 November 2012
A Hectic and Stressful Week with a Few Positives
Hi guys,
Well that's another week of uni done. It's been a hard week and it's had its ups and downs but at least it ended on a high and I am really appreciating the weekend right now....even if I do have work that I've got to get done for Monday.
So what's been going on this week you ask?
Well, this week we have been continuing the theme with body systems and pathology which again was quite interesting. I always enjoy those lectures even though there is a hell of a lot of info to take on board. We've also continued with learning about the different applications and principles of different modalities and this week we had a lecture on the applications of MRI and the sequences so that was good. I quite enjoyed it and found it easier going compared to the ones we had before placement because now that I've had my placement week in "modalities" and questioned the radiographers on all this kind of stuff it was much easier to take in as I knew the basics. I find it all very clever how we have all this technology and can use it to visualise different things. This course definitely appeals to the geek in me when it comes to that sort of suff and it's why I'm so glad I chose it. I don't think I could get through it otherwise, especially hard weeks like this if it wasn't the case!
Aside from that we have also been going more into the digital imaging technology/science and building on what we learned in the first year. I really hated this topic last year and I wouldn't say it's my favourite but I really don't mind it anymore. I was quite pleased that I remembered a lot of stuff from last year and what I'd revised in May for exams so that was great. It was all about exposure indices and relative speed and looking again at things like Hurter-Driffield curves and making comparisons. We have a portfolio to complete as part of the assessment for this module and I've got a feeling this module will start to get a bit more involved as of next week when we start to spend more time in the labs doing experiments which I'm assuming are going to form part of our portfolio.
It's been good this week in the sense that looking back a lot of it will be really useful and I suppose was geared towards helping us on placement. We started the human sciencey-type module this week which after my doubt I think I might actually enjoy this year. It's about ethics and codes of conduct and so on which is okay once you get going with it, it's just knowing where to start. We had touched on some of what we did last year but it was more in depth and helped us understand different types of communication styles I guess you could call it and how best to respond. Doesn't sound like much but again, it was quite interesting because of the psychology of it and I think it's more about reflection.
Another thing that was quite helpful this week was talking about risks to the patient and some of the questions they might ask about cancer and how you might answer. I remember being asked this by a patient last placement, I can't remember if I mentioned it here but it was the first time I'd been asked and I didn't really see it coming or expect it so I was a bit taken aback and not quite sure how to answer. I did my best but exam wasn't quite what the patient expected it would be which came to light when I was introducing myself and explaining what we would be doing and gaining their consent to go ahead which we are obviously encouraged to do. So anyway, as I said, they had different expectations of what the exam would involve and after the radiographer also spoke to them about the risks and so on they didn't feel that in their case that the risk would outweigh the benefit and so declined the examination. We have been through this sort of thing at uni in the past but when put on the spot I suppose I was a bit vague as I couldn't recall all of it so asked my mentor for help but at least after that lecture I will feel a bit more prepared for situations like this.
It's funny, and I probably say it everytime I write on here but I always thing I've had such a bad week and when I reflect I can see that there are a lot more positives than you first thought. It's only when you have a proper think that you realise it. It's only because I have been so stresed but I know why - it's the whole presentation thing. I was doing so well, managing to keep myself nice and calm. Did my reading and so and tried putting it all together but just got myself all worked up because I couldn't seem to put it together on the powerpoint so I left it and decided to start afresh the next day. Rather than working myself up into a state all of the next day I decided I would busy myself so as both me and my partner had the day off together which is rare we went out for the day and I ended up buying a new car which is fantastic. I've been after one for a while but it's never been quite right but it seemed the gods were smiling on me and it was my lucky day. I should be able to pick it up at the end of the month which I found out yesterday so it brightened up my week and helped to chase some of the stress away.
Anyway, as I was saying, a nice day out meant I couldn't stay at home and fret all day long as it left me only wih a few hours that night to put it together and practice. It worked and after a couple of hours it was done. So that just left me to practise frantically in front of my partner and the dog who seemed quite amused and knew it so well that even when I was forgetting my lines or tripping over words he knew it so well that he was telling me what I forgot to or should be saying haha. I gave up in the end at 10 p.m as I was practising that much and getting tired so I was making silly mistakes and getting worse because I was just past it so I went to bed. As expected I didn't sleep much and was wide awake at 3.45 a.m and contemplating getting up and just running through it a few more times. I have done that sort of thing in the past bt it does me no good at all so I decided to stay in bed as I figured even that was some rest and even though the presentation was whizzing around in my head as I dozed I figured some rest was better than none.
When I was younger I used to bottle this kind of stuff up out of embarrassment and I still do a bit but I had a chat with a couple of kind souls on my course who offered to help watch me practice and it helped a lot. I got through the real thing and even though I nearly said "I can't do this" and felt like going home and hiding I stayed and I did it and I actually surprised myself. It seems like I'm not the only one badly affected by nerves and stress to the point I've barely eaten the last few days so we are going to help each other through it. Got one more to do next week and a few other coming up in the coming weeks but I am less anxious. My aim by the end of this year is to feel "okay" about public speaking and for it not to put the fear of god into me whenever I hear the word "presentation."
This weekend I intend to relax as best I can while preparing my next presentation. I'm also babysitting my lovely little niece tonight. Time for a coffee...have a good weekend folks.
Well that's another week of uni done. It's been a hard week and it's had its ups and downs but at least it ended on a high and I am really appreciating the weekend right now....even if I do have work that I've got to get done for Monday.
So what's been going on this week you ask?
Well, this week we have been continuing the theme with body systems and pathology which again was quite interesting. I always enjoy those lectures even though there is a hell of a lot of info to take on board. We've also continued with learning about the different applications and principles of different modalities and this week we had a lecture on the applications of MRI and the sequences so that was good. I quite enjoyed it and found it easier going compared to the ones we had before placement because now that I've had my placement week in "modalities" and questioned the radiographers on all this kind of stuff it was much easier to take in as I knew the basics. I find it all very clever how we have all this technology and can use it to visualise different things. This course definitely appeals to the geek in me when it comes to that sort of suff and it's why I'm so glad I chose it. I don't think I could get through it otherwise, especially hard weeks like this if it wasn't the case!
Aside from that we have also been going more into the digital imaging technology/science and building on what we learned in the first year. I really hated this topic last year and I wouldn't say it's my favourite but I really don't mind it anymore. I was quite pleased that I remembered a lot of stuff from last year and what I'd revised in May for exams so that was great. It was all about exposure indices and relative speed and looking again at things like Hurter-Driffield curves and making comparisons. We have a portfolio to complete as part of the assessment for this module and I've got a feeling this module will start to get a bit more involved as of next week when we start to spend more time in the labs doing experiments which I'm assuming are going to form part of our portfolio.
It's been good this week in the sense that looking back a lot of it will be really useful and I suppose was geared towards helping us on placement. We started the human sciencey-type module this week which after my doubt I think I might actually enjoy this year. It's about ethics and codes of conduct and so on which is okay once you get going with it, it's just knowing where to start. We had touched on some of what we did last year but it was more in depth and helped us understand different types of communication styles I guess you could call it and how best to respond. Doesn't sound like much but again, it was quite interesting because of the psychology of it and I think it's more about reflection.
Another thing that was quite helpful this week was talking about risks to the patient and some of the questions they might ask about cancer and how you might answer. I remember being asked this by a patient last placement, I can't remember if I mentioned it here but it was the first time I'd been asked and I didn't really see it coming or expect it so I was a bit taken aback and not quite sure how to answer. I did my best but exam wasn't quite what the patient expected it would be which came to light when I was introducing myself and explaining what we would be doing and gaining their consent to go ahead which we are obviously encouraged to do. So anyway, as I said, they had different expectations of what the exam would involve and after the radiographer also spoke to them about the risks and so on they didn't feel that in their case that the risk would outweigh the benefit and so declined the examination. We have been through this sort of thing at uni in the past but when put on the spot I suppose I was a bit vague as I couldn't recall all of it so asked my mentor for help but at least after that lecture I will feel a bit more prepared for situations like this.
It's funny, and I probably say it everytime I write on here but I always thing I've had such a bad week and when I reflect I can see that there are a lot more positives than you first thought. It's only when you have a proper think that you realise it. It's only because I have been so stresed but I know why - it's the whole presentation thing. I was doing so well, managing to keep myself nice and calm. Did my reading and so and tried putting it all together but just got myself all worked up because I couldn't seem to put it together on the powerpoint so I left it and decided to start afresh the next day. Rather than working myself up into a state all of the next day I decided I would busy myself so as both me and my partner had the day off together which is rare we went out for the day and I ended up buying a new car which is fantastic. I've been after one for a while but it's never been quite right but it seemed the gods were smiling on me and it was my lucky day. I should be able to pick it up at the end of the month which I found out yesterday so it brightened up my week and helped to chase some of the stress away.
Anyway, as I was saying, a nice day out meant I couldn't stay at home and fret all day long as it left me only wih a few hours that night to put it together and practice. It worked and after a couple of hours it was done. So that just left me to practise frantically in front of my partner and the dog who seemed quite amused and knew it so well that even when I was forgetting my lines or tripping over words he knew it so well that he was telling me what I forgot to or should be saying haha. I gave up in the end at 10 p.m as I was practising that much and getting tired so I was making silly mistakes and getting worse because I was just past it so I went to bed. As expected I didn't sleep much and was wide awake at 3.45 a.m and contemplating getting up and just running through it a few more times. I have done that sort of thing in the past bt it does me no good at all so I decided to stay in bed as I figured even that was some rest and even though the presentation was whizzing around in my head as I dozed I figured some rest was better than none.
When I was younger I used to bottle this kind of stuff up out of embarrassment and I still do a bit but I had a chat with a couple of kind souls on my course who offered to help watch me practice and it helped a lot. I got through the real thing and even though I nearly said "I can't do this" and felt like going home and hiding I stayed and I did it and I actually surprised myself. It seems like I'm not the only one badly affected by nerves and stress to the point I've barely eaten the last few days so we are going to help each other through it. Got one more to do next week and a few other coming up in the coming weeks but I am less anxious. My aim by the end of this year is to feel "okay" about public speaking and for it not to put the fear of god into me whenever I hear the word "presentation."
This weekend I intend to relax as best I can while preparing my next presentation. I'm also babysitting my lovely little niece tonight. Time for a coffee...have a good weekend folks.
Friday, 2 November 2012
Beating The Winter Blues
Well I haven't really got anything to report this week but thought it was worthwhile still coming and making a post so I can work through some of the things in my mind that have turned me into such a slob lately. I just can't seem to get going and genuinely I think up until Weds I was still feeling under the weather with my cold which didn't make me feel so bad about staying home, doing pretty much nothing and eating comfort food non-stop. The problem is I feel better now (cold-wise) but I still feel physically/mentally worn out and so nothing has changed and I guess I feel guilty for it.
I keep saying to myself not to be so hard cos I always tell myself off for doing nothing and then when I think over what I have done and talk to other people at uni I'm well ahead and started/finished things they have given very little thought to (if any) yet. Truthfully I know I just worry too much but I feel so stuck in a mental rut at the moment and don't really know how to get out of it. I seem to have little interest in anything at the moment besides staying home as I feel so drained and can't even be bothered to keep up with my hobbies and interests at the moment and find that I'm getting easily annoyed because I just don't want to be bothered. I do get like this sometimes but this feels like longer and earlier than normal and usually by now I'd have figured out how to shake it but at the moment I feel like I just don't know where to start.
I finally plucked up the courage to look in my diary this morning as daft as it sounds to see what I've got going on at uni the next few weeks and thankfully it's not as bad as I thought so that was a relief and I was glad I looked. I can feel the dreaded nerves coming again as I have a few presentations to do in the coming weeks and you know how I feel about that.....
Anyway the idea was to come on here and set myself some goals and find my way back into the land of the living. I will allow myself a few more days to mope or whatever it is I've been doing, not that I feel sad or like I have anything to mope over but I just feel...I don't even really know! Well yes part of my does know if I'm honest with myself. Other than uni I've had a pretty tough 12-18 months and I just feel defeated. It's hard to keep picking myself up and carrying on and is going to take some getting over. I just wish I would hurry up and get over it and not let it sneak up and get me down. However, I really do think that is only a part of the problem. In a nutshell it feels like I'm on a treadmill and I kind of wanna get off if for a little while that makes sense.
So as of Monday I am going to get back to normality and knuckle down to it properly. Eat right, throw myself back into my hobbies, try to worry less and not let people or situations get me down. I've come this far I know it will be worth it so I'm not about to throw it all away. Slowly but surely is the key. Feel much better for coming here and letting it out. Time for me to kick my own ass.
Wish me luck guys and thanks for listening (sort of) :)
I keep saying to myself not to be so hard cos I always tell myself off for doing nothing and then when I think over what I have done and talk to other people at uni I'm well ahead and started/finished things they have given very little thought to (if any) yet. Truthfully I know I just worry too much but I feel so stuck in a mental rut at the moment and don't really know how to get out of it. I seem to have little interest in anything at the moment besides staying home as I feel so drained and can't even be bothered to keep up with my hobbies and interests at the moment and find that I'm getting easily annoyed because I just don't want to be bothered. I do get like this sometimes but this feels like longer and earlier than normal and usually by now I'd have figured out how to shake it but at the moment I feel like I just don't know where to start.
I finally plucked up the courage to look in my diary this morning as daft as it sounds to see what I've got going on at uni the next few weeks and thankfully it's not as bad as I thought so that was a relief and I was glad I looked. I can feel the dreaded nerves coming again as I have a few presentations to do in the coming weeks and you know how I feel about that.....
Anyway the idea was to come on here and set myself some goals and find my way back into the land of the living. I will allow myself a few more days to mope or whatever it is I've been doing, not that I feel sad or like I have anything to mope over but I just feel...I don't even really know! Well yes part of my does know if I'm honest with myself. Other than uni I've had a pretty tough 12-18 months and I just feel defeated. It's hard to keep picking myself up and carrying on and is going to take some getting over. I just wish I would hurry up and get over it and not let it sneak up and get me down. However, I really do think that is only a part of the problem. In a nutshell it feels like I'm on a treadmill and I kind of wanna get off if for a little while that makes sense.
So as of Monday I am going to get back to normality and knuckle down to it properly. Eat right, throw myself back into my hobbies, try to worry less and not let people or situations get me down. I've come this far I know it will be worth it so I'm not about to throw it all away. Slowly but surely is the key. Feel much better for coming here and letting it out. Time for me to kick my own ass.
Wish me luck guys and thanks for listening (sort of) :)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)