Hello everyone and Happy New Year.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and an enjoyable New Year. I was on shift New Year’s Day, so no partying for me – but it was a really nice day with a great bunch of staff and interesting patients. I was fortunate enough to have a few days at home for Christmas and enjoyed being back with my family – I think it was a bit overwhelming for mum and especially the fridge and oven…so much food! I also got the opportunity to go on some lovely walks around Richmond Park and thoroughly enjoyed lots of hot chocolate in the cafes around Surbiton. I tried to have a go at dressing up as Santa for Christmas but without the requisite red hat and coat, I’m not sure that I effectively pulled it off (see image above and you can judge for yourself).

I’m now into the final three weeks of my placement and it’s going really well. In addition to this I’m getting used to the pace of hospital work and enjoy all the challenges it brings. I have also done a few shifts with another member of staff coordinating the whole ward, that means instead of just knowing what’s going on with my six patients, I need to know about all the patients and it involves lots of communication to make sure that everything gets done. I really enjoyed it, but it’s definitely hard work.

After this placement I will be waiting for the results of my dissertation and if I pass, I will have passed the whole course and will be a fully qualified nurse! I can’t start working as a nurse until April though, but I’m nearly there!

At the end of every military group that goes through the university course, there is a graduation party and I was nominated to organise the party for us. So, I have booked a nice little bar area and I’m organising food, drinks and a photo booth with props for some funny photos. It’s actually quite a lot of work and trying to balance the books has proved difficult. I want it to be as inexpensive as possible, but it’s turning out to cost a bit more than I had planned for.

In a few weeks it will all be over and I can breathe for a moment, before the real work starts that is. Hope you are all well and enjoying the new year so far.

Alex (SAC Doyle)