My Second Year Struggles

In March of this year I started the second year of my nursing degree. The assignments and overall university work got harder, but I have managed well with it, and now the date of my first placement of second year looms closer and closer.

I can't help but feel such a mix of emotions. On the one hand, I know what I'm going into now, so there's that. Before I started this degree, I had zero experience working in a healthcare setting. But on the other hand, I feel like so much more will be expected of me now I'm a second year. On my first year placements, it did feel like you always had a great safety net to catch you, as you could always fall on "I'm only in first year" if things got difficult or went wrong or you just didn't have a clue. First year was such a massive learning curve that most things are forgiven.

But now, there are fewer excuses to be made. Yes I'm still only a student, so I still have a ridiculous amount to learn; yet I feel like now I need to take charge of my own learning and create opportunities for myself out on placement. So I've been reading up about clinical skills, as I want to feel as prepared as possible for my next placement on a medical ward.

The pressure to know more and do better does hover over us all, as we feel we should be seen to "step it up a gear" each year. I can't even envision how much pressure I'll feel going into third year, let alone qualifying. But I'm realising it's important to understand that yes we still have a lot to learn, but we have also come a long way. I can't imagine all the new things I'll know by the time I've finished the course but I'm excited. So at this moment in time I'm just trying to stay organised, absorb everything like a sponge, focus on the end goal, and most of all try to enjoy this year because before I know it, it will have been and gone!

*Originally published on the Student Nursing Times website*