Lately, I've seen a lot of "what's in my nursing bag" videos floating around. Don't worry! I'm not talking about babies.... I'm just a student nurse.
I'm the type of person who likes to carry around just about everything whilst at the hospital... just in case I need it. Let's face it, you're stuck in a hospital for over twelve hours and the thought of wasting your precious lunch break nipping to the *expensive* hospital shop is so unappealing.
First things first, I keep a back up of black pens hidden in my bag. Usually, I start placement with a pack of 100 black pens and by the end of the twelve weeks, I have a random assortment of someone else's pens. Where they came from, I have absolutely no idea. I also have a few coloured pens for highlighting important tasks on my patient handovers, and I have a whiteboard pen to update patient name boards.
Now on to my "nursing essentials". This includes my precious fob watch, hand cream, a small pair of scissors and some microporous tape. Tape and scissors are the two things that often go missing on hospital wards, and you spend ages searching for them. And, of course, I have my hospital ID badge.
As I work as a healthcare assistant and a student nurse, it is important that I stay organised. I have learnt the hard way, of the consequences caused by not keeping a good track of your schedule. I keep my organiser in my bag and I have learned to take it every where I go.
Another way to keep yourself organised, is by carrying a pocket-sized notebook. This is great for taking note of medical conditions, medications and treatment plans which you have never heard off, and reading up on them. Trust me... if you don't write them down, you will have forgotten all about them as soon as you exit the building.
I have a major issue with leaving the house in a haze at 6AM, and forgetting my lunch bag. So, keeping a few back up snacks is a lifesaver, until the hospital canteen decides to open. I like to keep a protein shake, some breakfast bars and popcorn. These are all quick snacks that will give you a boost of energy, if you feel like you're fading. Oh, and I always have some chocolate on me.... Do you really ever need a reason for chocolate?
Tied in with food, I keep a stash of gum or breath mints handy, whilst on the wards. You're interacting with patients, families and lots of healthcare professionals constantly. We're all human and twelve hours is a looong time to go without brushing your teeth.
And lastly, I include some deodorant, paracetamol, a *huge* water bottle and lip balm. Hospital wards tend to be very humid places and I find that my lips become very dry and chapped throughout the day, so it's good to keep hydrated and to have a good lip balm handy.
I hope this post has given future or current students a clue into a few essentials that that are handy to have whilst working in a busy hospital. Let me know if you have any things that you couldn't live without, whilst working on placement.
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