Student's innovation aims to reduce first placement anxiety

A first year nursing student has created an education tool to give her peers confidence on their first placement Georgina O’Reilly Foley, who is currently studying at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, created a set of information cards for students on their first placements. The cards aim to boost students’ confidence, reduce their anxiety and improve care.

Georgina says she knew from experience how daunting it is to start working on wards for the first time.

Her lightbulb moment came when she went down to theatre with a patient. ‘I was very nervous,’ says Georgina, ‘the noises, the smells’. The theatre assistant showed her where to place the ECG cables. ‘I pulled out my notepad and started drawing. The anaesthetist said he had never seen a student do that before. I explained that I am a visual learner and my notes helped me retain the information and refer to it next time without having to keep asking.’ ‘The cards will give students a foundation before they start their placement - for example I would have loved to have known more about a handover before my placement. The flashcards are being rolled out across the trust as a learning tool for nursing students. 'I am so lucky to have had incredible support from my peers and mentors who have taught me that when you want to do something you can.'

In the future, Georgina is hoping to create a set of appropriate cards for second and third year nursing students to complement her first year set. 'The second year will include skin integrity, patient transfer checklist and drug calculations and the third issues such as medication management and blood glucose monitoring.'

 

More information can be found here http://bit.ly/1H8Jinb