Growing up, I always loved the idea of healthcare workers – whether it was physios, paramedics, midwifes, doctors or nurses – I was dying to be one of them. I have always loved the idea of having the ability to care for people and help them in a time of need.
The reason I chose Edinburgh Napier University was because of my experience at the Open Day when I was in 6th year, which was fantastic! Edinburgh Napier is a super modern university with great connections all over Scotland and the rest of the world. I think the Simulation and Clinical Skills Centre won me over, I was so fascinated by it and just knew I wanted to have the opportunity to be trained there.
The idea of starting a new life in a new city was one of the main reasons I moved to Edinburgh. Another reason I choose Edinburgh Napier was that there is so many people from my home of Ireland who studied there, and there are so many Irish nurses in Edinburgh, so I knew I would be supported everywhere I went.
The thing I enjoyed most about my course was the placements. I had the most amazing placement allocations and gained so much experience and knowledge. I enjoyed myself a lot and had some fantastic opportunities on placements and met some lovely people who supported and guided me throughout my degree.
Like most students in recent years, the biggest challenge for all of us was Covid. It was a tough situation to be in when the pandemic started as I was living away from home. When things got very uncertain, and all of us Irish students went home, the nursing lecturers and staff were extremely helpful in ensuring that the course would be delivered online to allow everyone to continue with their degrees.
I think the hardest thing was knowing whether we would get back on placements or back on campus and sometimes it was hard for even the staff to be able to tell us any information. But as soon as they knew it, they communicated this to us, so all the students could plan accordingly. It was probably the toughest times any student has ever had to face, but the lecturers and Personal Development Tutors did their utmost to help us all out.
In second year, I had to defer a placement and my Personal Development Tutor and field lead were so supportive. They approved the deferral and quickly had a plan in place for me to make sure I was on track with my placement hours and still got to graduate with my cohort. They both checked in on me during my time off and I felt extremely supported, as I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to graduate with my cohort; but they made sure I knew straight away that I would.
Now that I am done with University, I’m going to be moving to England to work at University Hospitals of Burton and Derby as an Acute Medicine Nurse! After I’ve settled into my job and gained more confidence, I hope to go back to university and further my education by training to be an Advance Nurse Practitioner or maybe training to be a Physician’s Associate. I think my degree prepared me for this by being 50/50 practical and theory, it sets you up for future education as you have experience in both sides of a health care degree.