Sweet and sour

25 Aug 2012 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

In the week I had a phone call to inform me that my occupational health clearance was ready and my last reference had been collected and verified. So I was officially offered the healthcare assistant position on the  nurse bank at the new South  Bristol Community hospital.

I start an induction week from the 3rd of September, to do all the mandatory training such as manual handling, fire safety, health and safety and lots of other exciting stuff like that. Then I will be let loose on the wards to work when I’m able and when they want me.

At least then I’ll have something to do as I still don’t have my CRB to enable me to start my nurse practice for my Return to nurse practice course. Last week I found out the reason why I had not received it…. the form was never sent!

I phoned the CRB helpline to discover that they had no record of me. A call to the recruitment department told me that all my paperwork for the honorary contract was handed over to the person doing the checks for the hospital job. Unfortunately the urgency of time was not handed over and the importance of the CRB check for my honorary contract was lost.

So what now? well I wait. Apparently, at the moment, the checks are taking on average 9 days to be returned. In the meantime I have been liaising with the management team on the unit to meet my mentor to go through my objectives and competences. I’ve identified any competences  I can achieve without being on the unit and will get my teeth into those.

If the CRB comes back within 2 weeks I’m confident I can fit in the hours I need to do before the beginning of November.

I live in hope.

Just on my doorstep

20 Jul 2012 3 Comments

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , ,

About 5 minutes drive away from my home is a brand spanking new hospital called South Bristol Community Hospital. It’s part of a new complex built on old waste land and shares the space with a new leisure centre and the City of Bristol College Skills Academy.

The hospital was opened in March of this year and it’s departments include dental, day surgery, day assessment, physio and occupational therapy, radiology and outpatients. There are 2 inpatient wards specialising in the treatment of strokes and rehabilitation. The Walk-in centre has moved there from it’s Knowle West home and it’s now named the Urgent Care department.

I found myself there today for a job interview to work on the nurse bank as a healthcare assistant until I finish my course and can work as a qualified staff nurse. I don’t think I have ever been in such a quiet hospital. There wasn’t hoards of staff noisily milling around or patients hanging around in corridors waiting to be seen or to be taken somewhere. The hospital is well designed and tastefully decorated in grey, white and chrome, making it a pleasing and restful place to be.

My interview went very well and as long as my references are up to scratch, I have the job. I am a hospital nurse at heart and quite honestly I don’t really want to work in nursing and residential homes, so the agency I joined a few months ago didn’t work out for me.

I think it’ll be good for me to work at this hospital because it’s so close to home, this is important so that I won’t be exhausted by travelling to and from work, especially when I first return to working after not being able to for so long.

Also it’s so exciting to be part of something new, to work in a beautiful purpose built facility that is clean and well equipped.

I’m sure that if I’m offered the job I’ll be very happy there and will choose to stay there as a qualified nurse when I’ve finished the Return to nursing course.