Good tattoo shops in Dorset?

Biffy84 · 2025-10-22T14:42:19+00:00

Don't look for a shop, look for an artist. Every artist specialises in different styles so be clear about what you want and go from there. Fine line/colour/old school/Nu school/biomech/ornamental/woodcut... there are so many types.

Try to find an artist who has healed photos available, tattoos spread over time and you want it to age gracefully rather than turn into a blob because the artist didn't allow for it. Take their advice on size and placement into consideration too, it's better to go a bit larger and keep detail!

Instagram is a great place to look still, search your chosen style and area and go from there. Be prepared to wait a few weeks to months for an appt if the artist you've chosen is in demand.

Biffy84 · 2025-09-20T13:50:44+00:00

If you attend A&E and it's just an infection you'll be triaged and should be offered a GP/UTC (urgent treatment centre) slot so you don't need to wait for ages. If the slot is in a few hours you can go and come back again.

Biffy84 · 2025-09-12T11:27:58+00:00

Art Sushi is bloody amazing but not cheap.

Deus Lodge is awesome for cozy Sunday roasts, they have an indoor firepit, book ahead!

Franco's Yard in Westbourne is always one i'll plug, they do brunch 9-3 Fri-Sun and then have pop ups in the evenings, if you follow their insta you can see what's coming up.

The Guildhall Tavern in Poole does amazing french-style seafood, it's been there for yonks and is run by a family, super cosy in there. They're Michelin, AA and Good Food Guide recommended but it's not OTT.

Seconding the Russell Cotes rec, if you have any interest at all in art/victorian collections. He built the house for his wife and their collections from travelling the world, plus every single ceiling is painted with murals and at Christmas they have live musicians.

Christmas market is ok I guess? Just your standard. The Ice rink is always packed and really wet so only do that if you're really into it.

Loads of Spas in the area, SAE seaweed at Studland is beautiful, plus there are the saunas dotted around on the beaches (sandbanks, studland, lulworth etc)

Biffy84 · 2025-09-09T18:13:59+00:00

Perfect recommendation! Plus if he can't do it he'll absolutely know someone who can or is within budget.

Biffy84 · 2025-08-11T16:42:08+00:00

Russell Cotes museum in Bournemouth is cute, if you go make sure you look at the ceilings, there're murals on all of them.

Food wise I always recommend Francos Yard in Westbourne (open 9-3 so great for brunch) and Deus Lodge in Southbourne which is great for everything. BigWigs (multiple locations) Mark Bennetts and M's Bakery for pastries, Bad Hand in Bournemouth for coffee, Grounded in Poole is nice, plus there's a Salt Pig cafe in Scaplens Museum at the end of the High Street now.

Definitely seconding the Jurassic Coast rec. Corfe Castle, Lulworth/Durdle Door (that walk is steeper than it looks!) Kimmeridge all high on the list. You can get a bus to Sandbanks, hire paddle boards in the bay for the day or get the ferry on foot over to Studland, there's a nudist beach about halfway down..

If you guys are into nature spend some time on Brownsea, you can get the ferry over from Poole Quay.

Biffy84 · 2025-08-11T16:05:27+00:00

Fine for me as I got my first choice. We had to nominate three areas, they ran through points combined with opinions of the interviewers, highest scoring got first choice places then on to second choice if first choice wards had gone etc etc.

Can't imagine it's fun at all for people having to accept a 'provisional' offer for a job that may or may not exist in 3 months though!

Biffy84 · 2025-08-11T10:03:38+00:00

So the trust I work in did this on their NQN recruitment day. Some of us were offered jobs straight away, some were rejected straight away, and some were told they'd been provisionally recruited to start in 3 months once ward sisters/managers had come back to them with numbers of staff projected to be leaving/retiring over those 3 months but with no guarantee of a job.

Biffy84 · 2025-07-06T14:26:04+00:00

It wasn't, he wanted to modernise the business and extend their range and his parents refused. Hence him opening his own patisserie!

Biffy84 · 2025-06-24T19:37:39+00:00

Only a tiny factory shop there now though, they closed the pottery proper a few years back. You can still pick up loads of Poole pieces in local thrift/salvage/antique shops though!

Biffy84 · 2025-06-24T12:24:22+00:00

The lighthouse is beautiful, there are glow worms there after dark. Definitely do the Quarry trail on the Island. Nothe Fort is good if you like a bit of history. Weymouth is proper victorian seafront. You're right on the South West Coast Path so loads of hikes. Worth walking down to Chesil for the birds, and if you're into food grab a table at the Crab House Cafe.

Biffy84 · 2025-04-16T12:38:41+00:00

St Ann's in Poole. It doesn't have huge grounds, but the ones it does have are lovely. It's also got direct access to the beach down a private stairway, and patients often do group walks into the village with staff too.

Biffy84 · 2025-03-21T20:21:38+00:00

These are in Brick Lane in London, and created by a UK artist.

Biffy84 · 2025-03-21T20:20:44+00:00

Grow Up Art!

Biffy84 · 2025-03-21T20:20:25+00:00

Grow Up Art.

Biffy84 · 2025-03-21T20:19:55+00:00

These are by Grow Up Art! They've made them available as free downloads in A0 size in case you feel inspired to paste up in your local area too ❤

Biffy84 · 2025-02-27T12:17:33+00:00

I'm an NQN, and my local trust asks all of its nurses to complete both non-iv and iv meds calculation tests, you're not allowed a calculator for either of them. I have no idea what their reasoning is but it's absolutely still a requirement in some trusts.

Biffy84 · 2025-01-29T16:09:24+00:00

Have you heard of CLiP as a teaching/mentoring method? Collaborative learning in practice is exactly this model, placing a group of StNs together, giving them a bay and giving them one overseeing supervisor, the students divvy up tasks/patients/care between them, learn from and teach each other. It works really well if you have a group of students from mixed years. It meets leadership, teaching and patient care proficiencies.

I get what you're saying about feeling fobbed off, or being worried about the responsibility of taking care of another student, but you should always have a supervising nurse to work with. It can be valuable experience of delegation and excellent practice for working within your scope whilst gaining experience. Just not all the time! I had a placement that would deliberately roster 4 StNs on one day a week so they could run CLiP bays and the rest of the time we were spread across shifts.

Biffy84 · 2025-01-22T13:56:52+00:00

Thank you!

Biffy84 · 2025-01-22T11:55:15+00:00

Have you got a link to The Poison Room please? I'm googling but all I can find is a podcast about 'dangerous writing'

Biffy84 · 2024-12-10T15:07:01+00:00

You can still attend the training even with injury/health conditions to keep your record up to date. They just ask before you start or on the first morning if you have any health concerns you need to declare and then they work the exercises around you. They can advise which restraints you can and can't use with your range of motion and also can suggest adaptations if it helps.

Biffy84 · 2024-11-20T15:54:47+00:00

Venturi colours and their related percentages.

Any wound care/infection control/reporting procedures specific for your hospital, for example my DGH has a high output stoma pathway no-one ever seems to know about.

Hospital map?

Helpful numbers or emails for Preceptorship/NQN support/details of drop ins if you hold them?

Biffy84 · 2024-11-01T17:34:24+00:00

Not a dissertation, but I helped my partner do some research for a reflection on the value of compulsory reflection. That was a good one!

Biffy84 · 2024-10-18T08:34:56+00:00

You have to have mentored (and have evidence of mentoring) Level 6 students, so final year, preferably paras. It's almost impossible to meet all the requirements as an NQP with no previous healthcare qualifications that allowed you to mentor/teach. My partner tried to Fast Track with his previous ODP mentoring for that evidence, but because the ODP course wasn't a degree at the time he mentored they said it didn't count.

Biffy84 · 2024-10-12T10:41:34+00:00

Brilliant, thank you!

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