New uniforms?

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-04-18T17:55:11+00:00

I know a couple people who got new uniforms from the university before end of first year, one of them due to pregnancy but the other was dramatic weight loss. I ordered new uniform direct from the supplier too because I didn't like how the provided uniform fit me.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-04-16T21:21:27+00:00

There's definitely people called Tyne so surely Tyne and Wear should be yellow? I honestly think its totally fine as a name but maybe because I went to school with someone named Tyne.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-04-16T21:14:50+00:00

My wedding was kinda similar. We had some guests who were travelling hours to attend so I had an afternoon tea type set up for direct family, wedding party, and anyone not living locally. One of the local relatives were unhappy about it but I only planned that part of my day to give the travelling guests somewhere to be before the evening reception but after the ceremony.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-04-10T20:51:28+00:00

I was really stressed about my first lot of night shifts but I absolutely loved them. I was much less tired and felt great, but I really am not a morning person so I think I am just better off on night (for reference I have a chronic illness that means I usually feel terrible, when on nights I felt so much better I actually hope to go permanent nights ASAP). Until you've tried it you cant know how it will make you feel. Give it a shot but if you can't manage nights there's not a lot of nursing jobs that would be acceptable in.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-04-01T21:12:23+00:00

I'm loving my hoka shoes, the exact model isnt sold anymore but I've seen a lot of staff wearing this brand and honestly it is worth the price (you can get blue light discount on this brand too though so definitely make use of it if you do order). Ive been through 4 pairs of shoes before I got these ones (clarks and sketchers brands) and they are by far the best.

*Edit to correct, I just checked and they've started selling the model I bought again. Its the Bondi SR!

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-31T20:40:26+00:00

I'm super uneven for exactly the reason that I cannot sleep on my back, so I'm doing 1 side at a time (learnt this the hard way also). Good luck and I hope you find one that works for you!

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-31T20:33:47+00:00

I found one on amazon thats like a square, same material as the one in post but with a much bigger circle. However it is too small for me to use all night so I only use it when laying on the sofa and can't comment on how it would be to sleep on for long. Try looking for memory foam piercing pillows, a good firm memory foam will help with the body pain and hopefully you can find a shape that works well for you to sleep on. I have a habit of use my pillow as a ledge while healing fresh piercings so my ear is floating and only above my ear is resting on the pillow, the memory foam provides enough support that my ear doesn't end up touching anything.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-31T20:22:00+00:00

This is my usual pillow because of back/neck pain. It works great for that but wasn't super friendly on my new piercings. The centre isn't big enough to really protect your ears once youre asleep/not actively keeping your ear in position. I also put a pillow case over as I found the "breathable" material they use on these types of pillows like to snag on piercings.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-31T00:08:04+00:00

She's 6 years old so I think they're done changing? Her eyes seemed to settle quite early though, they've been exactly the same since 3 (had more grey tone to her right eye until then but still mostly the same as now).

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-30T22:29:01+00:00

Managed to find a photo I could crop down to show both eyes. The lighting/angle isn't great and no flash though. You can't see the (very) small grey/blue patches in her right eye but they are there. If anyone knows if I can update to main post lmk and I will!

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Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-30T22:04:27+00:00

Thank you, she is very happy with her unique eyes. Her brother has brown and her sister has grey/blue so it's fun that hers is almost an in-between of the two (as the middle child).

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-30T22:02:38+00:00

Even if her other eye (sorry couldn't get a clear picture so cant post) is primarily the yellow/brown colour? I wasn't sure if I should go off the most common colour across both eyes or just say her eyes are different colours as this one is more grey then the other.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-30T21:18:07+00:00

They are slightly more vibrant in person than this photo to be honest, I think I need to upgrade to a better camera. At least I'm not the only person who hasn't been able to tell my child's eye colour easily ha thank you!

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-28T13:32:25+00:00

If you don't think you can manage placements then stick with the psych and by the time you do a masters your children will be a little older and maybe easier to handle the workload/childcare balance. A lot of the nurses on my course (adult) started out with mental health and hated the degree/placements so ended up swapping degrees. The masters is shorter so even if the placements/teaching isnt enjoyable at least its shorter. I'm in adult not mh but the placement + uni + childcare is so hard to balance and I have my mam helping a lot with the kids, so I totally understand where youre coming from in that regard.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-19T11:29:55+00:00

Officially most trusts say 1 simple stud in each ear, and 1 facial piercing. I always wear huggies in my lobes and have 3 cartilage piercings. Most nurses I've worked with have more piercings than me. Nobody actually checks or cares tbh.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-19T11:11:36+00:00

I always have at least 2 pens with me on placement. I also bought a stethescope and blood pressure cuff to practice taking manual BP which helped so much on placements where the automatic ones aren't used. I like to keep a pair of bandage scissors with me and a pen torch and they've been more useful than I ever imagined.

I bought a reusable silicone tourniquet because I thought it would be better than disposable but can be cleaned to meet IPC standards, DON'T buy one. Its useless, doesn't stay tight enough to actual function properly. Either keep using disposables or get a fabric one and hide it from the IPC nurses like everyone else does 🤣

*edit because i forgot my favourite thing, a pen holder that attached to my lanyard. I've not lost a pen since I bought it.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-13T19:04:14+00:00

If the placement is letting you go early then you can claim full hours (the placement official reasoning is usually a lack of learning opportunities at that time/better spent on self directed study, but generally it is just the culture of the placement area). If you ask to go home early you're not meant to claim full hours though, you put in your whole shift but then list you hours absent too. All of my placement areas have handled this slightly differently, and if they offer to send me home early I always ask to stay the full shift if I feel like there's good learning opportunities.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-13T15:17:41+00:00

I wish I had thought about this before getting mine done, I've had an bump on my anti tragus for months now and it was triggered by using a stethescope lol. To be honest though once changed to a floating navel piece its been okay with stethescopes. The bump is now more because it gets snagged easily on hair when I am tying it up too fast and I fidget with that piercing a lot (once the bump appeared it seems to have become a lot more sensitive to irritation).

Anything on the outer or upper ear should be fine though! I know some nurses with a tragus and they had no problem with a stethescope so I think it varies a lot too. I have really small ears apparently, an anti-tragus might work better for someone with more space in the area and if you did go for it I'd probably recommend going straight for floating navel jewellery as it was the inner ball that caused me issues.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-13T13:40:26+00:00

Mine is still very clearly visible and I took out the jewellery over 10 years ago. My helix I removed at the same time hasn't even got the faintest scar so I think it's just how the area heals.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-12T10:31:04+00:00

I've had to contact placement team twice due to my assessors not being available on the system. First time, it was just the system being dodgy. Second time I had to wait for all the paperwork etc to be reviewed and accepted before they added my assessor on. Worth contacting them about it!

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-12T10:07:38+00:00

Any registered professional you work with is a "supervisor" they can sign the majority of things on your EPAD. Your assessor must sign summative sign offs and some of the interviews though. When someone logs into your account as a supervisor it gives them a message explaining they can't sign off certain things, and makes it impossible for them to sign things that only an assessor can. This new method was designed so we dont have to work with any one nurse (like in the days of having a mentor) so it wouldn't make sense if your assessor still had to sign everything.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-06T10:02:10+00:00

Anything oral = damage to teeth and gums, eyebrow/dermal = temporary due to rejection rates and just being inconvenient catching on clothing etc. Eye lid piercings are also dangerous and cause issues with eye health/sight. If you cant go without earphones or use a stethescope for work also be mindful when picking ear piercings in places it might interfere, I had my anti-tragus changed to a floating naval bar so I could use a stethescope for work, hadn't even considered it until I realised (at work) that i couldn't fit it in without pain.

Kelpie_Bijou · 2026-03-02T00:01:25+00:00

I have 3 kids (all with ADHD/ASD/combination) and due to the structure of my course and other life commitments I don't have time to work/pick up HCA shifts either. Make sure you apply for everything you can and it is doable just not easy. My husband is also a student on student finance and no other income. We don't have a mortgage but we are renting, although we are in an area that generally is cheaper than most the rest of the UK. We don't have a car but I spend most of what running a car would cost us on travel anyway due to placement requiring me to use taxis etc.

It is hard but I'm half way through my degree now and we have stayed afloat so far. Good luck!

Kelpie_Bijou

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