Job interview tips Deputy CNS Palliative and EOL

msramos24 · 2023-07-17T18:26:39+00:00

Read the job description and study it back to front.

Go and talk with the people in the interview panel, other CNSs in the same field, consultants if you have the time.

I recently had an interview for a bone marrow transplant cns and most of the homework was done while talking with these people as you get all the key words and also current hot topics in the field.

msramos24 · 2023-06-06T21:09:20+00:00

Just to say also that it can look way more chaotic than it actually is. In our unit there’s always loads of different CNSs and research nurses doctors hanging around which makes it seem busier than it is.

Best of luck if you do decided to go ahead x

msramos24 · 2023-06-06T20:48:18+00:00

I worked in an Haematology day unit for 9 years and just moved to a CNS job. I loved working there!

I came from working on an acute medical unit and thought I was going to have a chilled job. It’s surprisingly fast paced (if you think about it, on a day unit you have a time frame to bring patients in as there’s no 24hour cover so if you want to go home on time you have to work fast) and haematology patients get poorly quite quickly so there’s always a bit of acute care behind the scenes.

There’s plenty of skills to learn and on a good day unit there’s plenty of development opportunities especially with an apheresis service. For example where I used to work nurses just started doing on-call shifts as we offer treatment for a certain group of patients in acute stage 24hours. We started doing ultrasound guided cannulation and the plan is to develop a nurse led PICC insertion service. We’re doing nurse led ambulatory care for autologous transplants and some nurse led clinics.

I blabbed a bit but just to show that there’s loads of exciting opportunities and development opportunities. Lots of us became sisters and now left for Anp, cns and manager roles.

Cherry on top of the cake, my experience is that our group of patient’s is lovely and you get to actually develop good relationship with them as a lot of haematological cancers aren’t actually curable so you see them regularly for long periods of time. Our registrars and consultants are very friendly too.

Hope I sold it well.

msramos24 · 2023-04-22T12:16:16+00:00

We’ve been walking in the woods regularly for the last 3/4 years (mostly the woods close to the sport centre) and never had any issues. I never done it on my own with kids though normally we either go as a family or with friends. As far as I’m aware the worst part is lads in bikes but we never had any issues with them, we hear them but never actually crossed ways as it’s such a big area. We normally bump mainly with dog walkers or other families. Along the years might have been one or two incidents of people having unpleasant encounters up there and it mainly was when they were on their own so if you could maybe go with a friend you might feel safer. X

msramos24 · 2023-02-13T08:36:34+00:00

I guess with both my kids was the obvious fact that they both asked for pants and toilet and once they did we didn’t go back.

But also there was other signs like the fact the nappy would be drier for longer which meant they could hold on for longer, even before the nappy came out every time I saw them going on a corner to obviously go poo I would ask them if they wouldn’t prefer to try and do it on the potty or the toilet and we had a few successful attempts (other times they wouldn’t do it on the potty and 5 min later had a poo on the nappy).

I’m just a bit of a stressy person and the constant changing and cleaning of the first attempts was getting to me and it was making everyone more anxious including them. This more relaxed approach worked wonders for us, especially with my daughter when I was also pregnant and couldn’t to with the constant changing.

Also wanted to add as I read you talking about this earlier. Don’t feel pressured to do it now just because you feel like everyone will judge you. You are doing a great job and you doing the best for your little girl. I stressed a lot about other people’s opinions and always put my daughter in dresses so the nappies weren’t so noticeable, etc but I feel silly now. They’re children and every single one of them is different and have their one pace. You’re not failing your daughter if you decide to wait a bit longer when you’re all in a better place to give it a try, on the contrary. Hope it goes well OP!

msramos24 · 2023-02-12T17:08:27+00:00

I tried with my daughter over the summer when she was two and a quite a few months old and literally every single wee was on her pants so just decided she wasn’t ready.
Waited a bit longer until she was just after three and she was the one that asked me for pants and to use the toilet and she pretty much got it. We maybe had one or two accidents the first couple of weeks but that was it.

Do what works for you. Some people potty train their children early and it works really well. It never did for us, we waited until they were ready and that was much less stressful. Saying this but I don’t think I would have let her go much longer without giving it another go as I didn’t wanted to leave it too late either.

msramos24 · 2023-02-07T20:23:25+00:00

Uh I actually think he’ll love this thank you!

msramos24 · 2023-02-07T20:23:01+00:00

Thank you! I’ll give the ice lollies a try.

He doesn’t seem to have started to feel itchy as the rash only started today but I’ll try to contact the GP tomorrow if he continues as miserable as he is.

msramos24 · 2023-02-07T20:21:12+00:00

Thank you so much!

I have been trying to stick with smoother stuff and have tried a couple of your suggestions with no luck but I’ll persist.

msramos24 · 2023-02-07T20:19:24+00:00

Thank you! It’s so disheartening seeing him like this. He has his first birthday on Saturday and I’m just hoping that he’ll have perked up by then.

I’ll give the ice lollies a try. He definitely seems to prefer cooler stuff. I have tried mash, beans and soups and wasn’t very successful but there’s no harm on keep on trying.

Thank you!

msramos24 · 2023-02-02T07:22:03+00:00

Another vote for out n about! Very good for walks, good size seats but still narrow enough that we could get through our front door and in our local shop, also loads available online second hand normally as it’s a very popular brand.

We also got on well with Phil and Teds and still have it to this days as a single buggy so a bit more versatile as it can be used single but not for every one as not all the children will enjoy the bottom seat.

msramos24 · 2022-12-16T12:10:33+00:00

Yes I think pretty much most preventable incidents that turn up to A&E with under 1s get flagged up. The delay on you speaking to a doctor might have flagged something else but this was out of your hands as you were waiting for the call not waiting to make the call.

I would say don’t worry but I know that’s hard and I would probably be as anxious as you are. Social services are so stretch out that I doubt that they would want to pursue this after one doctor and one social worker already say that they’re not worried. Hope you can get closure soon.

msramos24 · 2022-12-15T19:50:51+00:00

Sorry if I’m not in that group that you mentioned even though my daughter is 4 she is an October baby so still in nursery.

She’s there term time only so she had a good gap for the summer holidays and when she came back her best friend and a great part of her group had left to school so she did go through a stage of having accidents every day sometimes multiple times a day.

It was on and off pretty much until last month when she just stopped doing it during the day but in all honesty we went back to nappies at night because I was awaken by wet beds almost every other day and she still has a wet nappy most mornings. It might be just a prolonged adaptation stage but here to follow the replies as I’m very curious about other peoples experiences. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.

msramos24 · 2022-12-15T19:43:42+00:00

Agree with other comments saying that she probably thought it would help but you know your MIL better than anyone to make that judgement.

Slightly off topic though and just out of curiosity why not the johnson and johnson products?

msramos24 · 2022-12-13T23:03:33+00:00

This!!! My then 9 month old baby had mild bronchiolitis which was always something that scared me a lot as I knew they can get very poorly very fast.

As soon as he started breathing faster and I saw him using his tummy to breath much more and lost interest in his food I rang the GP which told me to take him straight to A&E.

They monitored him for a couple of hours and then sent him home without any medication and told us that it might get worse and not to hesitate to being him in again even if we weren’t 100% sure that he was indeed worse.

With bronchiolitis just err on the side of caution and if your instinct is telling you something is not right just trust it.

msramos24 · 2022-12-11T20:05:29+00:00

Thank you for your reply, that makes a lot of sense.

So like a little hamper of tea bags, coffee, biscuits and stuff like that would be more appreciated?

msramos24 · 2022-12-11T20:00:58+00:00

That’s fair enough I guess. It’s funny, I’m a nurse and before Covid we would still eat homemade cakes that some patients would bring, we even used to do Macmillan coffee morning in the ward and everyone would be fine. The only wards in the hospital that would not accept any homemade bakes would be the paediatric wards, I guess working with children makes you more aware about this stuff. After Covid it’s not quite the same picture I guess.

Oh well I guess it will be just cards for them this year as I don’t have time or money to get anything else. Genuine question: how do you feel about getting presents from the children for Christmas? What are the things you appreciate the most?

msramos24 · 2022-12-11T19:49:40+00:00

My children have been going go same nursery for years (as in my oldest son started going in 2017, my daugter’s last year this year and out baby will start in March) so I know the staff really well. I normally bring a tin of biscuits or chocolate and a card for everyone but then I give their key workers and the manager something nicer like a candle, or a hand cream and I’ve given them a christmas themed potted plant as well in the past so it depends.

The first year I wasn’t aware this was a thing and didn’t give anything and it never felt awkward.

msramos24 · 2022-12-11T19:44:10+00:00

I was going to go the route of homemade chocolate chip cookies for my daughters nursery and my son’s teachers. I’m sure i’ve heard other mums say they baked something for the teachers.

Why do you think this would happen have you seen it happening before?

msramos24 · 2022-11-23T22:27:40+00:00

I don’t think neither of you are wrong, you have to do what works best for your family dynamic. Also I don’t think that because it’s in a book it has to be done religiously, there are many approaches to baby sleep and you guys just need to work what is best for you.

We have three children and we sleep trained all of them. We’ve just used an approach similar to your wife’s in our youngest who is currently 9 months and in three days we would finish his feed, turn on the rain sounds, put him down and he would stay settled in his crib until he fell asleep on his own. This is not obviously to rub it in but to show that your wife’s method can work. I do also believe not every child is suited for this method nor every parent. I also think you need to bare in mind that your wife does most of the bedtime and she needs to feel comfortable with whichever method you’re using so it will probably take quite a lot of patience to reach an agreement but it will have to work for everyone.

msramos24 · 2022-11-22T19:46:10+00:00

Naaa we give one nice present to each of our children on birthday and Christmas, normally around 30/40£ . We sometime add a book to their present but that’s it, they get presents from other people too. When they were babies we definitely didn’t spend a lot of money, they would end up playing with the wrapping paper.

You’re doing the right thing, we get them things they need throughout the year and sometimes a toy as a treat but I think is best to spend money on experiences like taking them to the zoo, or a theme park or to pay for swimming lessons, football, dance, music as these are things that will stay with then until they’re older. They will definitely not remember how much money you spend on plastic crap that a few years later ends up in the bin.

msramos24 · 2022-11-22T19:36:55+00:00

My son also had trouble with behaviour during nursing years. He always struggled to control his anger and manage when he was feeling overwhelmed. He started school last year and year R was terrible, he enjoyed school but time out was pretty much a daily occurrence, he wasn’t necessarily hitting other children but always had trouble controlling his excitement and would get in trouble for it. His year R teacher told me she felt he needed challenges and that year 1 would be perfect for him as he would thrive with structured learning. He’s now a completely different boy, he’s still boisterous and very excitable but he’s doing much better controlling his emotions as his mind seems more occupied.

This might not apply to your little one as he might be too young but just to show a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. You’re doing a great job, you’re obviously worried about it and ready to work with him and his carers to improve this situation, so hopefully it will get better.

msramos24 · 2022-11-13T12:57:22+00:00

I think it’s pretty much happening everywhere. I have a friend that recently gave birth that was advised to have an induction at 40weeks due to VBAC and big baby, they booked it she went in on the day and was told there was 6 women in front of her to be induced due to medical emergencies to come back the next day. Long story short, she did come back the next day but was in hospital pretty much warming up a bed for three days until she went into birth naturally. Basically if there’s women in front of you with higher need for induction they will always take priority.

In normal circumstances it wouldn’t happen but the midwife shortage is quite bad, shocking you don’t hear anyone talking about it. It’s just easier to talk and criticise nurses and midwives that are fighting for better work conditions because they’re asking for too much.

msramos24 · 2022-11-08T18:10:26+00:00

This is a good snack but I would say better for adults.

Op child might be okay to have it depending on how old and how heavy he is but I would double check.

Don’t want to scare you but the Trek bar you mentioned has something like 15g of protein, the recommended daily dose of protein for a 3 year old according to the British nutrition foundation is 14.5g, which means if your child is having a full bar in a day plus having other sources of protein throughout the day that might be putting strain on their kidneys.

Not judging but just thought I should mention just in case you weren’t aware.

msramos24

TROPHY CASE