Fitness to Practise

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Starting on this course at Edge Hill University has given me the opportunity to learn. I’m learning so much. Every day is different. I absolutely love the course.

Before I started, I was concerned that I might not get accepted because I have had a few problems in the past, mainly with depression. The practical side is fine; it’s the academic side of it because I was never too bright at school. I’m a practical kind of person and sometimes I just get swamped down with academic side of things

I think that because of my age, I’m 29, this is probably one of my last chances to start a course like this. I only studied up to my A Levels at school. I never went to university or do anything higher than A Levels. I think deciding to come back to studying is pretty hard when you are older because you’re a bit nervous and usually people are a lot younger than you.

Obviously financially it’s quite difficult too. After you’ve taken that step, the last thing you need is to go through all the application forms and the interview and then have to write down on your medical questionnaire that you have a history of depression. The last thing you want is someone to read that and say ‘No’.

Disclosure

Usually when I go for a job, I never put down that I have depression because I think that it will affect my chances of getting the job. I mean when you do your A Levels you’re always told that the university will look for the best score, like you know you if you got three A’s you know they’re going to take you over someone who’s got three C’s. So why wouldn’t they look at your medical condition and think, ok this person has exactly the same mark as that person but this person is depressed so we’ll take the person who is not.

But it is not like that at University.

I did not feel comfortable telling Occupational Health that I had depression, but I had to give a letter in from my doctor. You can’t start on your placement until you’ve been signed off by Occupational Health. I was worried as I had proofread what the doctor had said and I thought to myself, ‘If I read this I wouldn’t hire me’. But it didn’t cause any problems, I got my letter of acceptance from Occupational Health and have now finished my second year, I have just handed my last assignment in today.

I really did not want to have to tell University that I had depression. I don’t like telling anyone. It was when I got accepted onto the course and just thought to myself –‘they know I’ve got depression, and I’m on the course anyway!’

Assistance on the course

To be honest, it has been hard work, really enjoyable, but hard work. I have had ups and downs, but if I am ever down I just go and see my personal tutor. The fact that I had told university that I suffered with depression has made it easier. If I am ever having difficulties I just go and see my personal tutor, who understands me so well and I don’t know, but she sounds as if she has had some personal experience with depression. When I realised that I was suffering again I popped in and got a meeting with her and talked my way through it. She said ‘well you know that you can have emergency counseling right here, right now. You don’t have to wait you can go in tomorrow, you can go in next week, they are there for you’.

I just wish that at the beginning of my studies I could have read some success stories of people like me, you know saying – We’ve had it, we’ve done it and we’ve qualified!

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I suspected I might be dyslexic when I was applying for the course but I didn’t actually know. My sister was diagnosed recently and I struggle more than her! She advised me to see what the university has to offer. I found out that there is a team of people in the library who specialise in helping students with this called Edge Ahead. You can have a test that they arrange for you and that there are grants available to provide additional support. They told me I needed to contact them as soon as I was registered on the course; they weren’t actually able to do anything for me until I was registered as an Edge Hill student.

I was a bit concerned that I might struggle on the course. This course is 50% practical which is what really attracted me to it in the first place. I’m quite good if I have the support when it comes to assignments because I know I can ask people to read through and check for spelling and grammar mistakes. But in exams because I don’t have that help available, I always panic and often as a result I forget things or don’t write clearly.

It was really good to have the opportunity to be tested. When I found out I did have dyslexia I was given a letter which explains my type of dyslexia. I submit this when I do exams and although it doesn’t give me any extra marks, it explains why I might have missed full stops or made grammatical mistakes so that allowances can be made.

Disclosure and Support

Since my diagnosis, I have been given lots of information about the support tools that are available for me to access like special computer packages. It has been really helpful. I also go for sessions on assignment support to help me with my assignment and I get additional time in exams. I also get a lap top so that I have access to all the specific programmes that I need to support my learning and I get an extra financial allowance because I’m dyslexic that comes from the grants system.

Part of me doesn’t like telling people I’m dyslexic in case they think I’m slow or something. But the university have given me all this help so they obviously don’t see it as a problem otherwise I wouldn’t be on this course!

It is difficult on placement with my spelling and grammar when it comes to filling out placement documents. I practice writing words that I use frequently on each placement and ask for feedback from the nurse in charge. I write things out in rough and get someone to check it well in advance to make sure it’s written in the right context before I write in any formal documents.

I think it’s really important to be honest. I mean, one of the characteristics of a nurse is to be honest, because with record keeping everything has to be spot on and you are accountable for any mistakes. So if you’re not honest about something like having dyslexia and you miss something out which could be a silly word but that could be absolutely vital to the sentence, even just something like ‘and’, it could make a big difference to how care is delivered and become a really big issue. If people on your placement aren’t aware of your dyslexia, you know you’re on your own and will have no one to support you or to stand by you.

I didn’t realise how common it was. I’ve met about six people already on my course who have got dyslexia and they all have found different ways to cope with it. When it comes to exams, there are about fifteen of us who get extra support for all different reasons so I don’t feel alone. As well as getting additional time, I actually get to use a computer and have a reader as well. It really takes the pressure off and means I am much calmer when answering the questions.

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I lived in Africa before I started this course and became involved in care work when I came to the UK. I became interested in the health of the people I cared for and knew I wanted to study to find out more, but was unsure which course was right for me.

Health is very important. It’s very important. When I came to England my GP said that we need to find out whether you have had any infections in Africa. Some people coming from Africa have diseases like TB and HIV so it was important for me to get checked so that I could get treatment if I needed it. Because he was open and honest from the beginning with me, I was very open and honest with my GP.

It was my GP who helped me decide to apply for mental health nursing. My GP said this is the right course for you.  So I told him am I going to qualify about my health?  So he said you really will qualify for it, go for this one.  It is not a problem for you.

I believe that to train as a nurse or a healthcare professional you need to be healthy first and then secondly have the right entry qualifications. The two things go hand in hand of course. You might have lots of qualifications but if you can’t do the job because of your health, you can’t succeed in that field. I wasn’t at all worried about completing the Occupational Health forms because I had already had my MOT with my GP and knew I would be fine

I enrolled on the fast track programme to prepare myself for the academic side of the course. I don’t know how well I would be coping now if I hadn’t had the preparation of fast track. When I get an assignment now, I know how to tackle it! I know how to get the books I need from the library and how to access e-books and -journals. I also learned how supportive a personal teacher can be. Help was always available and I gained confidence in my own academic ability.

The mental health course is both interesting and challenging and although finances are never enough, everything else is quite brilliant!

I would suggest that anyone worried about their health status and whether it will impact or prevent them from getting on to a course, should go and discuss it with their GP. It will put your mind at rest!

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I’d always known I wanted to be a nurse. I come from a nursing family. When I left school I got a job as a healthcare assistant in a nursing home just to make sure!

When I was applying for the course I had a health questionnaire I had to fill in. I thought that they’d reject me because I had asthma and I did consider not disclosing it but then I thought they’d find out sooner or later anyway so I may as well just put it down. Anyway, my GP had to sign the back of it.

I’d been for my interview and was offered a place on the course subject to satisfactory references, CRB check and medical. I knew I’d get good references because I was doing well in my job and I wasn’t worried about my CRB check.  But because I’ve got asthma I was wondering if that would affect anything but it didn’t.

Then I got a letter saying that I had to make an appointment with the Occupational Health nurse.  I made an appointment and then I went. They had all my details there because I’d filled in a questionnaire and she just asked me the questions that I’d answered yes to.

One of those questions was about medication and whether you have taken any in the last twelve months. She just asked me what the medication was and I said my inhalers. My asthma is well managed as long as take my inhalers and she told me there and then that I’d passed.  I was so relieved!  She said oh you’ve passed and it’s all fine. She just needed to send the form back to university with her signature on it.

Since I’ve been on the course I have had some time off sick on placement and was worried about how to make up my hours. I e-mailed my personal teacher who is really good. I emailed her on a Sunday and she emailed me back at 09:50 on Monday! She reassured me that it wouldn’t stop me progressing on the course and she would plan with me and my next placement how I could begin to make up time. There was no pressure because she explained I have until the end of my course to complete the right number of practice hours.  The main thing was that I was well again, that I was passing my practice learning outcomes and I was passing all my theory work too.