Sunday 31 March 2013

Re-connected! (On so many levels....)

All I can say is: 'Hurrah!!'. I am now re-connected to the internet at home after a number of weeks without access. Who would have thought that the internet is so important in a life (my life). I have recently moved 'down south' from Scotland as I have started a new job. The biggest challenge has been in getting the internet into my home. Anyway - I now feel connected once again to my friends and colleagues (having said that, my social calendar has been anything but quiet since I got down here).

I am now at the end of week 3 of an exciting new role at Anglia Ruskin University. In those three weeks I have met many of the academic staff, some of the clinical colleagues that I will be connecting with, and the people who work to support the students across the university. I have also had a live radio interview with BBC Radio Essex (my first foray into live radio!) in which I was asked why student nurses are too posh to wash, where the compassion has gone, and the HCA question (i.e. do I think that people who are accepted on to pre-registration nursing courses should undertake a year as an HCA - NO - of course not!). The interview is only available for a couple more days, but it was good to get a perspective across that balances the government's approach (I hope!). It was a day of media as one of our students had been asked to be interviewed on the same subject. I spoke to this student - a most eloquent, informed and sensible woman - proof that compassion is alive and well within our student body.

It is exciting times for me personally as I move into a totally new context (the England health context is very different from that of Scotland's). I feel enthused and excited by the things that I have heard - the commitment to making a positive difference in education and practice. I look forward to understanding the health and social care situation in more depth as I connect with people down here.