Nursing at Ovingdean hosts Naval Student Nurses

Andrew Cooper and Laura Downer are second year military student nurses on placement from the Royal College of Defence Medicine at Selly Oak in Birmingham who are studying for BSc (Hons) in Nursing at Birmingham City University.  In the
2^nd year of training Naval nurses are required to undertake three six week placements. Both Andy and Laura requested an older person/visual impairment placement and were attracted to St Dunstan's as our clients are from a Services background.   

Andy requested to come for his placement at St Dunstan's, as it was the only care  home in the South to be awarded an Excellent rating from the local PCT. Following discussion Laura also decided that there were unique learning opportunities available at St Dunstan's.

The usual process for students is that they initially join the team shadowing trained nurses, then through supervised clinical practice, develop their skills.  Tasks include undertaking a range of work based learning from bedside and technical clinical skills, from maintaining careplan documentation, to management and administration of medications.

Laura and Andy commented that they felt welcomed by our staff and quickly gained experience and confidence in working as part of a clinical team that consistently delivers a high standard of care to clients.  While at St Dunstan's, both Andy and Laura developed clinical skills that will help them provide specialised high levels of care to future clients and in particular to those suffering with a visual impairment.  

The experience also gave them grounding and knowledge in the Gold Standards Framework and Liverpool Care Pathway, which is a hospice initiated standard aimed at integrating best practice and quality care for those clients approaching the end of life.

Laura and Andy both remarked on the excellent Nursing facilities at Ovingdean, especially on the refurbished Nursing Wings. They were also impressed by the client’s access to Rehabilitation and Training Services,  commenting on ‘How St Dunstan's works as an organisation to provide services that enable clients to maintain as much independence as possible in their lives while living with the challenges of visual impairment’.

On completion of training Andy will be staying in the Royal Navy as a nurse, hoping to specialise in either emergency or critical care, and wishes to serve in places such as Afghanistan.

After successfully passing her Nursing degree, Laura wishes to put her skills to use as a Naval nurse specialising in emergency medicine.

We wish them every success in their futures.