There were several dangers to this treatment but in the past century technology has evolved to a certain point that the treatment is now concerned to be one of the safest there is. The dialysis machine has several built in alarms, which notify the ward staff if there are any problems. For example if any air got into the blood of the patient then it could cause a serious problem and could potentially be fatal, if this problem occurs the dialysis machine automatically shuts off the pump and traps the blood, while sounding an alarm which notifies the staff. Who can then readjust the system and remove the trapped air.
On my first morning for work I wasn’t sure what to expect, as the preliminary interview was a little brief and I now think misleading. In the interview I asked what my general tasks would include but my supervisor, Mr John Simmonds, dodged the question and changed the subject. When I arrived for the interview I was a little disappointed with the size of the ward I was working in, I was expecting the ward to be within the main hospital, maybe on the second floor and a hive of busy working people. But in fact it was the complete opposite, it wasn’t the busy second floor ward that I wanted but a ground floor old peoples’ home in a larger version of a caravan. I was then disappointed even more when I found out that all of the ward nurses or sister were aged forty plus, as you can probably guess I was looking for a twenty something girl, reality is a cruel misleading world. A real hospital is nothing like Casualty.
However these nurses we all very polite and welcoming to me and made me comfortable around them. A few of them, one in particular named holly was very interested in my hair and whenever we had a conversation it was never anything to do with school or work experience but always my hair.
The first morning I didn’t give the best first impression of myself, I was smartly dressed, my hair was newly braided and I felt on top of the world. I purposely made sure I had breakfast to keep me going, so why the next thing happened I will never know. My supervisor Mr Simmonds was giving my co-worker and I the guided tour of the ground floor ward and talking us though the safety precautions. We then got to check the medical bag, which was, completed daily, all of a sudden I began feeling very dizzy and my vision started to blur. In the past when I began to feel like this it was simply just because I hadn’t eaten in the morning but I knew that this must be different because I had eaten. I leaned against the nearest wall and opened my eyes as far as possible to try and focus my vision, however my eyes were continually drawn to the chair, which was literally a metre away. But I kept telling myself that I was fine and this feeling would pass, but as my supervisor continued talking I was then struggling to stay on my feet. Now for a doctor I wasn’t to impressed that my supervisor didn’t notice me swaying from side to side.
The next thing I remember was thinking about what I was going to at the weekend and having a very deep thought into what I was going to eat at lunch. I then suddenly thought to myself my eyes are closed and im at work, I must have fallen asleep. I quickly opened my eyes expecting to be in the same position as before leaning against the wall with my supervisor still talking. But strangely I now felt a lot better, as my eyes started to come into focus three beady sets of eyes where starring over me. I couldn’t figure it out and without thinking I said:
“Can I help you”?
“Do you know where, you are Darren”
“Yes of course I do im at Watford General”
“Very good, now how old are you”
“Im 15, why am I on the floor”
It suddenly all made sense, I passed out. Once they had got me to my feet and I got over the embarrassment of the whole situation, I was then treated as a minor throughout the whole week. Maybe it was my own fault but I wasn’t afraid of blood and I’ve never passed out before. I began to think that it could have been down to stress because I had been thinking about my first day for a long time and it was finally upon me and I couldn’t handle it. Once I had calmed down and taken in countless cups of water, I attempted to pick up where I left off.
Apart from that the whole week passed by without incident, I arrived at work, went to lunch, went home. I wasn’t qualified to any major jobs so I was left to my own tasks and in the end I set my own personal targets and goals, none of which were related to the field of work I was in.
The staff and patients were very friendly if not just a bit patronising, I never really got to talk to the patients as they were either sleeping, watching television or just reading their book. The staff on the other hand were very helpful and always willing to give me advice and information about what their job involved. I became very good friends with one doctor, Jean Paul, as we both had a common love for football, which was always a high point of conversation in the staff room. He was a very passionate fan and was relieved that he had someone to talk to about football. He told me that a lot of the staff were not interested in football and he never really had anyone to talk to about the subject.
As the week went on I learnt more and more but found myself becoming increasingly frustrated at the simple fact that I wasn’t being asked to get involved in many practical activities. Which made each day drag on longer and longer, at one point I actually wanted to back in school!
On my final day I had an interview with my supervisor just I had done on my preliminary interview. He told me that I had performed extremely well all week and was a very well presented young lad who was an asset to St Clement Danes. He then followed this by asking me I thought there was anything that could be improved so that the next student who came on work experience could benefit. I was going to tell him that I was bored for most of the time but he had just complemented me so well I didn’t want to offend him so I just said it was a very enjoyable experience.
Overall the week was definitely worth it because I realised that working in a hospital was something that I didn’t want to take up as a profession. I may not have participated much in practical events but I still learnt a lot just by being in an everyday working situation.
