Waking up every morning I have a short moment before the reality of the COVID-19 situation sets in. And then it does.
For second year mental health nursing students like me, there is suddenly a great deal of uncertainty about the future and our positions.
There are lots of questions. What will happen to our missed placement hours? Are we going back on placement? And if we do, will we have the support we need as students?
Not only that, but will we have the correct personal protective equipment? Will we end up getting in the way and being more of a hindrance? And what is the best way our skills can be used during this crisis?
Teaching has been moved online. Honestly, it is so good to connect with people and to have some vague sense of normality that we are still working toward our end goal of becoming mental health nurses.
I have found the support from the lecturers to be fantastic. They are offering support for assignments and, more importantly, continually checking to see how we are doing, and if we ourselves need support.
There is so much uncertainty about what we should be doing, and this is felt even more so if we ourselves have health conditions.