The Handover

This episode of The Handover sees host Erika speak with Thiago Silva and David Brown, two matures students currently in the second year of their pursuit of a nursing undergraduate degree. This is an extremely interesting discussion that examines both the sacrifices mature students make when doing an undergraduate degree, as well as the reward they feel in their pursuit despite these sacrifices. David and Thiago give us an honest account of what it is like pursuing nursing as mature students, as well as discussing the recent surge in males pursuing nursing over the last number of years. 

In this episode of The Handover, host Erika speaks with Marieven Budiongan, Clinical Nurse Manager here in St James’s Hospital. Marieven has been working as a CNM on the Private 1 ward for almost 10 years, an acute medical ward that is highly lauded by our student nurses in terms of the learning opportunities available to them and the staff that deliver those opportunities. Marieven speaks about her role as a CNM, providing great insight into all the intricacies involved in working as a nurse manager, which would be especially useful for anybody with aspirations for a career as a nurse manager.

In the second episode of The Handover, host Erika speaks with Graham King, Student Counsellor in the academic partner of St James’s Hospital, Trinity College Dublin. Erika posits the unique position student nurses find themselves in, navigating the world as both new adults and new healthcare workers. Graham offers unique insight into this position from the perspective of a psychotherapist, discussing topics such as mental health and burnout, perceptions of normalcy, the importance of work/life balance, recognising when to ask for help, and the services offered by the student counselling service in Trinity College Dublin.

Welcome to the first episode of St James's Hospital's 'The Handover', a podcast made for student nurses, by student nurses. The first episode is a conversation between host Erika, Clinical Placement Coordinator, and Emily McCarthy, a recently qualified Staff Nurse working here in St James’s Hospital.Emily speaks about a range of topics in this episode, including her nursing journey to date and what inspired her to begin it in the first place, the impact COVID had on her experience, managing her first experiences with death, what she deems the most valuable parts of training for nurses, as well as going through some essential skills she believes every good nurse should have.