I’ve just looked at my drafts, and I tried to begin to summarise my first year as a Newly Qualified and then when my two years as an NQP finished. It looks like I never found the words. So here I am, 2 and a half years after registering as a paramedic, trying to find the words.
I registered in October 2017, and worked until the start of January 2020. I decided to be proactive during my first two years as an NQP, and apply to take a career break once I fit the criteria. I strongly recommend doing this. Most of us, would agree that the first two years of the job are the most stressful of your career. And it shouldn’t be shameful to admit this. It’s even more stressful if you move ambulance services and nothing is familiar aside the clientele. You’ve got driving an ambulance on blue lights, figuring out how to use the radio, 5 different codes to remember, 4 different books to fill in regarding drugs, multiple forms to fill in, new local guidelines, drugs you’ve never seen before, local pathways and hospital politics that you get sucked up in and are a deer in headlights. And that’s just the beginning. Then there’s the list of firsts, the first cardiac arrest, the first RTC, the first death that you confirm, the first anaphylaxis or life threatening asthma, the first police statement, the first time someone swears at you, the first time you have to stick up for yourself. Once again, the list goes on. I’m sure you get my point, it’s stressful. On the flip side, it’s a crazy achievement. I applied at 17, registered having just turned 21. I’ve got a fantastic crew mate and a great support network. 9 months in, someone told me I was like a piece of the furniture on a shift that was being assessed. Embarrassingly, I fell over into a big sea filled puddle in front of the person assessing me, HEMS (heli heroes), coast guard, RNLI, and lots of the public that day. I was so soaked that they said I might as well wade into the boat to go with the patient to land. So now, 2 and a half years in, there’s new faces that I don’t recognise nearly every day and work is mostly very familiar. But, in this job, every day is a learning day, and I’m pretty sure I don’t know the answer to a question I’m asked, probably at least once a shift. One thing that I am pleased that I have learnt over the past could of years is to admit when you don’t know. It’s really hard, and I definitely still struggle to admit I’m wrong or don’t know on occasion but I’m a lot better at it now then when I graduated. It’s okay to not know the answer, and it’s okay to admit when you’re wrong.
ANYWAY, I’ve gone way off course. So, a three month break travelling parts of Asia, New Zealand and Fiji, did a world of good. Not thinking about work, following a schedule based upon where you’re going to stay, where to eat and what to see. It was amazing and we ate very well. The profession is diverse, sometimes fun, sometimes stressful, but I’m not sure that you can realise how much it changes you until you have a break from it. Another colleague who joined at the same time as me also cut down to one frontline shift a week and her and her partner noticed how she changed, for the better when she did this. So, take time away from the job, make sure you stay grounded to life outside of the ambulance service, see your friends and the world when the government permits it… My fantastic trip was cut short but that’s for another post…