₦airaland Forum

I was back to my primary job on 30th of December, it was a beautiful day worked with nice set of nurses and hca and we had fun. I worked long day again the second day, that was the 31st of December, i got home around 2030hr, ate a little and jetted out for the New year watch service at RCCG kings tower Assembly in Holmethorpe, i trekked 22 minutes to reach the church, service ended at 0130hr on 1st Of January and i trekked back home.
Welcome to 2019, I slept till 0600hr, then bathed and prepared for work. Being a public holiday, there was no bus service so i got a Road-Runner taxi and guess what i paid £15 for a 5 minutes drive. I was angry at myself that i could have woken up on time and trek, a whopping £15, said to myself No Road-Runner next time I had the habit of converting pound to Naira for every item, but it was causing me so much heartache, you will see a small pen for £1 that is about #450 for goodness sake, i have to stop, it is what it is, no more conversion. Work was very hectic on this day, work load was killing, the in-charge was not supportive but i pulled through. After close of work i was able to get two more coleagues to join me in the taxi so we shared the fare. It was back to business as usual on 2nd January. All offices opened, all public utilities opened so i took the bus to work. I worked with a different in-charge who allowed me to work according to my plan unlike the previous day where the in-charge was everywhere and all over everyone. Because the population of UK is predominantly aged or elderly a 75 year old is still classified as adult and not elderly. We have some wards dedicated to care of the elderly, that is people aged above 75. I had this experience when i was in Lagos, at Euracare Multi-specialist hospital. My mum was sick so i took some time off to travel to check on her. on coming back i was discussing with my Medical director, he asked how old is my mum, i told her just a tad above 75, he said she is still young. i raised my eyebrow. he insisted that she is still young.

At this time, i have become master of my own game, no more running around the unit like a headless chicken looking for one object ot the other, i know the routine and non routine activities, i can make referral to relevant teams without the in-charge nurse input. I started being in-charge during night shifts. Night shifts are on a different level. My first nights were horrible baptism of fire, when i received patients who were well oriented during hand over but just as night got older, they changed due to sundowning and they started to pull out canula, there was blood everywhere, you were cleaning blood and placing new canula, the infusion pumbs beeping and waking other ones that were sleeping. Pulling out urinary catheter even with the balloon still inflated, now there was heamaturia, or sometimes frank blood. the sight of blood agravate their agitation further. Another one has pulled out the nasogastric tube, the Amika pump was beeping, i have to place a new tube, a new tube was placed but there was no gastric aspirate, i needed to request for x-ray to confirm correct placement, x-ray was requested but before the porter could come to take the patient, he/she has pulled out the new tube. I was calling the on call doctor and the site manager. Placing new catheter, starting bladder irrigation, Collecting blood samples, chasing the laboratory for the results. Another person that was woken up, wants to go out for a stick in the middle of the night. and another one has called her daughter and the daughter is calling the ward to know why her mum was being disturbed from sleeping, on top of all of that there was one very poorly clinical-wise all the early warning score was blaring high, all these within a 12 hour shift. In the morning you were rushing through documentation because there was no time to sit and write, documentation must be top-notch, to capture all that happened. You may have to complete more one Datix form. Datix is the online incident report form. It could be worse than this, i have seen worse actually. The bottom line is that care, courage and compassion must shine through all this challenges, the hallmark of a good nurse.

I have worked 4 lond days in a row, i am having three days off. the first day of off, i went to see my friend, the one i travelled with from Nigeria.
She was planning to travel back to Nigeria. During our preparartion for the OSCE, she lost her Dad. That partiuclar day, i discovered she was nowhere to be found in the class, so i asked around and was told she has gone back home. After we closed the class, another friend told me that she went home because she got a call from Nigeria that her dad died. We informed the facilitator who was really shaken. So i organised everyone to say their thought in a video and posted it to her on her WhatsApp. When we got back to Noble house, four of us went to her room. She did not even close her door. She was still crying, i gave her tissues to clean up. and sat down with her for hours. She did not want to eat but we managed to persuade her to eat a little noodles. We supported her through the week-end. By next monday she was fit enough to continue class. She told the family back in Nigeria to post-pone the burial till when she wil be available. So this January after settling down well and was able to save some money, she was travelling to attend the burial of her father, i visited to bid her journey mercy and not to forget to bring ogbonno.
At this time, i had run out of so many materials like gaari, dried pepper, yam powder, dried ponmo, ogbonno etc. i have been buying from the lebanese shop around the twon center. But someone told me, food stuff are cheaper in Croydon. on the second day, i boarded Bus 405 to Croydon. There are many African shops in Croydon and things were very cheap. In Redhill, i have bought one ripe plantain for £1, but in Croydon i bought 3 for £1.
I bought gaari, ogbonno, ponmo, Oloyin beans, Shaki, Snails, Smoked titus and African chicken or hard Chicken which is the equivalent of our layers chicken in Nigeria, i bought a handful of red pepper, what we called Rodo, this Rodo is so hot that that you need to use 1or 2 for soup, it is hotter than Nigerian Rodo. If you do not want another person to join or eat with you, just use 4 or 5 Rodo in your soup/meal, trust me no one would join except someone like me, i love hot spicy meals.

When i resumed to work on Tuesday, most of the patients i knew have been discharged, replaced with new set of patients. There was never a dull moment on my ward. each time i resumed to work there is new thing to learn. I have new thing to learn about the clinical practice and the administration that goes with it. I interfaced with a lot of other professionals, the Doctors ( each ward has its own doctors led by a Consultants or two, SHO, FY2 and FY1) the Physiotherapists, the Occupational therapists and the Pharmacists at the ward level. the speech and language therapists, the dieticians, infection control specialists, tissue viability nurses, stoma care nurses and palliative team to name a few.
One aspect of care that found so strange that i had to sit down with the palliative team was the end of live care pathway. i was thinking, how could you just allow people to die. But after my discussion with the team i have better understanding of the goal and process. I also struggled to understand why every deteriorating patients can not be taken to the ITU for invasive interventions. In Nigeria, every worsening conditions would be taken to the ICU or the theater, where available. As times goes on i began to understand the full details of the policies and mode of practise, care pathways, referral and escalation pathways.
We were already in December and i have three weeks to move out of the accommodation that was provided by the trust. Mid Novemeber, I registered with letting agencies on the high street, connels,Leaders, woodland, Purple bricks, Andrews etc. I also registered with intolondon.com, rightmove.com, spareroom.com, zoopla, Gumtree, primelocations etc. I never knew what i was against, no one has informed me that getting a house will be a herculean task. There were so many houses, but the issues are i am an immigrant with no rent history, and the houses are too expensive. Accommodation here are either Flats/Apartment or Houses. House could be fully detached or Semi-detached. Because of its proximity to London, Rent is very expensive in Redhill, a two bedroom house start at £1250/cm, while 2 bedroom flats starts at £1000/cm.
I decided to view a paricular house with two of my female colleagues, it was a 3 bedroom flat close to the town center, it was offered at £1450/cm, i told them if we could rent it together, we would be paying just £600/cm each, i figured the bills should not be more than £350/cm.
I love the building but unfortunately it did not meet the taste of my friends, one said there was no carpet rug on the staircase. So i missed that particular opportunity. I inspected a couple of houses which i did not like.
To inpect a house, you have to book a date with the agent, the agent will in turn comfirm the date with the occupant of the house, some dates will be canceled if the occupant changed his/her schedule. Woodland lettings called me that there was a change of circumstances with the flat that i viewed earlier very close to the town center, a company has acquired it and wants to rent it out in pieces/rooms. I got the company's agents contact and scheduled a viewing again. To my surprise, the house is now being let as a four bedroom instead of three bedroom that it was before.
The living room is now a bedroom on its own. The lay out of the flat is there is kitchen to your right as you enter, straight ahead is the living room, to your left is the staircase that lead to the three bedroom upstairs, two double rooms and a single room and the bathroom. the living room is let out at £545 while the bigger of the double room upstairs was £535, the second double room was £525 and the single room was £500. The company will be responsible for the bills. Usual bills are Council tax, Energy and water Bills. After the inspection, i decided to rent the living room, because it is the biggest, it has a big sofa already and it is close to the kitchen.
I had to pay the withholding fee which is the equivalent of a week's rent, and it will be deducted from the total rent to be before moving in date.
The next working day, the forms were sent to me to fill, and then i started chasing my referees. It took about a week for me to complete the forms, chase referencing and credit checks. After all the checks were done, and i paid the first rent and the security deposit of £650, we signed the tenancy agreement, I got the key to the flat and a fob to open the main door that let one into the biulding. I had the option of hiring a professional cleaner to clean the room for me but i can not afford £30/hr for something i could do formyself, So i bought, parker and brush, cleaning foam and dettol solution. After much sweats and 3 hours, the room was cleaned to my satisfaction.
When it was a week to my move out date, my present land lord sent a mail as reminder, so i informed him of my intention to move out before the set date. I started moving my things little by little as i did not want to hire a van. Van and man could cost me about £40/hr, hence a lot of DIY to save money.
It was Mid December, the whole scenery has changed, the council, Reigate and Banstead borough has placed decorative lights on the high street topped by the big Christmas tree. My first winter was a very biting experience. Temperature could not soar more than 2*c. I can not say if it was the stress of moving house or the cold that caused it, i caught flu just before christmas. It was very bad, all my lips were cracked, i got 3 days sick leave to recover, It was at this moment that i discovered that i have not registered with a GP, shame.
There were two GP in my neighborhood. Hawthorne surgery on Oxford Street and Greystone surgey on Station road, I went to Greystone surgery first but the attitude of the front desk officers put me off, so went Hawthorne Surgery that has a more relaxed atmosphere and more welcoming.
The fornt desk officer checked my post code to determine if i was in the catchment area before giving me the forms to fill, i sat down to fill the forms immediately, i have no time to be going back and forth, she made copies of my id and that was it. She said i will be notified once my registration is complete.
Apart from the sick leave, my manager decided to give me part of my vacation days, so i was off work till 30th of December. Since i was fully recovered from the flu i decided to use it to do something different and make extra money. I have registered with an agency that supply nurses and hca or carers to nursing homes. So i called the agent and gave him my availability. December the 28th, he came to pick me up at Redhill and drove me to a nursing home in East Grinstead. It was baptism of fire as i was in charge of close to 20 residents, it was difficult but i got the job done at the end of the day, and that was my introduction into working with agencies. I worked in many homes in Surrey, West Sussex and some borough in Greater London.

I was woken up by a soft knock on the door, my house mate was set for the trip, said the other colleagues will be with us in 45 minutes. I rushed into the shower, took me no time to get set. I had a little more time to prepare tea for me and my colleague. We got to the train station at 0845hr, the tarin to Brighton through Horsham was in 15 minutes. It was a 12 coach Southern train, we boarded the 5th coach. I slept off immediately we sat down with the instruction to not disturb me unless there is fire or we have reached our destination. My housemate poked me and i woke up with anger, he pointed out to the station's platform at Horsham, obviously the train has stopped. There were two ladies hitting themselves by the platform and the train dispatch official were trying to seperate them, it was a shock to me, and my colleagues. First time that i would see people fighting in the UK, of course i have seen video of adults fighting on the street in the US, never thought it could happen in the UK also.
We got to Brighton at 1030hr, i was surprised to see red colored buses like London buses, we boarded a bus that will take us to the nearest bus stop to the beach. We trekked a little distance from the bus stop and there it was, the Brighton beach and her famous pier house. It was a rude shock to found that the water is very dirty and this is the very beach i have visited that is made of stones instead of sand. The beach is made up of stone pebbles. There were a lot of sea gulls pestering the fun-seekers. One of my colleagues suggested that we should visit the Piers first before we settled on the beach. The Pier is the main fun house containing so many games and activities, you have to pay at each point. I settled with the table tennis court and played with another visitor that i met there. Some of my colleaques played with gokart, some with the bouncing castle.
We went back to the sea side, and prepared a space for ourselves, many wanted to reach the water line but i told them i am not interested, the water is really dirty. i sat down and enjoyed the sun, sipping my cold coke. We later played volley ball using doubled large balloons, we were eight in number so there were four on each side, the wind was blowing the hither thither but that was the only inflatable thing we had with us.
Close to the beach was a sea aquarium, we decided to spent the remaining time at the aqaurium, best decision of the day. We had more fun a the aqaurium than we did on the beach. We saw so many species of fish and turtles and even an anaconda. We walked under the aquarium, felt like diving with the sharks.
Our return train was scheduled for 1428hr but we were at the station at 1420hr. We boarded Gatwick express, which goes straight from Brighton to Gatwick, non stop. We changed at Gatwick to a train going to Reigate. Getting to Redhill, three colleagues decided to spent the evening with us in the apartment. So we picked up Pizza and some drinks to enjoy while we watch netflix.
I have had two trips in two days so i was half awake while watching the movies, i did know when the colleagues left, one of them covered my face with pizza box, took a picture and sent it to our WhatsApp chat group. I had one day off left.
I did my laundery and prepared for the next wave of shifts.

ignis:
Meanwhile some people said Coronavirus is a hoax and does not exist.

He was never negative at any point. The first and second samples tested positive.

Lexusgs430:
Your PM is now in ITU.......

Coro nah bastard..... Possible intubation, just incase he takes a turn........

Preparation tinz.......

I wish him quick recovery so that he can come back to tender his apology for the delayed response his government had at the onset of the pandemic. I believe nhs is making the same mistake with her staff with ppe rationing or non-existence and delayed testing for front line staff.

Thinking beyond Covid 19, I hope there will be adequate and prompt treatment for nhs staff with PTSD. Felt like crying at work today, but then could not cry. Burden of service.

Pinkyposh:
When do you think, it's going to clear off?

Well according to epidemiologists, with the effects of measures being implemented now, we should be having flatter curves anytime from late April to Mid May.

justwise:
Regarding the ban by the antspambot ..please next time you get banned report it straightway it will be removed.

Thank you.

LarrySun:
Some will die before the virus kills them in this country. Some people are already bathing with petrol to fight the virus.

we have collective amnesia, some people die due to bathing and drinking salt during the last ebola outbreak. Bathing with petrol...... oh stupidity has new meaning.

Afajay7:
Hello house. I just got an endorsement for Global talent visa and planning to apply for visa for myself and my dependants (4 people) . I want to confirm if i can pay the IHS fee via my naira debit visa card. If not, please tell me how to go to about it. Thank you

Yes you can.

promisechild:
thanks very much! One more last question sir! Experience is core requirement expected from me in order to be admired for the study and a minimum of 500-750 hours of experience within the healthcare setting is required of me. I currently work as a support worker in a mental health facility hence I don’t problem with the experience public! I was asked to present a portfolio of an recognition of prior learning. Do you know what this entails and how to go about it?

I have limited knowledge about developing the portfolio, i believe we would have expert in this forum. but by my limited understanding, A Portfolio of prior learning assessment is a compilation of all your experience and knowledge as an individual, a student, a professional. your experience in the formal and informal sector. Look at it as an expanded CV. Citing all your writings, articles, projects. If you do it well, it can earn you some credits.
I hope someone else can help you out in better way than i have done, you can post same question in the education and schools part of the forum. Also, do some digging on google, you will sure have some prototypes you can copy.

cc
Justwise.

promisechild:
thanks very much! One more last question sir! Experience is core requirement expected from me in order to be admired for the study and a minimum of 500-750 hours of experience within the healthcare setting is required of me. I currently work as a support worker in a mental health facility hence I don’t problem with the experience public! I was asked to present a portfolio of an recognition of prior learning. Do you know what this entails and how to go about it?

You mean portfolio assessment of prior learning ?

promisechild:
ok thanks! Just that I have limited schools offering mental health nursing pre registration but I will now search thoroughly for it based on my existing profile! If I may ask what band will I start from after the qualification? And what is the rate per hour for a new inexperienced nurse??

Please search very well, most universities offer Msc Mental health in two years.
If you secure a job with nhs, you will start on band 5, afc. The hourly rate is relative or location dependent.

promisechild:
BSC philosophy
MSc Psychology(UK)
About to enroll for MSc Nursing(pre registration)Uk

Which of these type of nursing is more lucrative

Adult nursing ?
Mental health nursing ?
Child nursing ?
Learning disabilities nursing?

Please advise me accordingly to my background

You are already building a profile for yourself. Philosophy - Psychology, i would advise Mental health Nursing to build on the existing experience.
There is a lot you can achieve with that profile after qualification.

justhenrii:
good day sir please i just wanted to inquire if there are opportunities for dental surgeons who want to relocate to the UK

I believe so, if you check code 2211 of the shortage occupation list.

Aphrodite007:
Hospitals are different, maybe yours you guys don’t have enough, or maybe by now it’s finished, but I assure you, there was enough protective equipment at the hospital that I was in. They even gave me some to take home. The nurses just refused to help out.

It was the black ones that we’re running around to help us. They were fearless. I so respected them. That’s why I’m disappointed to see what I’m seeing here because I’ve been boasting about the foreign/black nurses that put their passion first, over the Brit nurses that abandoned us.

I salute your passion in demanding responsibility and courage from the system. But let me take on the buzzer issue first. I have ignored buzzers a couple of times for some moments and I have observed diligent and caring managers do same. It's called prioritizing, I don't claim to know the circumstances of the unit when the buzzer of your co-patient went off, but I can bet there was most possibly important and life threatening issues being dealt with by the staff. There was a particular night duty, I had two elderly and delirious patients under my care, one pressed the bell because she needed the commode, on my way to get one for her because the healthcare assistants were busy with another patient. Then the second delirious patient had a fall and started bleeding ( for whom I have requested for 1:1 specialling, but was declined). I pressed the emergency bell, every one left whatever they were doing and came round to help, We assisted the patient back to bed with a full hoist and started full observations, I went to the phone to make a MET call. The first patient that needed a commode started shouting. Of course passersby would think, the nurse left this patient in limbo and was making calls. This is just one example out of many real cases. Forget what happens in movies, hospitals are real time places where real time and time bound decisions are made.
A nurse committed suicide in Italy as reported, when she tested positive to Covid19, she left a note, that she feared she must have spread the disease unknowingly to other patients.
Without PPE, no one is safe, the staff, the patients, the system and the society.
Some bays are closed because, no staff to man them, because the staff are either in post-exposure isolation or protective isolation.
I got news this morning that some colleagues on a particular ward that I have worked tested positive, one was reportedly being intubated. These are people that I have worked with, friends that we have have shared chocolate and cookies during breaks, jokes and pranks, healthy people without preexisting conditions, would I be ok to see them in the situation they are now.
As I have said before on this platform, the whole world can do with a lot of positivity and encouragement right now.
I rest my case here.

justwise:
Yes the UK is a nation of law and order but you need to know when and how to apply it else you will waste time and money chasing shadow.

There is sense in this. You don't need to flaunt the law in their face. Use the law as the last resort and keep it to your chest up till the last moment.

fjigga:
nice writeup.....i live in Redhill (Earlswood precisely) .

Welcome to the area and i hope you are settling in well.

Thank you. Lovely to hear you, another Nairalander lives in Redhill. Do you work in ESH ?
Stay safe.

phockallmods:
Mhen, you are a writer.

Thank you.

Olalekank:
Egungun be careful, na express you dey go

Lolz

BennyDGreat:
Baba mi the issue for that place no fit be like Naija own.... chai....it dey do me like make I just close my eye, lift my right leg up and disappear reach U.S tabi Canada hahaha

Lolz

[quote author=Symbae post=87938858][/quote]Oh okay, it will clear off soon and you will be able to travel soon.

GraGra247:
So then innocent people should die

No i did not insinuate that, these drugs are prescription only medicines which means innocent souls should not have access to them unless prescribed. We should just stay calm, abide with the social distancing, wash your hands stuff. The whole world is in dire straits, we need a lot of positivity and compliance.

thiagoteres:
In addition to what soknown said , it appears ur wife has a medical condition that makes her high risk in this covid era.
I have colleagues that been asked to shield at home for next three month so they don't catch anything.
Relax ur mind , be supportive and pray this drama ends soon.

You are right, protective isolation.

GraGra247:
Individuals testify of being cured from the virus but always keep the cure secret.

You took 8 tablets in the morning and 13 tablets at noon. How about you tell the world the names of the tables that cured you so millions will be saved.

Those that need to know are in the know. If it is common knowledge then those drugs will disappear from shelves just like tissue, eggs, bread and milk. Those drugs are POM but i wouldn't put it pass people who would break into pharmacies to raid off the drugs from the Shelves and sell them online.

LuvlyIva:
Hello house trust u guys are keeping safe? Please I need y advice I am confused. I and my wife remarried this year in Nigeria, she left to UK and promised applying for me when she gets bk, just for her to call me and said that the hospital she works is not allowing agency, that government said that agency is cheating on govt and not paying their taxes. So I asked her what she wants to do, she said she wants to start full permanent job by March and I have to wait for six-months for her to fill my papers. I said ok. Just for me to ask her yesterday, she told me that she is not working, staying at home bc of the covid. I was confused. She said some of her colleagues are affected with the virus, so I don't know if she is scared to go to work or because of her sugar problem. I am confused. How can she bring me to UK if she is not working. Kindly advise me. Thank you.

She must have been here awhile to be able to work for agencies alone, if she came back to Nigeria to remarry you then please trust whatever she said. Some nhs trusts are not allowing agency's staff because they move around a lot and they can bring whatever they are exposed to in Trust A to Trust B etc. Some Trusts allow only Bank Staffs that are not working elsewhere. She needs your support whatever the reason for not going to work.
Some friends that are going to work, do so with doubts and fear, not knowing if they have been exposed in one way or the other.
The government and the Society is trying to encourage them because they know if the healthcare staff strenght breaks then we are all doomed.

Symbae:
@soknown are you working in surrey?

Yes until 3 weeks ago.
You?

Confirmed cases in Surrey.

AndroBlaze:
I will have to disagree with you on this brother.

First of all, we don't have a Nigerian accent as groups in Nigeria speak English in very distinctive ways... so which one is it that Oyinbo find attractive, Buhari accent, Obasanjo accent or Orji Uzor Kalu accent?

This point I am making is the same for England that has got many different accents, are you telling me people are rating a Scouse accent (Carragher's) the same they would rate Prince William's accent?

Anyway, we don't have a uniform accent, just like the English, so when people are rating our accents they are rating what they hear us speak to them, which is when we drop the local attributes of our accent and try and internationalise it usually by trying to copy the dominant English accent, the US tv acccent.

The British do this too, as no Scouser or Glaswegian will speak with their thick local accents when abroad..... they change their English to the clearer accents. Language is about communication foremost, and though I don't like "funne", it's more than understandable when you are in an international crowd.

Thank you, word for word.

He could be mistaken for Yahya Jammeh, by his picture frame.

oladipuposadeeq:
i am telling you. And all this chemicals are things that i know. A client requested for IPA and carmopol 940 called importer and he was giving me three times the previous price. for hand sanitizer, the chemicals needed are glycerine, carmopol 940,IPA i.e isopropyl alcohol, ethanol with all this you are game[b]if[/b] you mix it appropriately.

Glad that you used the word 'if'. That is a very big variable that could determine living or dying for another human being. Now in this dangerous times, it is unacceptable to throw in a new uncertain variable into the system. Healthcare systems globally are over burdened by Covid 19 despite been well led and funded. In Nigeria healthcare system is non-existent or under funded at best. Can our healthcare system manage mass and sporadic chemical burns alongside Covid19 ?. We all know the answer.
NAFDAC, SON and Lagos Safety council should close that market.
We should stop blaming our leaders, they are a reflection of who we are as a people.

BlackPantherCri:
Where?

Cri, once a company in Lagos.