In a few months I will have been doing my volunteer placement at my local hospital for two years. Those two years have flown by.

To say that I was reluctant to do any work experience in the begining would be an understatement. It was only after a visit to a uni open day that I realised, due to the competition for places, I would have to do something. It also dawned on me that if I was going to put myself through an Access course and then, hopefully, three years of uni I ought to make sure that this was something I wanted to do and volunteer work seemed the best way to discover this.

So I started the quest to get some experience by ringing my local surgery. They didn't have volunteers, but gave me the number of the volunteer department at the local hospital and after a quick call I was booked in for an interview. The interview was very informal and was mostly about explaining the type of things I was expected to do and going over my CRB check. It was then arranged for me to come in and shadow another volunteer before starting on my own..

The first day I walked in on my own I was really aware that I had pushed myself out of the comfort zone, I was so nervous! But I soon found my feet.

The nursery nurses and MCAs were the people who helped me find things to do and have always been pleased to see me turn up, especially when their are half a dozen beds that need making up! Other tasks I have found myself doing are: making up discharge packs and c-section notes, filing, the tea round (luv doing that gives me a chance to chat with the patients), guarding the door, answering the call bell, answering the phone, filling the cuboards with milk, etc, running things over to the delivery ward or to the labs and so many other little jobs.

The best part for me has been having the oppertunity to talk to staff about life as a midwife and their training. I have also seen things on the ward that have reinforced the fact that although this is the job I really do want to do it is by no means an easy one.

My volunteer work has been a vital experience and I now feel lucky to have been given that oppertunity. I will feel a little sad when I finish in a few months, but I know that someone will soon fill my place and it won't be long before I'm back on a ward somewhere...