[Noo]

So does the whole of the time you're on call count towards your hours then? Since if you're up all night waiting for the call, you're fit for nothing the next day!

[ollybolly]

NO!! You go to bed and carry on life as normal. If in the event your mentor gets called, she will then call you. Out of all my on calls I think I was called 3 times over a 10 week period. There is just no way of knowing if you will or wont be. SMwife did 10 weeks last year and didnt get called once (she stopped going to bed in her clothes after 2 weeks !!)
If you do get called out then the hours are counted and you usually miss work the next day. If you dont get called then you go to work and count normal day hours.
Littlenoo, even though your uni is 30 miles away the trust will probably cover a wide area and community placemement could be a lot closer to home if you are lucky.
In our area, on calls were negiotable to a certain extent, but you were strongly encouraged and sometimes depending on circumstances, obliged to do them. As I said earlier, am really glad i did them although logistically it was sometimes a complete nightmare.

[Noo]

Hmm.. spose i could do them only if they were nights going into OH's days off/late shifts. Not a hope in hell if he on an early as he leaves at 6.45am and nursery doesn't open til 8am.

[ollybolly]

it is hard, i understand that. In actual fact, the logisitcs where the one thing that worried me about starting the course above all else.
To cope with my on calls, I asked various people to come and stay sometimes. Or, asked others in the sameboat, eg smwife, to be my on call for my on call! So if necessary would run round there with the kids in middle of night, thankfully though it hasnt happened yet. By no means does every on call result in a trip out in the middle of the night!

What are you going to do about hospital night shifts as well Littlenoo? As you will probably have the same problem there then?
When you start you will probably find there are a lot of people in your cohort in the same position as you. I was thinking that i would be the only sigle mum attemmting something so crazy as a midwifery course with all its unsocial hours and committments. How wrong i was!! thank goodness!! It means there are people in the same position as you going through the same thing as you, and you can help one another out. Obviously, it is not the position you find yourself in, but there will be others with logisitcal probs like you, and you will be able to help each other out and find a way through. You might be super duper lucky and get a fab mentor who understands probs and let you off all the on calls there are!!
x

[Noo]

Night shifts would be difficult but my MIL would be more willing to have him over night than "possibly" having to go to work... at least I'd know I was definitely out and for how long. Main problem is my OH is a police officer and as his shift work pays the mortgage, it'd take priority over mine until I'm earning. So it'd be me arranging my shifts around his and his mother... Tis all I can do.

[Noo]

and since the likelihood that my placements will be at LEAST half an hour away (more than likely 45 minutes as thats where they are) I'd have allowed for that travelling time for set shifts.