Graduating with a First-Class Honours degree in Adult Nursing from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) last year, 23-year-old Alicia Holt is one of many nursing students to complete their final year of nursing under the strain of Covid-19. Alicia has recently embarked on a new career as a children’s nurse at Leicester Royal Infirmary. From her first day wearing the blue uniform to new experiences and now helping current students on placement, we caught up with her to find out more:
“The first day I put my blue dress on, it didn’t seem real. I thought to myself it’s finally here, three years of hard work has just flown by and it all happened so quickly.”
The first day of any new job is a test of nerves. But imagine that after years of training you will finally be on a hospital ward, responsible for the health of real people.
Now imagine that you’re doing all that in the middle of the greatest health crisis of modern times.
This is where Alicia Holt found herself in November last year, walking through the doors of the Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) in her blue uniform, a qualified nurse with a full-time job.
Luckily, she’d had three years to prepare – three years doing Adult Nursing at DMU, three years filled with LRI placements and real-world experience.
Still – what a first job.
“I was really nervous on my first day being an adult nurse,” she said. “But all my colleagues have been so supportive, it’s a big change for me but it has been great, I have got stuck in straight away and I love it.”
Alicia has actually switched from adult to child care, now looking after newborn babies on a daily basis, something she says she finds an absolute privilege to do so.
She said: “I am mainly based in Intensive Care and my day consists of anything from getting the babies ready for the day, feeding, nappy changing and dispensing oral medication. I have an exam in a few weeks which will hopefully mean I can administer IV medication too.
“Looking after newborn babies at the most vulnerable time of their lives is really rewarding, you come home and think I have really done something special today.
“I do believe you definitely need to be a certain type of person to do it, to be part of a baby’s first nappy change or feed is really something special, the parents are always so appreciative of everything we do, and I think its lovely to think parents will always remember you because you did some of their baby’s first experiences with them.”
The nature of the job – especially working with babies – has meant that Alicia has found herself in situations where a quick reaction is imperative. It is those moments, she said, where her time at university on placements had definitely put her in the best position she could possibly be.
She said: “A lot of things happen, and I think, ‘oh I know what to do’ because I learnt it on my placements. It’s not as different working with babies rather than adults as I first thought it would be, but my time at university has definitely helped me.
“In six months to a years’ time I will go back to DMU to do an extra course which will enable to do more specialist work, including ventilators.”
Alicia has also seen her former self through a first-year student nurse who asked for her help.
She added: “It’s amazing once you are working to see just how far you have come, I didn’t realise until I had a first- year student come up to me and asked if she could help me do a few things and observe.
“I didn’t realise exactly how much I had learnt until I was explaining things to her, I saw my former self, I was once that first-year student asking questions.
“The situation just made me realise how much I have achieved in the last three years and made me think how quickly it went from my first day at DMU to my final day as a DMU student, when I got in the car that day and text my friends it just didn’t seem real but I love my job, I still have a lot to learn but I am so glad I can now help other students too.”
Posted on Tuesday 23 March 2021