How to Survive your Nursing or Midwifery Course

Monica Gribben is a dyslexia specialist with a background in languages and education. She works as Dyslexia Adviser at Edinburgh Napier University and, in a private capacity, as Dyslexia Consultant to corporate companies. Monica has widespread experience in student support, specialising in Scottish and Norwegian University support systems for students with dyslexia. Throughout her career, she’s worked extensively with student nurses and midwives. Monica currently sits on the Scottish Government′s Working Party Group on Dyslexia and is Author of The Study Skills Toolkit for Students with Dyslexia.  Stephen McLellan is Careers Adviser at Edinburgh Napier University and Secretary of the University′s Unison Branch. Throughout his career, Stephen has worked extensively with student nurses and midwives.    Debbie McGirr trained and worked as an RGN in Newcastle before moving to Edinburgh to undertake post-registration Sick Children′s Nursing (RSCN) course.  She worked across a variety of settings (acute medical/ITU/HDU) before moving into the community to undertake her BA Community Health and District Nursing qualification.  She set up the REACT palliative care service at RHSC Edinburgh and worked as a community paediatric palliative care nurse across the east of Scotland.  She then moved into teaching to be the part-time discipline leader for the national Community Children′s Nursing Degree (Specialist Practitioner Qualification) at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh before taking up a full time post in child health nursing education at Edinburgh Napier University.  Debbie took a break from education to develop the community children′s nursing service in Fife as the team manager before returning to Edinburgh Napier to further develop her career in Higher Education. Sam Chenery Morris (RGN, RM, RSCN) is an Associate Professor in Midwifery at the University of Suffolk. She has worked in all areas of midwifery practice, from the community to the delivery suite, from 1995-2003 before moving into teaching in 2006. Sam has a PhD in midwifery education specifically around learning, assessment and grading in clinical practice and an MA in Interprofessional Healthcare Education. Her teaching expertise encompasses normal midwifery practice, neonatal care and screening, professional issues and research methods with her module responsibilities reflecting these areas. She is a link lecturer to local hospitals and has an External Examiner post at the University of Nottingham.  Sam has presented at local, national and international conferences including RCM and RCN conferences, the Doctoral Midwifery Research Society Global Conference and International Confederation of Midwives Congress. She has written chapters in edited books and articles in midwifery journals, including Evidence Based Midwifery, MIDIRS, and Nurse Education in Practice. 

Chapter 1: So you want to be a nurse or a midwife?
Chapter 2: You′re more than just a student
Chapter 3: Communication and interpersonal skills
Chapter 4: Procrastination: putting things off and delaying the obvious
Chapter 5: Evidence-based practice
Chapter 6: Succeeding at assessments
Chapter 7: Reflective practice
Chapter 8: Making theory make sense in clinical practice
Chapter 9: Fitness to Practise – how to be a safe and professional nurse or midwife
Chapter 10: Expectations and responsibilities in nursing and midwifery clinical practice
Chapter 11: Planning and preparing your career in nursing or midwifery
Chapter 12: Developing your Professionalism