General Practice Work Experience - Day 3

I'm afraid I didn't have time to do this post on thursday, but late is better than never!

On wednesday I was in the immunization clinic with two nurses. I was mostly babies and toddlers with their parents who came through the door to have the regular MMR vaccines, whooping cough and others.

Again, I really enjoyed it. You're probably fed up with me saying that, but it genuinely is true! It was really interesting to see how the nurse treated the children; it seemed to come so naturally to her to engage them in what was going on (as much as she could anyway, there's only so much one can do to engage a newborn!). But the most interesting thing for me was how she treated the siblings. This is something that I'm especially passionate about, making sure that when dealing with something which families are involved with, everyone is included in what is happening and everyone should understand what is being done. The nurse did this very well with parents, but also with the siblings, depute lots of them being just three or four years old. She was careful to make sure that they were prepared for their brother or sister screaming once the needle had gone in and she explained in child-friendly terms why there was a need for it. It is really important I think to get them involved. 

I only had the morning though, and went home at about 12 when the appointments were finished. Even still it was a very valuable experience in how families should be involved in the treatment of their loved ones, as well as just getting more of a feel for day-to-day life in a GP surgery.