What Have We Been Up To?

Things have been a little quiet, here on the website, and as Student Nurses we used the Christmas period to take a break, go chill with our families, cuddle our dogs and not pay too much heed to what's going on around uni.

However, we've still had a busy few months. Let me update you:

After Carnival (our 'MDT meeting' of sorts with the Medics), we were looking at collabing once more with other societies for a Christmas ball. As you know, things didn't quite work out and there wasn't time to arrange a sparkly new one (believe us, we really tried), but we had a low-key QUIZmas at The Bridge with SUES, the Engineering Socity where hopefully some people made some new friends (and new enemies to try and thrash at our next one ;p). Around this time, we also had a cheeky social at Wild Lime (then on to Oceana) which made for a cheap social for you using the deals you can get with a NurSoc card.

Meanwhile, our beautiful social secs have been busy hosting drop-ins for first year students undertaking their A&P and FNP and getting ready for going to their first placements (I'm nervous just THINKING about my first placement, and by this point I've done 3!). We also negotiated use of the Simulation Suites for a drop-in morning, open to everyone but again aimed at first years, to give them the opportunity to chat to older years, get some advice and practice simple skills to help combat those first-day placement nerves. We've also had the welfare hotline going for first years if they need to give us a call and talk to the person holding the phone confidentially (not even the rest of the committee knows about it). The person holding the phone can help resolve any issues by giving advice or pointing the student in the right direction if it's something that's outside of our limits.

At the same time, we have been holding a MERCH sale throughout January to get some gorgeous hoodies (zip-up and pullover) and lanyards too which can be used on placement (and in practice when you qualify). Hoodies come in a colour of your choice (navy, burgundy or grey), feature the university crest, the words 'Nursing Society' and there is an option to personalise it too. They make for a lovely treat for yourself or as a gift for your friend, and our merchandider this year is extremely passionate about the quality of the merch that we offer, so in short, you get what you pay for.

We also have our ongoing SPORTS club, the Nightingales. This is a netball team that meets regularly and if you want to join but can't get there some days because of placement, that's okay! This is a no-pressure club and it's a great way to get some exercise and meet new people.

Finally, we've been helping out at some of the Selection Days, interviewing prospective UoS Nurses, answering questions and providing insight as to what life is like as a student nurse here at Southampton. We love helping with these and are so passionate about having more amazing future nurses onboard!

We're also now starting to think about our annual AGM (Annual General Meeting to decide on a NEW COMMITTEE! We want to make it nice and early (end of March) so that the new committee has plenty of time to organise and advertise a fantastic BOAT BALL for you all.

If you like the sound of everything we've been up to and want to continue the momentum, or have fresh new ideas of how we can be an even better society, please start thinking about it and keep your eyes open for more details!

We are likely to need SOCIAL secs, so if you're into partying and want to organise more kick-ass socials for your fellow student nurses, we want you!

We're also likely to need WELFARE reps, who check in with fellow students, host drop-ins at uni and halls, look after the Welfare phone (hotline) and who genuinely care about other people. If that sounds like you, we want you too!

Also up for grabs is the role of MERCHANDISER, who will design and sell merch; our merchandisers this year have really designed some lovely merch which will serve as a long-lasting reminder of time at uni. If you have a creative eye and have some good ideas for merch, apply for the role!

We will also need a SPORTS rep, who will continue overseeing the Nightingales and make sure everything is running smoothly.

Also on the table is a PG DIP rep and INTERNATIONAL rep, who will respectively advocate for what our Post-Grad nurses want and for what our International and Irish nurses want, which may include hosting drop-ins and socials. These roles are really what you make them, there is scope for role development and we want people who are enthusiastic and who genuinely care about engaging with and working for these student populations. We recognise that we have an extremely diverse population of student nurses and are always looking for ways to engage with new people through lots of different mediums.

Keep your eyes open for more information regarding the NurSoc committee for 2019/20. Even if you don't want to be on the committee, please come to the AGM and support your friends and meet the committee members for the coming year, who will be looking out for YOUR interests as a student nurse :)

I think that's all! As you can see, the last couple of months have been pretty busy and I'm sure this will continue. As always, if you want to chat, ask any questions or even want to know more about being on the committee for 2019/20, please don't hesitate to drop us a message on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or even in person if you see us around. Thankyou for your continued engagement and support :)

NurSoc love x