Magdalena Cooper

Tell us about your current role

Currently my role as a nurse in the emergency department requires from me to rapidly recognise deteriorating patients (adults and paediatric), and escalate effectively to senior clinicians.

Following appropriate medical pathways and protocols, accurate documentation and effective team communication are key to ensure minimalising delay in attaining medical help which gives patients best possible health outcome.

What do you enjoy about your work?

I mostly enjoy the anticipation of what might come through the door. Every day is different, and I never really have to work in the same area of A&E, so is not monotonous at all. I enjoy working with different healthcare professionals such as Doctors of multiple grades, paramedics and ENPs. You learn so much every day and there are plenty of learning opportunities within the department. We have courses advertised and teaching sessions every week to enhance our development. All this helps not just with CPD hours but your own nursing development - so the more you shape your learning and study hard, the better the reward in your career in the future.

What did you like about studying at Solent?

I very much enjoyed studying at Solent due to tutor support beyond any other university I have heard about. Also, placement officers and people working in student support were amazing. When I was out on my placements and during teaching sessions, I was able access support when I needed it. The tutors especially were very committed in helping us to grow and develop the necessary knowledge and skill in nursing which I can honestly say prepared me well and gave me confidence.

What are the benefits of doing placements?

I found every placement taught me something new and gave me skills and confidence. There were many ways to spend days placements from study days, or following a team or clinician. I learnt about new research and long-term conditions and gold standards/treatments. All this helped me not just in building a good rapport with people I worked and work with but also building trust which goes a long way especially when you want to make good impression for the future.

What are your hopes for your future career?

I am working towards becoming an emergency nurse practitioner which is my next step. I would like to develop clinically as I very much enjoy anatomy and physiology, working closely with doctors and other senior clinicians following medical pathways and history taking.

I am extremely happy to be part of this experience and I cannot wait what the future will bring!