Hannah Elizabeth

My mental health isn't the best at the moment, so I haven't been recording too much. Here's life from the last 7 weeks.  Click here to watch the vlog or see below.  I started the vlog with a lovely walk with my cousin and nephew. It's crazy how much has changed. I had a big gap without seeing him and now he's walking and talking and has such big teeth. He's a proper little boy! This year, I have 6 weddings to attend and honestly, it's getting a little stressful with hen parties, weddings and everything in between. I get 4 requests a month, and there is a lot of days I need to try and be free, so I sadly can't attend them all. Luckily, I could attend a university friend's wedding which was lovely. It was so nice to catch up with a couple of friends as well.  I ended up having a couple of weeks off. I am a little desperate for money so I ended up picking up a few extras but in my time off, I went to Wales for a few days to see my dad where we went to a

At the start of the year, I made some new year resolutions which have been progressing well, but I've found myself becoming obsessed with certain things, almost as an addiction and I feel I need to completely remove them from my life, even though I know that will be hard.  First, I have become addicted to a number of apps on my phone and I feel like I need to start a clean slate and just delete them from my life completely. I downloaded them all in December and since then, I spend hours on them every day. Sudoku.com and Impulse are more brain training games and less of a problem, but Solataire Cash, Solataire Smash and ReelShort...they've got to go. So as of the start of March, I've officially deleted them.  Second, I end up spending hours on my phone, especially in bed. Sometimes I can be scrolling through TikTok, planning just 30 minutes and still being awake 3 hours later. I want to stop this and hopefully in the process, improve my sleep. I want to start doing what I us

The last few weeks, I've spoken about completing my first revalidation and what I've accomplished in my first three years as a qualified midwife, but what are my goals for the next three years?  Get my Pay Rise.  I feel we've had a lot of pay rises over the last three years. We had a Covid-19 pay out and a national pay rise, albeit these were very small. I also of course, had my pay increase from Band 5 to Band 6, but as I now have been a Band 6 for over 2 years, my next payslip should have a further increase. My hourly rate should be changing from £18.10 an hour to £19.10 an hour.  Finish my Masters.  I am currently doing a part-time online learning Masters degree. I started in September 2022 and I am meant to finish in July 2024, with graduation in the winter. I am currently on track to finish on time, and whilst I was hoping for a Distinction, I'm somewhat disappointingly now looking at a Merit. Regardless, I will still be proud when this is achieved.  Secure a Sha

In my first three years as a qualified midwife, I feel very comfortable in my role and my ability to be a midwife. It's not been the easiest three years, in fact it's been the hardest years of my life. The first year qualified was a struggle at work and then just as I felt comfortable at work, my personal life blew up and hasn't been the same since. Despite it all, it really has flown by and I'm so proud of everything I have been able to achieve before my first revalidation .  In my preceptorship programme , I completed 6 months on labour suite, 7 months in community and 3 months on each ward (antenatal and postnatal). I loved my labour suite and postnatal ward rotations, but was not a fan of the antenatal ward. Luckily, the majority of time, I got pulled but when I stayed, it all seemed to go wrong, and I didn't love some of the core staff members there.  The community was a lovely role and I loved the job, however there was one member of the team I felt was very r

January marked the time for my first revalidation as I had reached the end of my first three years as a qualified midwife. I actually ended up doing my revalidation at the start of December because I was strongly encourage with Christmas and the New Year that it might be delayed, and I am so glad I did, because it took 6 weeks for it to be approved, which was a little worrying at the time.  I had prepped for my revalidation throughout the three years, but mainly collected everything together the month before.  Revalidation is about promoting good practice, as well as strengthening public confidence in the nursing and midwifery professions. It is a requirement to keep your PIN number and registration as a midwife.  In order to revalidate you need: 450 practice hours 35 hours of CPD including 20 hours of participatory learning 5 pieces of practice-related feedback 5 written reflective accounts A reflective discussion A health and character declaration A professional indemnity arrangemen

I have wanted to go to Disney on Ice for so many years. I love the idea of celebrating all things Disney and I would absolutely love to go to America and visiting Disneyland and DisneyWorld one day, but that will be a long way away, if ever. I have been to DisneyLand Paris as a solo adult, but it’s not quite the same. I tried to get my sisters to let me bring my nieces or nephew but none of them were interested, and my oldest niece has actually already been before. Instead of waiting yet another year, I decided to go alone and I am so glad I did. Whilst, it wasn’t quite what I had initially expected, it was still so much fun and filled with all the magic that Disney is.  Now I think they tried to really make the show interactive for the kids, which was nice in a way but personally not for me and I found it quite gimmicky. It centred around 2 American young adults who came around to encourage the audience to be entertained. From here, the story evolved from bringing out the key Disney m

It's been just over a month since I bought my new car and today I thought I would share all the details, my purchased accessories and of course, a little review too! For those that don't know, my last car sadly got written off so I was forced to buy a new car and I ended up choosing the Citroen C3 Aircross Flair. I got a second hand car, with one previous owner. It had some expected wear and tear damage, but is just 3 years old and has done less than 20,000 miles.  Starting with my dashboard and console. I love how sleek and smooth this interface looks and one thing I really wanted was a touchscreen for a SatNav and Apple Play, with a digital speedometer. I've found it lovely to be able to connect my phone directly and listen to music and audiobooks especially. As well as having Google Maps on screen. I have actually tried the in built SatNav which I do actually like, however, the confidence from up to date information comes from my phone. The speed dial has been so crisp

After submitting my PMA workbook and the final part of the assessment, I eager waited the result. It took a long time as the grading boards meet once a term and of course, as it was in the middle of a term, I had to wait until the end. Nevertheless, I now have the result and supposedly I got 100%. I was obviously very happy initially but it turns out it's a pass or fail criteria, rather than a grading which is a little disappointing. I'm not sure what that means for the overall mark and classification of degree at the end, but I guess that will be awarded based on the other scores instead.  I had thought I would receive recognition of the qualification, alongside a certificate with this but I didn't, so I reached out to my module lead again. She said that although I have passed, I have to wait for a MAP ratification the next term, so I can't work as a qualified PMA just yet, but hopefully soon! 

I sadly saw Nottingham's annual pantomime in the last week of it's run so I didn't get to write a review before it finished for the season, but I always love the pantomime's at the Theatre Royal and this year was no difference. It was a hilarious rendition of Dick Whittington.  Having never seen or heard of Dick Whittington before, I was actually quite excited to watch a brand new to me story. Although, I'm still a little confused by the storyline to be honest and what exactly happened. The premise is that it follows Dick on a journey to become Mayor, fighting the Rat Queen and falling in love along the way. The cast itself was incredible. Unlike Peter Pan, the songs were sung incredibly. There were some beautiful voices, backed by incredible dancing. At times I wished the stage wasn't as busy as I couldn't give each member the attention that it was deserved. The character interactions were perfect as well. It was manageable and appropriate, alongside perfec

Another belated hotel review and I do apologise for the delay, but better late than never. I went to the Dominican Republic in Autumn last year and stayed at the beautiful Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort and Aquagames.  The rooms looked beautiful on paper and in pictures. There were some small areas of complaint like someone had punched a hole in the corner or one wall and the shower leaked, but they were cosmetic. Otherwise, we had a prime location right in the middle of the restaurant complex and swimming pools area, with a beautiful view of the gardens. Unlike a lot of hotels, we had a lot of space, a sofa and chairs in the room and the most spacious bathroom with a bath as well.  The grounds were amazing. Nothing felt cramped or close together. There was a lot green garden spaces and they were so vibrant. I loved all the palm trees. It was a really beautiful location.  Unlike Jamaica , the pools here were beautiful. They were big and spacious, but it was also quite quiet which help