Hannah Elizabeth

I was really excited to be going into my last Master's module, not only because it was the last module of my education journey so far. I have genuinely enjoyed my studies so far, but it's also become quite draining. With daily life, poor mental health and working full time (plus doing extra shifts and overtime), it's a lot. Having to come home from work and concentrate on something else, never feeling like I can just sit back and relax, always having my mind running to something else in the background, it isn't easy. I'm honestly ready to finally be done. I can't say how much I appreciated my undergraduate programme having theory and practical modules completely separate. It is so much easier!  Anyway, back to this module. The Major Project makes up the last module of my distance learning Masters and takes up the last 2 terms of the course, therefore is worth double the course points of 60 credits, and not 30. I was really excited to be able to do primary resear...

After my holiday to the Dominican Republic last year, my long term goal of the year for reading 12 books grew closer to being successfully reached. I ended up borrowing a series from a friend, who’s read far beyond anything I could personally imagine, with over 150 books last year alone! Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this series.  I have personally watched all the films as they have come out and really enjoyed them, despite the somewhat cringe-y acting. I love the romance and the draw of the characters, despite the love interests not being perfect. It reminds me of the reality of relationships. Tessa is a good girl with a sweet, reliable boyfriend back home. She’s got direction, ambition, and a mother who’s intent on keeping her that way. But she’s barely moved into her freshman dorm when she runs into Hardin. With his tousled brown hair, cocky British accent, tattoos, and lip ring, Hardin is cute and different from what she’s used to. But he’s also rude—to the point of cruelty, e...

After what I thought was just over a year, my term on the Nursing and Midwifery Board as a Staff Representative , my role is officially finished. Well, it turns out it was actually 2 years in the end! I first joined in February 2022, after quite a lengthy application process, and it was originally meant to be for a year. Well, after a year and a half, I started to reach out to the Divisional Lead, the Head of Midwifery and her colleagues to reallocate two staff representatives. It took a little while, but I pushed it and the position went out in February, as I started my new role which I will talk more about next week.  I started the role just after peak Covid-19 so restrictions were of course, still in place. As such, all the meetings we held on MS Teams. We had talked about slowly opening it back up to be face-to-face but to be honest, I really enjoyed the flexibility of MS Teams and being able to work from home. I think it also saved 1 hour of travelling. I got paid 3 hours a mo...

May started as a pretty busy, jampacked first half. I had my dad visit to help with some gardening, celebrated IDM, visited my second oldest sister and took a trip to Liverpool for the RCM Conference.  Click here to watch the video or see below.  The month started with a little half day visit from my dad. I had some gardening I needed a little help with as I honestly was just really overwhelmed, and wanted to have a base to start from to then be able to continue. We started the day with a delicious brunch at one of my favourite local spots, bringing some cake home for an afternoon snack.  Whilst I did the weeding, artificial grass vacuuming and blowing at the back, dad did the de-weeding and mowing at the front. After he left, I headed to B+Q to get a replacement for my jet wash that suddenly wasn't working, and I had managed to get a full refund of the old one, plus I unexpectedly bought and planted some plants to brighten up both the front and the back. I have also sinc...

I got my grade back from my Research Methodology essay and I was quite pleased with it. It's my highest mark of the the Masters programme so far and probably, the highest I will get throughout the entire postgraduate course. I had been hoping to get a Distinction overall but realistically that is not possible anymore, with my mental health defintely impacting my ability to perform throughout the first year.  Despite that, I think 68% is a good grade and will hopefully secure a Merit overall. I'm still a little disappointed with the first and third module results as I do think I deserve a higher mark, but nevertheless the markers disagree. Overall, my current average is 62%. When I've worked out overall, for my Major Project which is worth double the other modules, I will need at least 60% for a Merit and 74% for a Distinction. Fingers crossed for at least the former!  My main feedback was that I didn't explain all my points in enough detail. "Development", ...

Another week, another show. This time Life of Pi. I actually didn't love the film the first time I watched it and I haven't read the book, but I heard great things about the show and so I booked to see it. The day before, I watched the film and ended up really enjoying it which was good. The show is currently touring the UK until the end of July so be sure to book tickets.  The Life of Pi tells the story of an Indian family who wish to escape violence in their home country and move their zoo, with all their animals, across the ocean. Sadly, after a storm, the boat sinks and Pi is stranded on a lifeboat with four other survivors – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a Royal Bengal tiger. The story tells their epic journey.  It's not a musical in the traditional sense as there is very little music in the production as a whole, instead the storytelling takes the centre and it really is epic. The music used throughout instead adds to the drama and the acting which is just super...

The Royal College of Midwives annual conference took place on the 8th and 9th of May this year, hosted in Liverpool at the ACC Arena. It is always free for members to attend, whilst non-members can still attend but have a ticket charge.  The theme was "energising excellence". The hope is that observing local practices can then inspire national implementation into clinical practice for sustained and effective changes. It’s a great way to meet other colleagues and network, whilst also supporting education and disseminating research. The conference had a busy and full on schedule, based around three rooms each with their own stream of lectures to fully individualise the programme to your own needs and passions. There was also a number of short presentations within the exhibition area, where many maternity related companies showcased their products or services. Similarly, there was also a small hallway set up for poster presentations as well.  I found it quite difficult to pick m...