Hannah Elizabeth

Another year, another birthday, so of course, another birthday haul! This year, I asked especially for money to put towards my America holiday but I still got a few presents from some special friends and close family members.  My mum got me some M+S treats, alongside a cake. My friend got me a box of chocolates too.  My favourite gift was from my little sister with a Gemini bracelet in gold which I absolutely love it.  She also got me an embroidery kit, which I am sure will come in very handy to help me relax, come August, when I no longer have all my free time taken up with dissertation writing. One of my other friends bought me the most thoughtful gift with a cookbook from Rosa's Thai Cafe, after I booked the restaurant for my birthday meal. Another friend bought me a Lush gift set which was so lovely. It was delivered to my house, hence why I didn't take a picture at the time! Finally, I treated myself with some the future birthday money I knew I was getting. I bought three

After reading so many book last year, somehow on Facebook, I started getting reading applications advertised. One of which was Galatea, where I found this book. Of course, I read the first chapter and then got trapped. I would not recommend it in the slightest. The suck you in, bait you in with an engaging introduction and then you have to wait hours and hours for each chapter to be released. I can't tell you how long it has taken me to read this book and it is not worth it. I repeat, IT IS NOT WORTH IT. I would much prefer if I could just buy this on Amazon as a singular book. It's frustrating that I can't.  The Millennium Wolves is an 8 book series by Sapir A. Englard and I sadly only got to book 7 before the app crashed and deleted all my progress, meaning I had to start again, which wasn't going to happen so I have officially been left on a complete and utter cliff-hanger, in the midst of chaos, much to my disappointment.  "Sienna is a nineteen-year-old werewol

Shortly after starting my Master's Postgraduate degree in September 2022, I decided to drop my hours down to technically part-time hours. Full-time hours in the NHS is 37.5 hours a week. Long shifts are 12.5 hours, with a 1 hour unpaid break, therefore this works out as 3 shifts a week for 3 weeks a month, and 1 shift a week for 1 week a month. I decided to drop my hours to 29 hours, because this was the lowest contracted hours that still allowed 4 shift requests a month. Shift requests mean you can book days off, which are very much needed for social life. This means - or should mean - I alternate between 2 and 3 shifts a week.  The main reason I did this was to give me more flexibility. Since Covid-19, our NHSP bank rates have been great. For weekdays the hourly wage is £32, nights and Saturdays £38 and Sundays or bank holidays £40. I decided I would pick up on average two shifts a month to then bring my hours back to almost full time hours, if not more on occasion, whilst also

I had a lovely couple of breaks in my 2 weeks of dissertation writing, plus had a weekend of birthday celebrations!  Click here here to watch the vlog or see below.  Between shifts and dissertation writing, it was nice to be able to enjoy a few hours with my cousin and nephew at Wollaton park. I did my second day as a PMA , spending 3 hours in the hospital before heading to hers for a nice walk around the park in the incredible summer sun, then we went to pub before having some fun "gardening".  Later that week, my youngest cousin was up visiting her sister as well, so they hosted a barbeque on the Sunday and I went over to spend some time with them as well. It was a nice little break, although did distract me a little too much. Of course, dissertation stress can be a little overwhelming at time and that, alongside the sadness I still feel on a daily basis, I can't help but wonder what all the sacrifices I'm going through are for sometimes. I'm trying so hard to s

As I mentioned last week, I thought I would do something a little different for this assessment, because it is such a large project and I thought it would be interesting to share my experiences and progression. Here's part 1! Tuesday 28th May I am just settling down for the night. I have been somewhat productive today. I thought I’d get more done, but sadly not. I did do some meal prepping which was good so I have an extra 6 meals in the freezer for work and I have one ready for tomorrow so no cooking…yey! I also managed to do most of my admin before finally starting on the essay that I’ve been putting off for what feels like years. Anyway, I have just saved everything and shut it all down and got ready for bed. I’m suddenly really cold. It always feels so lonely in bed and wish I could share it with someone but never mind.  Wednesday 29th May  Finally made a little start on writing. Even if it was the smallest part. Nevertheless, it’s a start! Mainly, I printed off all my articles

Since getting my new car, I've really enjoyed having an audiobook to listen to on long journeys. My old car didn't have the capability to play anything but the radio or, believe it or not, CDs themselves. One of the most recent audiobooks I've read is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the most recent release in the Hunger Games franchise.  " It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute. The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could

Last month marked the first day of my new job. It's only 7.5 hours a month, but it's a band 7 contract so I get paid a little more per hour of work. I finished the course in July 2023, but got an extension for my workbook until October. It then got confirmed as being passed in December but I had to wait for the results to be rectified until April, so it's been quite a long wait.  I am now officially a sessional PMA which means that I mainly work with service users for birth reflections and birth planning meetings. The birth services are aimed to support families in either getting answers or coming to terms following traumatic deliveries and experiences, or to create a bespoke birth plan for those requesting plans outside of guidelines. The main priority is ensuring open and honest communication, alongside informed decision making and ensuring they involved in the process.  Whilst not a priority initially, we can also be contacted for staff support with Revalidation, Restora

I have put off my dissertation for months and I just honestly didn't know where to start. Having now started, I easily could have done it spread over the last few months and taken a lot of pressure off myself but I was at a loss and instead decided to prioritise different areas of life.  I am contracted part time hours of 29 hours a week, instead of 37.5 hours a week as would be full time. Since May I started a new contract of a further 7.5 hours a month, but I normally make up the hours with extra shifts. Due to how busy the summer is for me and wanted to focus on essay writing, I decided to do a lot of extras in April and May so I did an extra 130 hours in April and 50 hours in May, so I didn't have to in June or July basically.  Anyway, back to the actual assessment. The dissertation for the Major Project module is 15000 words long, however this doesn't include mandatory tables of information and appendices. Nor does it include references in text or of course, reference

Another book that I read last year was one by one of the 19 Kids and Counting series' children. Jill Duggar released "Counting the Cost" expecting the best, but her family must have feared the worst. Unlike her sister's book focussing on religion and trauma, Jill's book really is a "tell all" to the extreme.  Jill always came across as the perfect child. I always related to Jill as we were both very motherly, loved children and she did a course to become a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) in Arkansas, whilst I became a Registered Midwife (RM). When the abuse from her brother came out, she was the first to come forward and speak out. I admired her courage and her love, whilst noting that she seemingly had forgiven so much of the acts.  She then married Derick Dillard and were a seemingly perfect pair. He worked hard, whilst studying, then the pair went on a long-term mission together. They now share three boys together and have sadly had two miscarri

Shared Governance training is officially complete and I am so excited to share some of the positive changes we have already been able to implement and make since relaunching the council just 3 months ago. Each month we have 6 hours of Shared Governance time, which includes a monthly meeting and then individual time to split and work on projects in smaller groups.  I am first of all so excited to be able to share that I have been nominated as Chair . This is the highest position in the council, although we very much work as part of a team and whilst I organise the agenda and lead the meetings, everyone leads on their own projects and we support each other. During meetings the chair should introduce each agenda item, request contributions, facilitate discussion and keep the conversation focused and balanced. Most importantly, they make sure the meeting keeps to time.  Alongside this, they should represent the council at formal and informal meetings and ensure that discussions are carried