Every student paramedic remembers their first shift. Mine was a blur. Here’s what could help you on your first shift or even in general on placement too!
1. Your mentor was a student once too.
Asking “can you remind me what I should be asking for a cardiac history?” for example, now this isn’t a weakness. That’s exactly what placement is for, learning and improving. They’d much rather you ask than guess.
2. Structure beats memory every time.
When you’re worried, tired and standing in someone’s front room, your brain won’t hand you a neat list of ten questions. So, by using guides, templates and structured frameworks these are what can often help you improve your practice.
3. Nobody expects you to know everything.
Ask the question/questions. Every single time
4. Rehearse your handover before you arrive.
If your able Use the drive in to get your handover sorted.. By the time you’re through the hospital doors, you want your handover already half-written in your head, I often found that writing it down when I was able to, ask helped a lot.
5. The hard shifts teach you more than the easy ones.
When your second-guessing yourself or thinking about stuff on the drive home, these aren’t a sign you’re failing. That's reflecting.
If a bit of structure on shift would help, consider the Review of Systems Questions Tool.