7:30

The nursing home is situated in a remote village where finding a place to rent is difficult . The care home owns a number of cottages which it rents on Airbnb , and I ’ ve been staying in one of these since I arrived from Nigeria eight months ago . I came here alone – my husband and my three kids are back there , but luckily I ’ m taking some holiday soon and I am looking forward to going home .

My work start time is 8am , but I get in at around 7:30am so we don ’ t have to rush the handover .

8.00

My first task is to see the night nurse and carers to ask how the shift went . I might have worked yesterday , but it ’ s still a new day and I don ’ t know what has happened in the night . From their answers , I ’ m able to plan my day .

The next job is to check the notice board for any new information . We get information from carers on the first to the last room in the home and what work has been done in the night . The carers are the ones closest to the residents , so it ’ s a great time to get to know them better .

The next task to think about is staff allocation . As the registered nurse on duty , I need to look not just at the capacity of the staff but also their strengths , so I can place them properly throughout the wings of the home .

8.30

When all the care staff have been assigned to their wing , we ’ ll begin the first medicine round of the day . A lot of the drugs are time restricted , so we have an alarm clock set to help us keep track of the timings .

Another consideration in the morning are the GP visits for that day . The residents are registered with different GPs so I check which GPs are coming in and which residents are on the list . We make a note in the diary of any issues or medicines that need checking .

The morning is also a time to chase medicines from the pharmacy to ensure we have everything we need .

who might have a cut or pressure sores . Many are on patch medications , so we change those too .

We also check the residents ’ beds . Most have an air mattress , adjusted for their weight , so we go around to ensure they are inflated adequately . We wait until the domestic staff have finished , so there ’ s no chance anyone will mistakenly pull the plug on a mattress and deflate it .

14.00

Although I have an opportunity to take a break , it is often so hectic that I don ’ t have much time . Sometimes I have to encourage myself just to take a bathroom break . Some days ago , I was on duty when a resident fell . I had to take vitals every 15 minutes until the arrival of the paramedic . I had to make phone calls to the family and to the GP and await responses . There are days like this when other things just have to take priority .

17.00

After the residents ’ dinner , we begin to plan for the next day . I put as much as I can in the diary for the incoming nurse because that ’ s how we keep track of everything .

After dinner there are activities . You get to know people ’ s likes and dislikes . Some might want to go straight to bed , but on a nice evening some might say ‘ I would like to sit out and watch the sunset ’, so we ’ ll take them outside .

19.00

I am contracted for a 12-hour shift , so I am still working in the evening . I write reports to document changes in medications or issues that arose during the GP call . I ’ ll then write up the progress notes and handover notes .

20.00

My day finishes at 8pm , but it doesn ’ t take long to get to my cottage . If I ’ m in the next day I will quickly head to bed , but if I have the day off I can relax , pray and rest .

Key issues that underpin your practice nursingin practice . co . uk

10.00

Every day can be different and there are often unforeseen circumstances . For instance , somebody could have a fall , so it wouldn ’ t just be business as usual . You have to make sure that resident is safe and take all the necessary steps .

During the morning I also check in on other members of the team to see how they are getting on , and make sure the residents are comfortable and safe .

13.00

When the residents have had lunch , it ’ s a little less hectic , so we ’ ll try to get a few different jobs done . The main business of the day is wound dressing for residents

Profile Lilian Uchechukwu

Location Bury St Edmunds , Suffolk

Areas of responsibility Main responsibilities are : to care for the residents and ensure their safety ; make sure they receive their prescribed medication in a timely way ; and oversee the team of carers so the home is run as smoothly and effectively as possible .

JULIAN CLAXTON