Rachel Ruddiman

I am compassionate and hardworking. I am focused on providing patients with high quality care; putting the skills I have learnt from my three years at Ara institute of Canterbury into practice and to continue to expand my knowledge to better my practice. One of my long-term career goals is to gain enough knowledge that I can share with other nurses within the team I work in or with future student nurses.

July 2024 - September 2024 Christchurch Hospital Operating Theatre - nine weeks

April 2024 - May 2024 Christchurch Hospital General Outpatients - five weeks 

September 2023 - October 2023 Christchurch Hospital Ward A8 Stroke and Vascular - six weeks 

Throughout my placement on A8 I developed my documentation and
nursing skillset. This placement really pushed me to become competent
and confident in clinical documentation. This was an important skill for me to 

develop as clinical documentation is in every area of nursing and is an important thing to know 

how to do correctly. My time on A8 also introduced me to wound care which I have become very

 passionate about. Another thing that I was able to develop was my time management. This
was the first placement where I was working with multiple patients during
my shift. I was able to build on my time management skills through
creating a shift planner for each day to ensure I completed all of my tasks
at appropriate times during my shift.

March 2023 - April 2023 Princess Margaret Hospital Child, Adolescent and Family inpatient Unit - five weeks 

Throughout my time spent on the Adolescent and Inpatient unit, I was able to work
alongside many individuals with varying mental health conditions. This
placement enabled me to gain a better understanding of how individuals
with mental health conditions think and behave. I learnt how to
understand the patients through conversation and the development of a
therapeutic relationship. Learning these conversational skills was great
I have used them many times since and I will continue to use these skills.

October 2022 - November 2022 Ngaio Marsh Retirement Village - three weeks

Throughout my time at Ngaio Marsh Retirement Village I was able to understand the
steps of creating and maintaining a  therapeutic relationship with a
resident. These skills were crucial for my development as a nursing
student as therapeutic relationships exist in every area of nursing. As well
as developing my therapeutic relationship skills, I was also able to learn
many skills surrounding safe handling of patients. I learnt how to safely
transfer patients using a walking frame, hoist, and Sara steady. These skills
were very important for me to learn as it is important I know how to use
the equipment correctly to keep the patient and myself safe.