Voice of an NQM: A day in the life

By Anna Merrick on 07 March 2018 Newly Qualified Midwives

A glimpse at the diary of Anna Merrick, who lays bare 24 gruelling hours as a newly qualified midwife.

06:00
Awake to freezing darkness and the crushing realisation that I have to keep my eyes exceptionally open for at least 15 hours today.

07:05
Inhale and chant ‘I will be okay’ while approaching the hospital. This mantra protects me indefinitely.

07:10
Arrive at work early because the women’s changing room is half the size of the men’s, even though the workforce is 90% female. Attempt to predict how busy the ward is by the general feel of the corridor.

07:20
Unload excessive lunch supplies into the fridge and bid them farewell until we are reunited, in approximately six to 12 hours’ time.

07:28
Sit in the staff room feeling really sick while awaiting the fate of handover. Wonder if I will feel sick for the rest of my working life.

07:35
Count the number of midwives in the handover room and note that we are short-staffed. Look at the filled whiteboard and feel sorry for the coordinator/everyone. Secretly identify an unsuspecting colleague that I can leech constant help and advice off today.

08:00-20:00
Spend the rest of the shift with my poker face on. At some point, I will invariably ask a question and/or answer a question that reveals my fraudulent self.

20:15
Likely to now spend some quality time with the computer as I’m not talented enough to type up a contemporary medical novel with one hand and help deliver a baby with the other.

20:30
Exhale. Walk home blind drunk with euphoria or hypoglycaemia. Feel like a hero for surviving another day in the NHS. Occasionally feel like I’m doing the right thing.

20:45
Disinfect entire body. Drop the emotional baggage of the day onto my poor flatmates over an improbably calorific dinner.

22:00
Lie down and listen to the sound of fetal heartbeats drumming in my head. Visualise every possible eventuality of tomorrow.

06:00
Awake to freezing darkness and the crushing realisation that I have to keep my eyes exceptionally open for at least 15 hours today.

Thanks

Anna would like to thank her midwifery and obstetric colleagues at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust for supporting her in the first two months of her career as a midwife. Congratulations also to Anna and the 2014 cohort of NQMs from King’s College London, who graduated in January.

Anna Merrick is an NQM working in London, who trained at King’s College London