Library database workshops start Monday

Hello to new ARNTP students from the Library staff. We are looking forward to seeing all of you next week at the Library database workshops. The workshops are very important as you will need to know how to access and search Library databases for high-quality nursing journal articles. Tina will be expecting you to use journal articles for assessments in the nursing segment of your studies.

Make sure you know which session you are attending. Speak to your lecturer if you are unsure of your group. The session times can be found by checking the Library - City East oncampus training web page. All students are expected to attend these sessions.

Regards,
The blog team

The Christmas Pageant!

Next Saturday the 8th of November, one of the biggest events of the Adelaide calender will be occuring! The annual Christmas Pageant will take place on the streets of the city. The Christmas Pageant is the first event of the South Australian Christmas calender, and from now on you will see lots of decorations in the shops!!!

If you are coming into town on that day, you will find many roads closed, and the streets crowded with young excited children as they are going to see Father Christmas (Santa Clause) with his Reindeer and elves!

The parade begins at 9.30am, at the corner of South Terrace and King William Street, and takes about an hour for the full parade to pass a point. The parade is telecast on the television on Saturday morning, and replayed Saturday afternoon!

If you want to see this parade, you will need to get into the city early on saturday, so that you can get a good spot. You will notice that there is a blue line on the city streets, and spectators need to stay behind this line. Children are allowed to go to the front so that they can see.

For more information you can go to the website http://www.cupageant.com.au/Home.aspx

The Blog team

Welcome from CELUSA

The ARNTP program which started in October, is into its 3rd week of a 15 week program. The CELUSA team welcomes you all to the University.

There are several people in CELUSA who are here to help you - Tiffany Lynch, Cheryl Russell, Gundi Tophinki, Fiona O'Neill and Sue Petty.

By now many of you would have started your community service placement, and we would love to hear your feedback!

• How is it going?
• Have you found anything that you don't understand?
• Have there been any workplace situations that you have found to be strange?

Please feel free to comment on how your experiences are going by clicking on the comment link on the blog site, and writing a short paragraph of your thoughts.

You may have also heard about Bandana Day, Movember and Pink Ribbon Month?? Do you know what these health related events support? See if you can find out what these causes support and let us know!

Hope you have a great week!

Regards
The Blog Team

Hello and Welcome!

Welcome to all new ARNTP students. Today we would like to tell you a bit about the ARNTP blog, and introduce some of the people who write for the blog each week.

Each week we post useful and interesting information, and ask for your comments and stories. You will have received an email last week asking you to click on a link to verify your subscription to the blog. Once you do that, you will receive an email each week with the new blog entry, and you can click through to the blog itself to look at previous entries. Anyone anywhere in the world can look at the blog. Its internet address is http://www.unisaarntp.blogspot.com/

The people writing for the blog come from CELUSA, the Learning and Teaching Unit, the School of Nursing ARNTP Teaching Team, and the Library. Today we will introduce some of the people from the Learning and Teaching Unit. You may have already met them at workshops.

Susanna and Belinda (pictured) and Kathy

We are your learning support team from Learning and Teaching Unit at the City East Campus of the University of South Australia. Our names are Susanna, Kathy and Belinda and we are here to help you with your studies at UniSA. If you need any help with your studies, please contact us at the unit. Good luck to all of you.

Hello, I'm Jennifer the counsellor at City East. I'm here to support you if you need to talk over anything that's causing you concern. Some of you may be feeling anxious about your study or finding it difficult to adjust to living in Adelaide. There are several resources available on the Learning and Teaching website and you may find it useful to look at these over the next few months. Meanwhile, you can come to see me if you wish.

Next week, we will introduce other Blog team members. In the meantime, best wishes from the team.

Study and Stress tips

Congratulations!

You are nearly at the end of your clinical placement, and many of you are nearly finished! There are however, some of you who need to resit an exam, and we thought that you may need some hints and tips on how to prepare for this.

1. While you are doing your placement, it is important that you remain focussed on your experience and learn the most you can! Try not to think about the exam whilst you are working. It is important that you don't get yourself too stressed. Make sure you do the things that you know help you relax! Tips on preventing Stress from the Learning and Teaching Unit.

2. Study for only 1 hour at a time. Do a different topic each night, so that you cover all the major topics over a couple of weeks.

3. Remember to take time out for yourself. With doing your placements during the day and studying at night, you need to find time to rest and relax. Perhaps you could take a leisurely walk, or watch a bit of TV. How about grab a good book, sit on a pile of cushions and escape from your life with an exciting story!

4. You musn't forget to keep your fluid levels up and ensure that you eat 3 meals a day. It is really important that you eat good nutritious food to ensure your brain gets everything that it needs to keep you working at your best levels!

5. Try and keep yourself positive. Use the exam process to demonstrate what you know and keep yourself calm. You will be able to think at your best if you are calm. Now that you have seen what the exam is going to look like, you know what to expect. This is a real advantage!

Make exam anxiety work for you online workshop

If you are really struggling and need more help, please contact the Learning and Teaching Unit for additional assistance.

Best wishes from The Blog Team

Invitation to share your experiences and photos

As you enter week 3 of your placement, we would love to hear about your experiences. You will have some really wise information to share with the next ARNTP group, who are just starting their orientation this week.

They could learn more quickly about their time in this course from your stories, either good or not so good. You can post a comment to this entry on the blog, or email your stories and photographs to Mary.O'Connor@unisa.edu.au Mary can't wait to hear from you!

Best wishes from the Blog Team - Tina, Learning Connection and Library staff

Daylight saving starts this weekend

Just a reminder that South Australia begins daylight saving from Sunday 5 October. This means that before you go to bed on Saturday 4 October, you need to turn your clocks forward one hour. By moving the clocks forward by one hour, an extra hour of daylight can be enjoyed at the end of the day. Daylight saving will continue across the whole summer, and end on Sunday 5 April 2009.

Daylight saving will also begin this weekend in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and ACT. Western Australia starts on Sunday 26 October, but Queensland and the Northern Territory do not have daylight saving.

Be sure to change your alarm clock, mobile phones, watches, personal computers, dvd players, and any other appliances that have clocks.

More information on time zones and daylight saving in Australia can be found here

Enjoy the long weekend!

Regards
The Blog Team