SHO Experience in NHS

First Month NHS Experience of Working in the A&E as an SHO by an IMG from Nepal

I would like to share my experience on my first month of working as an SHO in the A&E. I hope I'm not too early. But this is what I feel at the moment after my 1-month experience. I hope I'll feel the same and better in the coming days. I did have a gap before I worked. I worked as an A&E SHO back in my country too. But I did have a gap due to maternity reasons.

Before I joined, I was too anxious and scared. I had read that it takes a lot of time to get used to the system and will take time to build up our confidence. Well, to some level it is true. But it also depends on how we perceive kinds of stuff and the trust itself.

Where I work, I've met amazing people. Everybody is really nice and friendly. The seniors are really supportive. Most SHOs understand me as they've been through the same thing. Before I started, I didn't expect a lot from myself to know and learn everything in an instant even though I worked in my country.

The system is new and a lot of things. The choice of medications, the protocols are all different. Just the cases are the same. Even the tourniquet, stuffs like butterfly cannula, vacutainer, tegader...everything is different for someone like me who graduated and did an internship in the Philippines and worked in Nepal.

But, I'm taking one step at a time. Sometimes, things don't go so well but it just takes 1 percent of the day so I don't focus on it. I share it with my close colleague or someone close to me and forget about it. But mostly, 99 percent of what I experience is good.

We need to keep in mind that we have to be nice for others to treat us nicely. I feel really blessed with the support I've received from my hospital. They were the ones who said that it takes 6 months for somebody to get used to the system and that was like a relief. It might be difficult for those who don't have supportive seniors. But, we can always try to change our perspective. And if we have a bad day, we need someone positive who can make it positive.

Finally, yes, it takes time. But, please take one step at a time. If you start your work happy, 90 percent of the time, you will finish your work happy. And please always get help from your seniors or colleagues and document it. Don't feel that you might be made fun of if you don't know stuff. For example; in my country, we used Diclofenac a lot, but here they rarely use it in my hospital. So, things are different in different trusts as well.

So, don't be afraid. You can do it. Always be prepared and know that sometimes you may feel bad, but you will always learn something from it. Before you start working in A&E and you have a gap, just read the emergency part of OHCM and remember how to take a proper history and do a physical examination. You will always get to shadow before you work. So, you can observe what they do. My suggestion is in a few days of shadowing, start seeing one or two patients a day even if its shadowing period. This will help you with your confidence, once your shadowing period is over. But as an SHO, the best thing is you always have your seniors around. This post is for all those who are scared and are planning to work as an SHO in NHS.