The fun things you learn.

My recent lectures and placement at University have all been concerned with acute Medicine. That is all the things that happen very suddenly and what you need to know as a nurse in these situations when they arise. One subject that I had never really considered to exist under the term of Acute Medicine is suicide. The subject of suicide is very diverse within the field of nursing but is generally connected to the Mental Health branch. However, individuals that survive will come into A&E which is Acute Medicine. So I sat down for the lecture (it was in-fact yesterday but I have only just got around to writing about it). It was, much to my surprise not as depressing as I first thought as the lecture tried to present the material in a “light-hearted” way. Well as light-hearted as you can be all things considered. By the end of the lecture though I suddenly became aware that I was in one of the highest risk categories for suicide. That being I am a single white male between the age of 18 and 35. I have a high intake of nicotine and alcohol and have what can be considered a stressful job. My work also gives me access to potentially dangerous chemicals and I have the knowledge of how to use them to detrimental effect ! And there was me thinking that smoking would get me first.