THE ROAD TO BECOMING A QUALIFIED REGISTERED DENTAL NURSE
What makes a good dental nurse? How does one survive an industry that’s highly competitive and extremely wide? Where a little mistake could cause a major catastrophe?
Am sure most dental nurses will agree with me that being a dental nurse is not an easy job. Am going to write a bit about how I become a nurse, my experiences and challenges I have faced since I joined this industry.
I remember the day I arrived in the UK to embark on my studies. Coming from a country (Zambia) with less than 50 private dental practices. Where the Dentistry doesn’t receive much funding from the government either. Most dental departments and clinics are in the big hospitals and majority of dental studies are done abroad.
I initially wanted to go straight into dental school but discovered that its is very hard to get into a Dental school. So with advice from the Careers Advisor I enrolled on a course in dental nursing with the hope of getting into mainstream dentistry later on.
I applied for the course at London training college in waterloo and embarked on my journey of becoming a qualified and registered dental nurse in 2008, though I must mention that I did a course in health and social care before enrolling as a pre NVQ course.
Once I was on the course the hard part was finding a placement as the college only assisted with letters to give to future employers. I remember waking up very early every morning and dropping off my CV at different practices. And spending hours on the internet. After three months I got a job in a private family practice in Wimbledon working as a trainee dental nurse and receptionist, I was really excited about my new job and very proud of myself. Unfortunately I lost this job just after a month. Reason given for my dismissal was that I lacked good spoken English. I remember going home and sobbing so much in my boyfriend’s arms and he assured me that my English was good and encouraged me to keep looking for a job and so the search continued.
After two weeks my tutor and mentor at college Ann Marie told me about a practice in Harlesden in North West London that was always looking for trainee dental nurses. I gave them a call and was called for an interview and I got offered the job after the interview. If only I had known why they always employed only trainee foreign Dental Nurses, it would have saved me all the grief this job caused me later on. This was a really trying time for me. I remember going home every night and thinking of quitting. I worked for 4months while training without getting paid. The hygiene standards where very bad and nurses treatment from the dentist was horrendous.
While at this working at the surgery I met a very special friend from china Nan jian,who had worked at the practice for 6years.
Nan and I bonded because of this experience, she couldn’t live the practice as the practice had given her a work permit to work and live in the UK. As the weeks passed by we grew closer in our difficult time while working there, I remember one day after work while waiting for the bus my friend Nan told me about all the bad things that had happened to her while working there. We sat there crying and comforting each other for about half an hour, which I must admit might have seemed quite strange for all the other people at the bus stop.
To cut the story short my friend Nan left the practice as she got really sick and too stressed. At one point she was having too many nose bleed and had to do tests for leukemia. She encouraged me to leave as well as soon as I found another job. I made a vow to myself to find myself a good practice and leave as soon as I found one.
My prayers were answered after a month or so after my friend had left and I found a job at the practice where I am currently working.
I can’t say everything is all perfect now and am satisfied with the qualifications I have at the moment. But at the same time am not going to let a few bad experiences put me of continuing to work in dentistry. That’s why I decided to do a course in primary care management as this course will give wider options in my career. I know and believe a dental nursing qualification a ladder for anyone wishing to progress in any medical field.
What makes a good dental nurse? How does one survive an industry that’s highly competitive and extremely wide? Where a little mistake could cause a major catastrophe?
Am sure most dental nurses will agree with me that being a dental nurse is not an easy job. Am going to write a bit about how I become a nurse, my experiences and challenges I have faced since I joined this industry.
I remember the day I arrived in the UK to embark on my studies. Coming from a country (Zambia) with less than 50 private dental practices. Where the Dentistry doesn’t receive much funding from the government either. Most dental departments and clinics are in the big hospitals and majority of dental studies are done abroad.
I initially wanted to go straight into dental school but discovered that its is very hard to get into a Dental school. So with advice from the Careers Advisor I enrolled on a course in dental nursing with the hope of getting into mainstream dentistry later on.
I applied for the course at London training college in waterloo and embarked on my journey of becoming a qualified and registered dental nurse in 2008, though I must mention that I did a course in health and social care before enrolling as a pre NVQ course.
Once I was on the course the hard part was finding a placement as the college only assisted with letters to give to future employers. I remember waking up very early every morning and dropping off my CV at different practices. And spending hours on the internet. After three months I got a job in a private family practice in Wimbledon working as a trainee dental nurse and receptionist, I was really excited about my new job and very proud of myself. Unfortunately I lost this job just after a month. Reason given for my dismissal was that I lacked good spoken English. I remember going home and sobbing so much in my boyfriend’s arms and he assured me that my English was good and encouraged me to keep looking for a job and so the search continued.
After two weeks my tutor and mentor at college Ann Marie told me about a practice in Harlesden in North West London that was always looking for trainee dental nurses. I gave them a call and was called for an interview and I got offered the job after the interview. If only I had known why they always employed only trainee foreign Dental Nurses, it would have saved me all the grief this job caused me later on. This was a really trying time for me. I remember going home every night and thinking of quitting. I worked for 4months while training without getting paid. The hygiene standards where very bad and nurses treatment from the dentist was horrendous.
While at this working at the surgery I met a very special friend from china Nan jian,who had worked at the practice for 6years.
Nan and I bonded because of this experience, she couldn’t live the practice as the practice had given her a work permit to work and live in the UK. As the weeks passed by we grew closer in our difficult time while working there, I remember one day after work while waiting for the bus my friend Nan told me about all the bad things that had happened to her while working there. We sat there crying and comforting each other for about half an hour, which I must admit might have seemed quite strange for all the other people at the bus stop.
To cut the story short my friend Nan left the practice as she got really sick and too stressed. At one point she was having too many nose bleed and had to do tests for leukemia. She encouraged me to leave as well as soon as I found another job. I made a vow to myself to find myself a good practice and leave as soon as I found one.
My prayers were answered after a month or so after my friend had left and I found a job at the practice where I am currently working.
I can’t say everything is all perfect now and am satisfied with the qualifications I have at the moment. But at the same time am not going to let a few bad experiences put me of continuing to work in dentistry. That’s why I decided to do a course in primary care management as this course will give wider options in my career. I know and believe a dental nursing qualification a ladder for anyone wishing to progress in any medical field.
Kasoka RDN
