August is the big month! Creating a professional portfolio, writing my curriculum vitae/resume, writing cover letters, applying for jobs and hoping for interviews. It's exciting to be so close to finishing my studies, and it's also a good time to sit back and rethink the whole "why am I doing nursing?" question. I've spent some time mind-mapping about that, to be sure of my direction before making any major decisions. Now I'm keen to get some offers and start planning for work next year.

I've also given some thought to what skills I still want to polish up before launching into work as a registered nurse. I've got a mere 320 hours of time left as 'student nurse' on the wards... and I want to make the most of it.