Reflective Practice

1. Describe interesting, difficult or uncomfortable experiences. Try to record both positive and not so positive elements. What made the experience memorable?

The one thing worse than your friends shaving your head while you're drunkenly asleep... is when you wake up hungover and think it's a good idea to do it yourself.

The first bit was easy: bzzzzz-thunk - throw hair on the floor - repeat. Within a minute, I had liberated enough head-hair to create a very convincing fake Arabic beard (not that I'd ever want to do such a thing).

Although at that stage, with half scalped with long random tufts waiting to be mown down, I think I looked like a badly half-plucked chicken.


I say "I think" because then there was the power cut.


2. How did it affect you?

What do you think? I couldn't see, but I knew I looked mentally ill (although I was only going to Brighton for lunch, so I'd probably look normal there).


3. How did it affect the patient?

(Patient? Well, I guess that's me)
I was not happy.
Eventually found the appropriate trip switches and got back to the shearing. It is very difficult to shave the back of your own head. Properly. I eventually rigged up a series of mirrors, but even so had to move my hand in one direction to get the shaver in the mirror to move the opposite way.

And finally, after about an hour of identifying strays and cutting them down, it was finally all done.


4. How did it affect the team?

Everyone I have met since then has pissed themselves laughing.

(Except for maybe one elderly patient who I think pissed herself for another reason).


5. What did you learn from the experience, and what (if anything) would you do differently next time?

Get drunk & persuade someone else to do it.