Take a hike!

With many ups and downs along the way, the road to becoming a childrens nurse can be a long journey. At points it
may seem like all you see are hospitals, university or a computer screen. Study pressure and little money can often
reduce the viability of taking a holiday. One cheap and simple solution is going for a walk. This is supported by an
increasing body of evidence that link spending time
outdoors has positive mental and physical benefits (C3
Collaborating for Health 2012). This evidence includes
recent research showing that short micro-breaks spent
looking at a nature scene have a rejuvenating effect on
the brain (Bratman et al. 2015).

There are many free walking routes available on the

internet. A particularly good source for London walks is
the Saturday Walkers' Club.
http://www.walkingclub.org.uk/

From this site you can download walks that are included
in the Time Out Book of Country Walks
http://www.walkingclub.org.uk/swc/index.shtml
I particularly like these walks as they all start and finish
from a train station that connects into central London.

Of course these walks do not need be done on a

Saturday. But if you do join these groups it can be a
great way to make new friends. Otherwise getting out
and going for a walk can easily done on your days off.

Clearly there are some safety concerns.

Walking with friends will not only increase your
safety but will enable you to share the
experience.
To ensure you are going in the right direction
some walks will require a compass. Compasses
are cheap. Also some smart phones have an
inbuilt compass app or will have one available
from their app store. Here is a link from the
Ordnance Survey of how to use a compass
Carry food and water with you.

Spring is around the corner. This is a great time to get

out there and see nature as it wakes up after winter. It
might even do you some good. By the end of your
course you might have climbed a physical as well as a
metaphorical mountain.

Dr. Stephen McKeever

February 2016

References
Bratman, G. N., Hamilton, J. P., Hahn, K. S., Daily, G. C. and Gross, J. J. (2015) Nature experience reduces rumination
and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(28), pp. 8567-
8572. http://www.pnas.org/content/112/28/8567.full

C3 Collaborating for Health (2012) The benefits of regular walking for health, wellbeing and the environment.
London: C3 Collaborating for Health. http://www.c3health.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/C3-report-on-walking-
v-1-20120911.pdf