Today for the BCU programming we ventured out into the city and got to see a hospital, charity, and talk to many experienced nurses and teachers. I learned so many similarities and differences in these systems between the United States and the United Kingdom. As well as new knowledge to take back to the states. 

First we attended Birmingham children’s hospital which was fascinating. Some of the nurse educators gave us a wonderful tour of the hospital. I found out that this hospital has the largest children’s ICU in Europe. In the ICU they had singing medicine which I never heard of. This consists of music teachers coming and singing to the children to comfort them and stimulate them. While walking around I saw many pamphlets of support programs for families with children with different conditions that I believe is a great resource. It was interesting to learn that they have everything mainly only paper, like medical charts and records, but they are soon moving to technology versions. There’s pros and cons to this because sometimes the technology takes away from patient interactions because you are constantly typing things into the system, but it is more efficient. 

Something very unique they have in this hospital is the James Brindley School. This school provides education for any children while they are receiving inpatient care. They also have online programs led by instructors for children who are too ill to attend school. The hospital makes it a priority to contact these children’s schools to get all the information about their curriculum and make sure these children are still given a good quality education. I have never seen this in the United States and I think this is something we should look into implementing to our hospitals. They also said it helps the children recover quicker and motivates them while dealing with different diseases. The director of this school also gave us some great tips on working with children that I will definitely incorporate into my training. She said always try to have a positive attitude. She explained that communicating with the children is very important and allowing them to try to speak for themselves, if they are able, is a great way to engage with them and understand their feelings, not just speak to the parents. 

I also loved just being able to ask the nurses tons of questions, especially ones that focus towards our research; socioeconomic status affecting access to healthcare of women and children. One of the main differences between the UK and U.S is that healthcare is free through the National Health Society. In Birmingham there are alot of people with lower socioeconomic status, but they can receive the same care as someone with higher socioeconomic status unlike the U.S. The staff is so proud to work there because of their great impact on families and they never turn anyone away. They actually have many people come from other countries where certain care was refused  and here they will treat them no matter what. Unfortunately since it is free there is a lot of waiting for care and appointments that can have negative effects. Many times all the appointments are booked for general doctors and appointments sometimes are not available for 2 weeks or more. This then causes people to just go to the hospital, or they get too ill while waiting and have to go to the emergency department.  

Also the hospital provides so many mental health resources for free for the children and for the nurses. For example, long term patients have “magnolia house” which is a kitchen lounge that families can use to have birthday parties or they book a spa company. For the nurses they have a wellbeing hub that provides a relaxation room, puts on fun events, and gives out free tickets to movies. The nurses do sessions like one to one and group sessions to reflect and talk about well being. Also, they have staff and patient psychologists that do one on one sessions and debriefs. Birmingham childrens is actually the leading west middle hospital to professional nurse advocates. Staff mental health is extremely important and these programs are needed more in the U.S. to prevent burnout. 

Next we spent some time at the nonprofit WAITs which is women acting in today’s society. They focus on empowering women to make their own voices and it is a pretty amazing organization. The staff we spoke to explained their roles and how WAITs works with agencies to provide holistic support and ensure individuals needs are met. They also directly support women with services like refuge, domestic abuse team, and volunteering opportunities. Women are an important part of our research, so this was a very informative session.

Finally we ended the night with a delicious dinner with BCU. They brought in alumnis that consisted of 2 teachers and a midwife. Both the teachers work in underprivileged communities in Birmingham. It was amazing to see how passionate they were about pushing their students to be the best and showing they can achieve their goals no matter where they come from. This is a great skill that can be used more in the U.S. This day was full of many learning experiences and I am excited for another eventful day tomorrow.