Taking a nap in the pod
Today was one of the longest days so far. We got up early and got a ride to the Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. The hospital looked very different from the ones back in the states. It was not a tall building and rather elongated horizontally in comparison. The outside was a reddish-brown brick, and the entrance was not as big as the ones back home. We went to a staff break room to begin our tour. Several nurses on staff came in to talk about the hospital and how it functions. They also went over the nursing education pathway and the different requirements needed in order to become a nurse. We also got to discuss our similarities and differences. In the United Kingdom, they do not have labor and delivery nurses. Instead, they have midwives. They also do not have a nursery for newborn babies as they try their best to keep the babies with their mothers right after birth. The United States takes the babies to the nursery in order to give the mother some time to recoup and get a decent amount of sleep after the tiring process of birth. The nurses also mentioned that they used to have a decline in patients over the summer which would give nurses time for vacations, but the gap has drastically closed therefore leaving them severely understaffed. Unfortunately, it is the same case for nurses in America. The amount of patients they take care of per day is more than I could have ever imagined. For example, two hundred and thirty-six children have come through the emergency room in the past twenty-four hours. One thing that I was astonished by was the fact that nurses have never converted to computers to help them complete their charting of patients. They still use paper and must do their patient write-ups after the patient has been taken care of instead of while the nurses are with them. They said it can be hard to remember exactly what happened within the interaction due to taking care of multiple patients at the same time and having to complete the charts after care has been provided. The hospital will soon be switching to the computer tactic for charting, but the nurses are nervous since writing the charts is all they have known for so long.
On the way to Children’s!
Another topic that was talked about was their education experiences. They pick what they want to specialize in before they attend uni. Then, they must complete three years of schooling in order to graduate in their specialty. In the states, we all obtain the same general knowledge of many specialities through our clinical practice. After we receive our BSN and pass the NCLEX for our RN title, we apply to jobs that we are interested in for our specialization. I was surprised to learn that they specialized before they even started their education because I personally would not know what to choose at such an early time.
Nursing education pathway in the UK
My favorite part of the day was getting to walk around the hospital to see all the different units. My favorite unit to explore was the oncology unit because that is what I hope to specialize in. Many hospitals have a bell that cancer patients ring whenever they are officially cancer free and the one in this particular hospital was decorated so beautifully! Something I appreciated was the effort the staff put in to create memorials throughout the hospital. There was a tree filled with goodbye notes for patients who have passed that their families wrote for remembrance and closure.
End of treatment bell on the Oncology floor
After we left the hospital, we ventured to hear a talk about domestic abuse by a program called W.A.I.T.S which began in 1993 and is now thirty years old. The acronym stands for women acting in today’s society. The foal is to empower women to make their own choices and to work with individuals to provide holistic support. They offer refugee, domestic abuse teams, and volunteering opportunities. One thing I learned today was how little people actually know about domestic abuse and its many forms. People were quick to make stereotypical assumptions based on what they have seen in movies and what is presented on TV. Domestic abuse can happen to anybody and some people may never even know what a person has been through. The lesson was very informative for us, and I hope everyone in the room has a better understanding on the subject.
Hospital bed in the ER
Lastly, we had a lovely Pitt alumni dinner at the most amazing Thai restaurant in the bullring. We got to hear about the alumni’s experiences and why they chose to be nurses and educators. I really appreciated the time the speakers took to have a well written and thought-provoking presentation.
Thai for dinner!
That’s all for today! Come back tomorrow for another day of fun!