What I Learned Today And Will Take Back With Me
Today was a very busy day and I continued to learn more than I could ever imagine. We started off the day going to Birmingham Children’s hospital and heard from several nurses and workers. Then we learned about WAITS charity and what they did: they help women who have been affected by domestic abuse. Finally, we had a wonderful Thai dinner and listened to three graduated BCU students and where they are now.
First off, something that I will take back with me is definitely the tours and what I saw in the hospital today. I have nothing to compare it to in America because this was the first time I have ever been observing a Children’s hospital and touring the entire property. I feel that there is no way to explain how it feels to walk around and see the children. It was so sad to see the children in pain and not in good health. It breaks my heart, but it reminds me of how much the nurses and caregivers care for them. I will never forget a lady with an umbrella singing lullabies to a baby in the PICU. I will forever remember how I felt today and it will help me remember the reason that I want to be a nurse: to help people and make a positive difference in their life. Next, something else that I thought was very interesting and something that I will take with me in the future is hearing what the teachers who had graduated from BCU said about their job. Although nurses and teachers are very different, they are also similar in several ways. Both jobs center around caring for other people and being a positive influence. Both teachers mentioned why they were teachers and why they were teachers in the area that they were (a lower poverty area). They explained how they helped the lives of the children and were able to see a positive change. The teachers mentioned how they could have chosen an “easier” job where the students were more fortunate, but they both wanted to make a difference and prove to their students that they can do anything that they set their mind to. You could really tell that the students have trust in these two teachers and are comfortable with them. I hope to be like them when I become a nurse.
What Was Different Between The United States And The United Kingdom
There were a lot of differences that I heard about today between the United States and the United Kingdom. First, one thing that really stood out to me was the Emergency Room in the hospital. All of the children were to only wait for 15 minutes and then they were to get checked out. Then, depending on the seriousness of their situation, they would be given another period of time to wait. Either way, the children and families knew exactly what to expect. I feel that in the United States, people can be waiting in the Emergency Room for hours on end. Also, there were so many rooms in the hospital for very specific treatments, which I thought was really helpful. Something that stood out to me was how there was one section for gluing and stitching while there was a whole other room for casting.
Despite this, there was one other thing that really stood out to me that I wanted to write about. When we went to dinner, as said earlier, we talked to three graduated students from BCU. The first one we talked to went to midwifery school. I could really relate to her because when I get older, I am hoping to work in Labor and Delivery or something related to it. However, I noticed that there were several differences between the two jobs in both countries. For example, in the United Kingdom, they do not have Labor and Delivery nurses. Instead they have midwives which are incharge of the mother and family entirely. You are also incharge of the community. It is your job to advocate for the mother in their specific situation. Something that was interesting was how she is able to actually deliver a baby, unlike a Labor and Delivery nurse in the United States. Something else that is different is how she was in school for being a midwife for three years. She was not able to switch out, but once she graduates she gets a job and can choose her specialty in midwifery. It is different in the United States because we go to clinicals for our second through fourth year. We do not specialize in anything until we actually graduate and get jobs. I have heard that several people change their minds as they go through clinicals. I asked the midwife from BCU and she said that she would never have changed her mind and knew she made the right decision for her career. That makes me more excited and happy with my decision for my future.
What Will Impact My Search Project
Unfortunately, today we did not talk too much about mental health with adolescents. However, we did learn about the negative effects of domestic abuse and some of them were about mental health. This could therefore be something we could look more into and see how it relates to the negative effects of domestic abuse in the United States. Tomorrow we are talking a lot more about mental health, so it will be very helpful for our project. Until tomorrow!
