Today we started off our day with an hour or so bus ride to the Universidad de Austral and Hospital Universitario Austral. Here they provided us with breakfast consisting of orange juice, tea, coffee, bananas, and croissants. We then were presented with a variety of healthcare management workers and got a view into the business side of how the hospitals are run between private and public sectors. It was very intriguing to see how the universities were directly connected to the hospitals, similar to how the Pitt nursing school is connected to UPMC Presbyterian. Next we received another presentation and a hospital/university tour at the other various buildings apart from the campus of the Universidad de Austral. After all the tours concluded, we were able to hang out and have lunch with some of the students that are currently enrolled in the university. Here we met our new friend, Juana, who told us all about the nursing program and overall schooling system in Argentina. Here she told us about how compared to the United States, Argentina runs their nursing programs both similarly and differently. To begin with, the United States only requires four years of college to complete a degree in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and then requires you to take the NCLEX, which is the test that certifies you as being a Registered Nurse (RN). In Argentina, students must attend three of college and then two years of a separate program specializing in nursing. This was extremely interesting as they have an extra year in schooling and only require two years specifically in nursing courses. Next, she also told us how she is currently taking classes such as anatomy and physiology and biochemistry. It was good to see that even though the programs might be divided differently, they still are required to take similar baseline classes needed in the nursing profession. When it comes to shortage of healthcare workers, both the United States and Argentina are short for nurses. Although there is a large population of nursing students, both countries never seem to be able to correct the negative data dragging down the population of nurses. It was so fun to be able to speak to someone close to our age in the same program as us and be able to get an insight on all of the different ideas and systems she has learned from! She has definitely been one of the most informative and interesting people I have talked to thus far. Can’t wait for tomorrow!
Mi Amiga Argentina
