Today, we went to the University of Austral to visit their main campus and university hospital. The University hospital is a private hospital that is certified with the Joint Commission, meaning that their policies are set by a U.S entity and they must be certified again after quality checks. After the lecture, we toured the hospital with a nurse. We learned about the differences between American and Argentina nurses.

For example, Argentina nurses take either a 3 or 5 year course. However, at the end of them both, there is no NCLEX or a similar exam. The 3 year course covers general adult care and basic pathology and research. However, the 5 year course covers the intensive care units, research projects with publication, and administration. In addition, in order to receive a degree in Nursing in the US, a student must receive a 2.5 GPA. However, there is no grade point average requirement. Instead, students must take the classes until they pass, which increases the price of their education. Similarly, in the US, clinicals begin during the second or third year of the program. However, in Argentina, clinicals begin in the first year and first semester. Also, in the US, nurses must get certified again to work in another state. However, in Argentina, a nurse can work in any providence and receive a nursing card right away.

After touring, we went to a student mixer, where we spoke with students from Austral. Some of them were nursing and some were other majors like design. Although I learned a lot about the differences in nursing like their salary is around $4/hour, I discovered immense cultural differences. For example, they don’t have a prom, so we showed them our prom dresses!