Today is the day we present our projects to BCU students and faculty, as well as a few other speakers from the past couple of days. We’ve been working on this presentation and adding information we’ve gained from all the speakers who have presented to us. It’s nice to present our findings back to them and inform them about some similarities and differences between the States and the UK.

Before we presented, we sat through another presentation from a few nurses who informed us about ideas for the UK healthcare system. For example, ICS and ICB stand for integrated care system/board and that is a partnership between organizations that meet health and care needs across an area. I don’t think the States anything like that. We also learned a lot about pregnant women. If you’re pregnant in England you don’t have to pay for any prescriptions. You may also get up to 12 months off work. Those 65 and older also don’t have to pay for prescriptions. This is almost similar to Medicare and Medicaid. Students in full-time education don’t have to pay for prescriptions. It’s interesting that with all GP appointments, patients are booked in on a priority basis and not first come first serve. In the States, it’s based on who can afford it but I feel like it mixes on a priority basis as well as first come first serve. It just depends on the situation and the type of medical building.

I find it interesting that because nurses are much more involved with their patient’s history than doctors are, some patients may prefer to see the nurse to have more in-depth conversations. To me, it’s common sense, but they mentioned never making promises to patients that you can’t keep. If a patient trusts you with information that could harm them if not reported, you must report that and tell your patient that you will do so to prevent miscommunication.

The nurses mentioned that they don’t typically face discrimination but they’ve struggled a bit with dementia patients. I feel like every hospital faces difficulties with their dementia patients because they can’t help themselves. It’s nice to hear them say they’ve had an overall positive experience in the way they’ve been treated by patients and staff. They said they love working with the patients, which is important because that’s their entire job, and if the nurses love doing exactly what they’re there to do it means they’ve been treated well and can treat patients just as effectively. 

When asked about the pros and cons of the NHS system, Katie and Leanne said that it’s nice that anyone can come to them seeking care and they’ll be able to provide it. A con would be the waiting times and it’s very difficult to get a doctor’s appointment on the same day and patients may need to wait a few weeks to seek the specific care they need.

We then presented our projects and it went so well. A few people came up to me afterward and told me that I did very well and that it seemed like I was skilled in presenting my question. Everyone else did so well in presenting and I’m genuinely so proud of our group. It was fun to answer questions afterward and the questions I was asked were so easy for me to answer. I really enjoyed presenting today.