Today was our first full day in Birmingham! As the day went on, I felt like I was starting to understand the city and the culture a little better. After a tiring day of traveling yesterday, it was good to feel like we had a real day to settle in and experience everything. We began the day at Birmingham City University (BCU) with our guide, Chinenye Anetekhai, who is a nurse that specializes in burn and wound care. She immediately made everyone feel very welcomed and excited for the rest of our trip. She asked each of us what field of nursing we hoped to go into and somehow had a story for every single answer. One of the first things we learned was how BCU focuses heavily on teaching and student involvement rather than being mostly research-based. I thought it was valuable that the university made it a point to honor student voices and make them involved in their own learning. Chinenye talked a lot about how being proactive is an important trait in nursing students, and she gives people more tasks so they are able to grow and develop that skill. She emphasized how the experience-based learning that they prioritize for their students is essential because of how hands-on nursing is as a profession.

We also were able to learn about the structure of the nursing program in the United Kingdom and how much it differs from the United States. The nursing program is three years long because it does not include the traditional breaks that we are used to in the States. The students are put into clinicals during their first year to start building their skills early and then advance to harder units as the years go on. It was interesting how much emphasis was put on learning inside the hospital rather than in the classroom. We also talked about how there is no NCLEX exam, which was surprising since most of our schooling in the US is to prepare us for that.

Right before lunch, we stopped to talk about one of the most influential nurses in the UK, Mary Seacole. Before today, I did not know anything about her story, but learning about her determination and adversity was inspiring. She overcame many barriers during the time of the Crimean War and still gave her life to nursing. Even some of the hospitals around the area were named after her in dedication. Later in the day, we ate lunch at the university’s cafeteria, where I got a baked potato with beans, and we were able to chat about everything we had seen so far. Then we walked to our classroom, where we had a lecture specifically focused on burns and burn care. This ended up being my favorite part of the day because I never realized how complex burns and their injuries can be. We learned that burns are considered high-impact injuries because they affect many parts of a person’s life besides just the physical. The presenter explained that they are also one of the leading causes of injury in low-income households because of cramped kitchen spaces, overcrowding, or the lack of education around burn prevention. It was so eye-opening to hear how preventable yet common burn injuries actually are. Adults are more likely to experience burns from flames or explosions (48%), while children are mostly injured from scalding from hot liquids like oil or water (60%). Burn injuries are most common in the home, so prevention and education about them are even more important. Because there are so many common misconceptions around burns from older generations, educating people as they grow up is key in the practice of prevention.

We also were able to use some of our previous anatomy knowledge as we talked about the zones of burn injury, including coagulation, stasis, and hyperemia. The zone of coagulation is unsalvageable and the tissue is dead, the zone of stasis has static blood flow and may involve recoverable damage, and the zone of hyperemia is where there is inflammation and the tissue survives. We then learned how healthcare providers use things like history, size, depth, appearance, capillary refill, and sensation to assess burns, which we practiced with a simulated patient. We also got to practice the Parkland formula, which is used to calculate how much fluid to give a burn patient. It was so cool to hear the science behind burns and learn things that I will be able to use in my nursing practice.

Outside of lectures, we were able to explore the city and become more familiar with where we are living. I was able to compare the atmosphere to our campus and see how and where students spent their time. As for tonight, I am excited to continue learning and seeing what the city has to offer!