It was an amazing first complete day in the city of Birmingham today! After a good night of rest, we started off the dat by getting onto a bus to go to BCU, which is Birmingham City University. To begin, I thought that the double decker bus was so cool and loved sitting on the second level. It was so cool to be able to see the city with a better and different view! A little bit after getting off of the bus, as we were walking to the university, it started to slightly drizzle. However, the rain wasn’t too bad and soon, I saw the university’s main building.
As soon as we walked into the main building (City Center), I was amazed to see the structure and layout of the inside. To be honest, it didn’t feel like a college campus. To me, it somehow reminded me of when I went to my dad’s workplace for Take Your Child to Work Day. This was mainly because of the way you had to tap in to get into the building and all. I just thought it was so cool. Soon, we were greeted by Chinenye, a professor at the university and a nurse as well. Then, we went to a classroom where she introduced herself and all of us introduced ourselves. One thing I found super fascinating was the fact that when each of us said what field of nursing we were interested in, Chinenye always had something to say, whether it was her own experiences/background or a story she has seen. I found it so cool to see one person have so many different aspects of interests within nursing and prior experience in a variety of nursing fields. After the introductions, we talked about the nursing education provided to students in the UK. I was surprised to see quite a few differences! One of the biggest differences is that the nursing program in the UK is only 3 years. However, this is mainly because students have shorter breaks, if they have any. The second difference is that nursing students in the UK are allowed to specialize into whatever field they want to immediately. On the other hand, in the US, nursing students start off by becoming general nurses and then later going onto specialization. Finally, the third difference is that there is no final licensure exam that needs to be taken in order to practice nursing after earning the degree. In contrast, in the US, the NCLEX has to be taken. However, there is one exam that is taken to ensure students’ clinical skills and that is called the OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Exam). However, even though there are many differences, one similarity that struck out to me was that all students, regardless of whether we are talking about the US or UK, gain clinical experience as they make their way through nursing school. In Pitt, clinical experience begins from second year. At BCU, clinical experience starts from year one but placements differ depending on the nursing student’s knowledge and capabilities.
After learning all this, we took a little tour of the main campus. We say the library, some classrooms, common areas, etc. Soon, we got on another bus to go to BCU’s South Campus. On the bus, Jackie and I found a newspaper and we did a word search together! That was a nice little distraction! Once arriving at BCU’s South Campus, I realized the college buildings are very different from what we see back at home. The buildings are more colorful and filled with a lot of natural light, which I find very nice. Again, we had a tour of the South Campus and went to the cafeteria to eat lunch. I had already planned on trying something new so I ate Katsu Chicken Curry. Although the portion size was big, I liked the food though!
After lunch, we all gathered in a classroom to learn about burn injuries, something Chinenye is very passionate about. I learned a lot about burn injuries through this lecture. I realized some of the smallest daily actions we perform could possibly lead to a burn injury to either ourselves or other people, for example, younger children. For example, leaving a hot cup of tea on a countertop unattended while a little child around the area could quite possibly lead to a burn injury for the small child. Additionally, burn injuries can be prevented entirely if people are educated about it. Most burn injuries occur at home while food preparation occurs or when kids are playing and exploring. Burn injuries are high impact injuries and can be very expensive to treat. Therefore, burn patients can end up facing physical disabilities, PTSD, mental health issues, and financial struggles. Furthermore, the most vulnerable populations for burn injuries are low-income households, possibly making it a huge burden. However, since burns can be prevented through education, all of this can be avoided by many. The key takeaway for this lecture was when a burn occurs, a person is supposed to cool only the burn area with cool water every 20 minutes for 3 hours while removing clothing (only on the burn area) and jewelry. However, if running tap water is not present at the time of the burn for whatever reason, then a wet towel should be placed on the burn area, changing the towel every 2 minutes. Then, if the injury is bigger than a coin, the individual should go to the hospital to receive care. We also went over some basic ways of treatments and wound care for burns. Overall, I thought this lecture was very interesting.
After this lecture, we split into little groups to do something before going out for dinner as a group. My little group decided to go to the mall to retrieve some cash from the ATM. On our long walk to the mall, we stopped at a couple places to take pictures and looked at some very nice scenery. Soon, we went to the mall and also went to TK Maxx to explore. Eventually it was time for dinner, so we headed to Asha’s, an Indian Restaurant. I was super excited after I realized the cuisine was Indian. I thoroughly enjoyed it a lot!
Overall, today has been a great day with a mix of educational learning and fun and I am looking forward to what we are going to be doing tomorrow!
