Today has been my most favorite day of the trip so far! To begin the day, our group met up together and we all headed over to Birmingham City University (BCU). I knew that we were going to be doing a simulation skills lab today. However, as I was talking to other people in my group, I realized some of them have had prior experience or have done/seen stuff when shadowing for example. This made me slightly nervous about it all since I’ve never really taken a part or had experience participating in a skills lab. I ended up being entirely wrong because I really enjoyed it and learned so much today!
To start off the day, the first thing we did was see how an ambulance would be like in the UK. This was so cool to look at because there were obviously differences from what ambulances look like in the US. It was very interesting to compare and contrast. One thing that specifically caught my attention was that there are cameras in the ambulances. The cameras are there in the ambulance for the safety of the medical attenders and the patients in case anything bad happens. Just being able to see an ambulance super close up and being able to open the cabinets was very interesting.
Next, we broke into two separate groups and the first station was about wound care. We learned how to remove stitches on a wound with certain equipment. In addition, we learned how to apply dressings on top of wounds. In addition to all the hands-on activity, we learned how to perform wound assessment by looking at the wound’s depth, color, etc. In the process of learning how to apply dressing, we learned how to interact with the patients, what questions to ask, and sterility during the procedure. This was the first time I had ever tried to wear sterile gloves. I was honestly quite the experience because it was quite difficult at first. However, once I saw how it was done, it helped me when I was actually putting them on. I also learned about maggot therapy, which I found so cool because I had known nothing about it previously. After this, we watched and learned how to bandage the ankle, arm, and a stump. This was somewhat familiar to me but it was very nice to see Chinenye teach us from a full medical standpoint. I ended up bandaging my partner’s arm. I quite enjoyed being able to actually learn and do new things ourselves. It was very nice to learn together as we all were trying to do what we were taught.
Next, we had a break for lunch. I was really looking forward to the next lab simulation, which was catheterization and NG tubes. I had no prior experience with any of these, so I was interested to learn more about it. First, we learned about catheterization and how it is done on males and females. We learned about why the procedure is different, why sterilization is important, and most importantly, why patient safety is important. As we were being taught the procedure, I was a little excited and nervous to do it ourselves on the mannequins. We performed catheterization on a female mannequin. As I was doing this, I realized how important sterilization is because it is really hard to maintain throughout the procedure. However, despite the few difficulties we had, we were able to successfully insert the catheter! One reason why I really liked this is because it was something I had never done and it was hands-on experience. It was something more than just sitting down and listening, which was a really nice change. One key message that really was emphasized and stuck to me was “be nice”. The professor who taught us the catheterization told us a story where she was saved by a patient because she was such a nice nurse. Although she had done something wrong during a procedure with the patient, the patient did not sue or do anything just because she was nice. This is very important and it only emphasizes how important patient interaction is.
After the two skills lab, we had a break for a couple hours before we went on a ghost tour. In that timeframe, we went to a cute restaurant called Boston Tea Party and the food/drinks were so amazing. I really enjoyed it! Then, we came back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit.
Soon, as a group, we all headed to the mall for dinner. I had tacos for dinner at a place which was very similar to Chipotle in a way! After that, we all met up with our tour guide for the ghost tour, which was very interesting to hear all the past history associated with different areas of the city and all. After the ghost tour, I came back to the hotel. Now, I am excited to see what the next day has in store for me!
