Today was filled with eye-opening experiences and learning. While this past school year was very rewarding, at times it was easy to forget why I chose nursing as a career in the first place. With this being said, today, while very emotional, helped ground me and re-center myself. The day started off with a lesson…
Tag: Plus3 United Kingdom
Healthcare, Culture, and Care: A Day of Perspective
Today was a very impactful and thought-provoking day, as it combined learning about a serious global issue with visiting a real-world healthcare setting. It was a day that not only provided new information but also challenged my perspective and gave me insight into areas that many people do not often get to experience. We began…
Birmingham Day 5: Children’s Hospital
Today we started out with a lecture on female genital mutilation. This doesn’t sound like a nice topic and it’s not pleasant to talk about, but it’s important to be aware that this does happen. It happens in 31 countries across Africa and some countries in the Middle East and Asia. This has affected 230…
Hospital Tour!
This morning we started our day off at Birmingham City University where we learned about female genital mutilation (FGM). As crazy as this sounds, I had actually never heard of this before. It has never been mentioned in any conversation that I have ever had, so this was completely new to me. I learned that…
Birmingham Day 6:
Today was one of the most emotional and eye-opening days so far. We were able to spend most of our day at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital, after a lecture at Birmingham city university (they work hand in hand like UMPC and the University of Pittsburgh). It was a day that will stick with me…
A Day in a Birmingham Hospital
We started off the day at Birmingham City University by learning about female genital mutilation/cutting. This was a topic that was very unfamiliar to me, so I learned a lot during the lecture. It is a very sensitive and serious issue, and the presentation helped me better understand the physical, emotional, and cultural impacts it…
Day 6: Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Day six was the best day of the trip so far for a multitude of reasons! To begin the day, I woke up at 7:30AM for a quick breakfast of cereal and coffee at the hotel, before we met as a group in the lobby to walk over to Birmingham City University. We met with…
More Than One Calling
I have told the story of how I started a career in nursing and then decided to switch to education, which I love; however, today truly reminded me why I selected nursing in the first place. Touring Birmingham Children’s Hospital reminded me how truly amazing it is that people allow you to take care of…
Day 5: Sterilization, Sushi, and Spooks
Today we were back at Birmingham City University again for another full day of simulation labs, and it ended up being one of the most exciting and interesting days of the trip so far. The morning started with our first simulation lab focused on catheterization with Blessing. I was especially excited because this was my…
Sterile Fields & Spooky Feels
Today was a very interactive and hands-on day. As a freshman nursing student from the United States who has not even started clinicals yet, I felt incredibly grateful for the opportunity to spend the day at Birmingham City University participating in simulation labs and learning directly from nurses and educators in the UK. Today truly…
Day 5: Skills Saga
Happy Thursday! Today was a very memorable experience. For the first time, us students got to have the experience of a skills lab. After a year of hard work in nursing school, it felt like a reward to finally do some hands-on work. We started our skills lab at 9am at BCU. Their skills lab…
Birmingham Day 5:
We started the morning in a simulation ambulance (a simbulance), and that was one of my favorite parts of the day. It gave me a chance to see what emergency care could feel like and what skills I would need to go into that field. We were able to explore what the inside of an…
Day 5: Skills Lab
Day five was a day that I had been looking forward to all week because of the skills lab we were able to participate in today! To begin, we woke up around 7:30 for an early meet up time of 8:30 AM. I was able to eat a filling breakfast of cereal and eggs, and…
Day 5 – New Experiences In Addition to Learning!!
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…
Day 5: Skills, Sushi, and Spooks
Day 6 in Birmingham was one of the most exciting and hands-on days we’ve had so far. We spent the entire day back at Birmingham City University, working in the simulation labs and finally getting the chance to practice real nursing skills. After spending all year at Pitt learning the core sciences, it was really…
Day 5: My Legs are Sore!
Today felt like one of those days where everything I’m learning abroad suddenly clicks into place! The hands‑on skills, the cultural differences in healthcare, and even the history of the city we’re temporarily calling home. We started our morning at BCU’s South Campus once again, where we stepped into the Simulance. This is a full…
Nurse for a Day
Today was a day dedicated primarily to hands-on skill labs, which made it a very different experience compared to the lecture-based days we’ve had so far. Instead of sitting and listening, we were actively involved in practising real healthcare techniques, which made the day feel much more engaging and immersive. We began the day by…
Day 5 – Sim Lab!
Today we had the opportunity to practice some skills in BCU’s simulation labs. First, we got a tour of their simulation ambulance that they use for their paremedic students. Both the inside and outside look just like the ambulances they have in the UK as they tried their best to make it as realistic as…
Birmingham Day 5: Catheters and Care
Today we spent a lot of the day in the skills lab. This is something all the nursing students have not yet done, but will be doing next semester. Skill labs are a hands on simulation of likely scenarios that practices necessary skills for a specific field. We did two skill labs, one was catheterisation…
Day 4: Skills Lab
Today we were able to sleep in because we thankfully did not have to meet in the lobby until 8:30 this morning. This gave me a little extra time to shower and eat breakfast. The buffet style breakfast at the hotel is very nice, I like being able to choose what I want to eat…