Finishing up clinical in Huddersfield

So, as you know, we have not been allowed to work in the hospital any more. The University was able to find us some alternate experiences, which actually is helping us achieve our goal of coming here in the first place - to assess and analyze their healthcare system as a whole. So this is what our last week of clinical here in Huddersfield has looked like:

Monday
We woke up and spent a few hours preparing a presentation about our healthcare system and nursing education system in the states, and some comparisons with the UK healthcare system as we've seen it thus far. We went and met up with some people from the University to present to them. What was planned to be a 15 min presentation, turned into a 2 hr discussion! It was really interesting though - they had loads of questions and comments. They really like a lot of aspects of both our healthcare and nursing education systems and wanted a copy of our presentation. They then gave us a tour of the Calderdale hospital (way nicer than the Royal Infirmary we were at!). The part I liked the best was their labor & delivery units (or birth centres). Here they focus so much on natural birth and almost everyone uses midwives (in the hospital and at home). Their epidural rate here is only about 10% (!!!), as opposed to the almost 95% in Utah. Hmmm... I loved it! Because of their focus on natural childbirth, their intervention emphasizes alternative pain-relief measures, such as a birthing pool, birthing balls, room to move around and be in different positions, and so many others! I really would've loved to have even a one day rotation there, as this stuff fascinates me! I sure wish we could get our epidural rate down that low... (if you know me, I have my views about childbirth) :)

That night I was talking with a good friend online (so as not to disclose any names, we'll just call him Nate E....no, no, N. Evans) and I was doing a little bit of complaining about the frustrations I have with our clinical experience here. Being the kind and caring friend that he is, N. Evans gave me a little bit of awesome advice that really hit me, and I thought I'd share it with you all:

"sometimes the test is just what we do with our lives. the experiences don't matter that much...how we handle them does...that is what forms our character."

P.S. you should needlepoint this on a pillow - N. Evans will be widely quoted one day so you'll want to be ahead of the crowd!

Just in the few days since then, I have thought about this a lot and have really tried to change my attitude, just try to get the most out of whatever we get to do here.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning we met at the University once again for a lecture on diabetes and how it is managed here in the UK. We had lunch and went to tour their much-talked-about Podiatry clinic that they have at the University. It was actually really cool! Their podiatrists seem to have a larger role here in the UK and are used more widely. He showed us around and the last room we went into was a sports therapy room. They had all sorts of toys and machines, etc. He told us about all of them (but didn't demonstrate) and then was done. I was like, no way! I wanna see how this works! So I bravely asked if I could try one of them. That started us trying out all of them for like the next hour. He had been telling us about a group of children that had been through earlier and as I was standing on a machine and we looked over at the other girls hula hooping, I said, "And you thought you got rid of the kids..." :)It was fun - they had a HUGE treadmill (for big rugby players), hula hoops, weight machines, a machine that you stand on with one foot (the platform is wobbly) and you have a screen in front of you. The point is to balance and keep a little black dot on the screen in the middle of a target. It was quite hard! Then my favorite was a stationary road bike hooked up to a computer. It has a big screen in front of you that displays a course that you ride (with hills, etc.) and the computer makes the bike harder or easier to ride according to the course. We all tried it out on a short 2 min course, then the guy told me about a longer one they are using for a staff challenge. He said the fastest one was 6 min. Everyone told me I should try it, but not long after I started, I realized it would take me much longer than 6 min to complete. Man, that was a hilly course!!! I was in regular clothes and by the end I was so sweaty I was dripping on the floor!! Ha ha nasty, I know! Kind Candice was fanning me with paper napkins and as soon as I finished the guy laid a towel over my shoulders to wipe my face and Erin gave me her water bottle. Boy, were my legs wobbly after that! (I thought I should try the balance machine again... ha ha)The last appointment of the day was meeting with the community matron. It was interesting to learn about what her role is and how it is different from a district nurse or from a home health nurse. Once again, getting to know the way their healthcare system works as a whole!

Wednesday
Wednesday we went to a skills lab/lecture for 2 hours about assessing ABCDE, which we already knew. (Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability (Neuro), and Environment/Exposure (IV, catheter, dressing, wound drain, etc.)) It was a good review though, and we did really well in the simulation. Considering that we, as nursing students in the US, do more in an assessment than qualified nurses do here in the UK, she was very impressed with our knowledge. She said she wished she could have us do it in front of their nursing students! :)

Then we went to a GP clinic (like a family doctor) to meet up with a nurse in the ward here. She showed us around the clinic and talked about how they practice within the community environment, as opposed to the hospital. Once again, interesting to see all the pieces of the puzzle!

So overall, we are kind of considering it a blessing that we got kicked out the hospital, in order to have the opportunities to see the rest of the healthcare picture, as was our goal. It has given us a brand new perspective on their entire system.