Nursing students share study abroad experiences

Two Washburn School of Nursing students shared their "North Ireland Adventure" with fellow students on Wednesday.

Kim Beem and Ashley Toft, both seniors, spent four weeks at Queens University in Belfast, during which they completed their psychiatric clinical rotation requirement. They worked in a psychiatric hospital for two weeks and then rotated to various community settings and toured mental health facilities.

They created a PowerPoint presentation to showcase their study abroad experience to fellow students. They began by asking some trivia question about Northern Ireland, which is a separate country from Ireland. They described their stay in Belfast, which included riding a giant ferris wheel, and freezing at night because the radiators in their dorms were turned off and visiting a castle. They took in a Gaelic football game, which they described as "a cross between football, soccer, rugby, volleyball and boxing."

They continued in their presentation by comparing and contrasting American mental health treatment with Northern Irish mental health treatment plans. Through their work at the Mater Psychiatric hospital, they observed multiple wards, but mainly stayed in the 65 years and older wing. One thing they found particularly interesting was that the hospital did not have many private rooms. Patient were mostly kept in a long room divided by curtains. The Northern Irish nurses explained they felt that they could keep better tabs on their patients without walls separating them. In addition, the Northern Irish do not believe in using restraint in patient care, and do not use bed alarms.

After completing their presentation with last thoughts and comments, the two American students gave the floor to two Irish students Emma Sweenie and Leoni Dunne , visiting Washburn from Queens University. They also had a powerpoint presentation, which mainly focused on the structure of the Northern Ireland health care system. The Northern Irish are currently shifting mental health care from inpatient to community based treatment.

Sweenie said what she is most looks forward to in her two weeks in the US is "the combination of meeting new people and seeing the difference in health care systems."

Pregnant women needed

Washburn School of Nursing is in need of pregnant women.

The school's maternal/infant course does a "Core Family" project, in which they work with a pregnant woman though prenatal, delivery and postnatal care. The student is matched with a family who will be having a baby during the course of the semester. The family will share their experiences with the student and observes the delivery of the baby.

"The student visits the family before delivery, provides added support
during labor and delivery and then visits at home a few weeks later," said Nora Clark, assistant professor of nursing.

The school is looking for women to participate in the program, who are due between the last week of March and the first week of May.

Interested mothers-to-be can contact Clark at 670-1211 or at nora.clark@washburn.edu.