Nursing 'across the pond' offers insight and adventure
When new nursing graduate James Duguid thinks back to his month-long community health clinical placement in England this past January 2020, it’s with many fond memories, and great stories.
“I was based with a team of community health nurses in the west of Hull and our role was to provide community health for all kinds of people,” said Mr. Duguid, a native of Fredericton, New Brunswick (NB) who begins his nursing career on the intensive care unit (ICU) at the St. John Regional Hospital in Saint John, NB this June. “I was assigned with one nurse and we’d go around and do wound care, medication administration for some of the older adults, everything really. It was intense but you got to meet so many people.
“One of my favourite things was going into people’s homes and my preceptor would have them guess where I was from,” he said. “Everyone was very friendly and super interested in what I was doing there.”
Thanks to a partnership established back in 2017 between the Memorial’s Faculty of Nursing (MUNFON) and the University of Hull in northeastern England, two MUNFON) students spend their community health clinical placements every January with the City Health Care Partnership in Hull.
New nursing graduates Hunter Rixmann and James Duguid took this photo from the top of Clifford's Tower while touring in York.[/caption]
“All of the nurses and health professionals were so kind to me while I was there,” said St. John’s native Hunter Rixmann who begins her nursing career on the head and neck surgery and vascular surgery units at St. Clare’s Hospital in St. John’s. “I felt so welcome and appreciated. Everybody on the healthcare team went out of their way to make sure I got the best learning experience possible.”
She spent her month in Hull on the Community Stoke Team, where nurses provide direct care for in-patients on the stroke rehabilitation unit at the local hospital. The team also follows up with stroke patients to identify supports and services needed on discharge, doing home visits on a long-term basis.
Ms. Rixmann and Mr. Duguid jumped at the chance to apply for the placement in Hull, and encourage other nursing students in their final year to do the same.
New Nursing graduate Hunter Rixmann couldn't pass up a chance to check out an iconic London phone booth.
“I have always loved to travel and experience new places/cultures so this was the perfect opportunity for me to get to explore a new place, while also gaining a lot of valuable information about nursing in a different part of the world,” said Ms. Rixmann.
For Mr. Duguid, it was also a great chance to visit his dad’s family in Scotland.
“I hadn’t seen them in a few years,” he said. “When the other nurses found out I was going to Scotland for a weekend, they thought it was quite a long trip for such a short time. But it was just a four-hour train ride to Edinburg, not a big deal for me. In the UK, people have a completely different way of seeing time and travelling.”
Along with insights into the way people view travel and weather, the two graduates gained an up-close look into the UK’s health care system.
“They have a strong focus on community health, and provide everything you need to stay in your house,” said Mr. Duguid, “And the best part is that people don’t have to pay for their medications or supports. “In our larger centres I think we could really adopt or adapt a similar model for community health, but it would be a challenge in rural areas here.”
“People seem to have very good access to accommodations for their homes,” said Ms. Rixmann. “If somebody needed mobility aids installed at home this would all be organized for them.
“The main thing I will remember from this experience is that being kind, caring, and empathetic toward patients is at the heart of nursing both here at home and across the world,” she said. This experience will help me to remember that no matter where I am working throughout my nursing career, these things should always be at the centre of my nursing practice. “