D-i-e

Describe

Overall nursing. I heard of an incident which really bothered me. I had heard about similar case before but this happened to my collegue. Mother came with her newborn child to show it to a nurse. The nurse did check the baby and found him dead. The nurse then continued her work and the mother was left crying.

Interpret
Like I said in my previous blogpost, in Uganda, nurse has a wayy more patients than here in Finland. There are alot things to do. But while I was treated for my back pain in a local hospital with a descent reputation I kinda bumbed into same issue. Some nurses were caring, friendly and listened to patienst while others were ignorant and even rude. This seemed to be more common than I thought in Uganda. Great variation how to treat patients.  Some were frierndly and others..cold. Why this is that way, I can only speculate. Maybe its because of rush. Maybe you dont have enough energy to give love, compassion to others. Maybe it has even something to do with culture: you really cant show your pain in Uganda. You might even get laughed at if you do. Specially labouring women, they cant really make sound when giving birth or they might get mistreated, laughed.

Evaluation

The way we live, is made from pieces like education, culture, family, even friends. Uganda has had big  difficulties in like 40 years, including reign of Idi Amin. It is a poor country. Harsh enviroment. You have to struggle. Maybe that is one reason why people there are like lions. They dont weep so much. They struggle to survive and maybe there isnt any place for "weakness". This same kind of thing happened here in Finland 70 years ago, when war ended. People were busy building Finland and there were so many wounds. Spiritual, mental, physical. I think people didnt have resources to deal with the pain and scars so what they did is they build. They build Finland as it is now. No mourning but many suicides. How we deal with our pain, past, is individual. But maybe there are some common elements  concerning us as a human specie. Love, compassion, we all grave that. But how can you give those if you are a broken spirit.



Mark 12:30-31

 ^"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

³¹ And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."

"Letter" home or memories from trip

I was having my work placement in Uganda, Kampala. I study nursing in Centria for a second year. 

Reason I named this as a "memories from trip" is, that I had to come back to Finland earlier. I had an accident that worsen my condition (Discus Prolapsis) and had to come for an operation back to Kokkola.

Uganda was nice. When we first arrived Entebbe, Uganda around 5am in the sunday morning, I could´nt help but wonder how smalll the airport was! After all, Uganda has around 42 million residents. But everything was well organinized by our host university. We had a driver waiting for us and we soon got to get going. 

City was quiet that time of day but we could still see alot people moving by car, walking etc. First thing I noticed was the poor condition of roads. Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world.

It took around 1.5 hours to get to our hotel and in some point we were in disbelief, does the driver really know where we are going. But we got safely (and tired) to our hotel and that day, we mainly rested. 

Next week we started working by getting to know our host university, Clarke International University. It was located in top floors over an hospital. Staff there was very friendly and we got to taste local cuisine. We spend the week by visiting different work placement places, mainly hospitals and health centers. This was the week when I hurt my back. Roads are awful over there. And the traffic..

I managed to still work by the power of medicine for 4 weeks, first 2 weeks in Rotom health center which was mainly for elders but had younger customers aswell. That time was amazing, we got to see how people live in rural areas. We had a "party" where we praised and sung and had a nice dinner after that. I learned alot about laboratory work. Patients were regurally inspected of malaria, HIV etc. Staff was friendly and guided us. 

Next 2 weeks I spend in Angelina Health Center. It was class 3 health center (scale is 1=best, 4=lowest). It is kind of same nursing than here in Finland, we give medicines, take care of the patients etc same way BUT there is alot more patieets for 1 nurse than here in Finland. Overall rate is that they have 1 nurse for around 1400 clients and here in Finland its around 12 (?)nurses for 1000 people. Example, there was 1 day a week, when there was vaccinations for small children. There might have been like 15 people in a small room, and nurse would just give vaccinations for the child and call next. It took around 2 minutes to give all the vaccinations for a child. That was efficient on its way..

Over all, I miss Uganda. I miss the team, my fellow students. I cherish the memories we had together and would invite anyone to try travelling. You get hooked.

Stay alive

Kyösti

D-I-E CHINA

D-I-E China

1.DESCRIBE
I’m doing my internship at one of the best hospitals here in Shanghai. One week my three classmates and I were at the operation department, where we had an opportunity to see breast surgeries. The operation room was full of doctors and nurses. They spoke loudly, laughed their own jokes, but they didn’t take contact to patient at all. I saw tears and fear in the patient’s eyes because nobody didn’t tell her what’s going on. She just lied quiet on the operation table. The patient was awake during the whole operation. I felt very bad inside of me, because I thought why nobody spoke with the patient. They didn’t tell her what they were going to do or didn’t even hold her hand. I think that the breast surgery can be very traumatic for the patient.

2. INTERPRET
In this department, the doctors are doing many breast surgeries during one day. When one patient is ready, next patient is waiting her/his operation behind the operation room’s door- and of course, alone. Alone and no one takes any contact to her/him. I think that the reason for that is that there is too much work and too many other patients. Doctors and nurses seem to be so busy all the time that they ”just do their work”, and that’s it. In China it is more common that the patients are left on their own, but I think in Finland it’s different. In Finland the nurses and doctors give more attention for the patients and they are trying to figure out what might be the patients real feelings and thoughts. The work here is more repetitive. Even though the situation seemed bad for me, I think that people here in China are okay with the lack of attention because there are just too many people here.

3. EVALUATE
I think this experience in the operation room will make me a better nurse in the future. I hope, that all the patients around me can feel safe and in good hands. I felt bad because I saw the fear and tears in the patient’s eyes. She was so scared. I felt that i was the only one who noticed that. It’s hard to say what would I feel if I waw a Chinese person in this case. Maybe I would like to be treated like in Finland. I saw a motto at one department that said ”What ever you do, do it for the patient”. I think it’s also good for everyone who are working as a nurse or a doctor.

D-I-E China

1. DESCRIBE
I think the most confusing and different thing to me in China has been people's lack of privacy. I have noticed this especially in public places (e.g. hospitals, metro, public toilets). I have observed many nursing procedures where the staff hasn't covered patient's private parts from others or they have been leaving patient's private documents and files on the table for everyone to look at. One time I saw an unknown man reading trough other patient's health records at the nursing station. Metro's are not any different from this because I have seen numerous times people reading random people's text messages behind their shoulders. Chinese people also tend to use public toilets without closing the door. I have been photographed so many times at metro and hospital that I have lost count. No one has ever asked me a permission to take photos of me so I have found these situations very uncomfortable.

2. INTERPRET
For me as a Finnish person, the sense of privacy and personal space is very important so I found all these situations very strange. I think Chinese people are somewhat used to the lack of privacy because there are so many people living in Shanghai. Also they just might not care enough to take care of everyone's privacy because of the constant rush and crowds in China. People seem to hurry from place to another constantly and the pace of the nursing procedures is very quick. I have started to think that maybe Chinese people don't value privacy as much as Finnish people. 

3. EVALUATE
I think that these kinds of situations are a part of normal day for Chinese people. They are more used to sharing everything with others because I guess they have no other choice when this country is so overpopulated. Maybe the positive outlook on this could be that at least this could help the Chinese value more the meaning of team work and sharing. On the negative side, everyone deserves to have privacy when needed. I don't think it's okay to leave the curtains open at someone's bedside when the nursing staff is for example cleaning the catheter or turning the patient (who's wearing a gown with an open back and bare bum) when there are 10 other patients and their family members sharing the same room.

Nevertheless, I have really enjoyed doing my internship in China. It has been an extremely eye-opening experience to see Chinese culture. Hopefully I have a chance to visit it again some day in the future.

Letter home: Suvi Lankila, Terhi Laitinen, Laura Mustanoja & Hanna Saukko

.        In what country and University are you studying?

We are studying at the Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Shanghai, China.

In what Study program are you studying at Centria?

Our study program is nursing.

What are the courses like at the host University?

We have three different courses on every Friday: Chinese herbs, spoken Chinese and Taiji. During other weekdays we are training at Renji Hospital.

Describe the study culture / nursing culture?

We haven't noticed any major differences in the study culture in China, because the main reason for us to be here is internship, so we haven't really paid attention to that. We know that the Chinese students usually do long days at school and also invest in self-learning. 

Nursing culture in China is very different to Finnish one. There are lots of patients staying in the same room (even up to 10) so all the nurses, doctors and family members crowd the rooms even more. We have paid attention, that usually nurses or doctors do everything in groups. Aseptics is not as high as in European countries. 

What is your study group like?

We don't have a study group. We usually stay in a group of 4 at the hospital when following the nurses at the wards. Sometimes they ask us to divide ourselves in pairs.

Please describe what the everyday life is like in your host country? What do you like in particular?

       China is a very beautiful country and there is lots of things to see and experience in Shanghai. Food is great, especially when you are brave enough to try new tastes and cuisines. The weather is quite warm already (+28C). It is a shame that our SUMHS campus is so far away from the city centre, because it usually takes about an hour to get from campus to Renji hospital. It is very important to have enough time to travel around because the metro is packed full everyday, especially during the rush hours. Chinese people have no sense or personal space, so they push you into the metro car with force.

What has been challenging? Why?

It's challenging to go to grocery store, because most of the time there is no English translation for the products and food and all the stuff is very different and unknown to us. In the beginning, it took some time to get used to using squatting toilets because in many places they don't have normal sitting toilets. Also the internet is extremely slow and keeps cutting out.

What has been the highlight of your exchange so far?

The highlights of our trips were a hike in the Yellow Mountains in Huangshan and visiting the chocolate factory in Shanghai.

Describe - Interpret - Evaluate

1. DESCRIBE: Think of one episode that has left you confused or that you think was strange/different. Describe the object or situation in concrete, observable terms. What happened in the interaction? What was said? What did you see? What did you feel at the moment?

Making this task seemed rather difficult as Danish behavior is very close to Finns. However, one thing has been different in comparison to how Finns communicate. During the conversation one may touch someones shoulder or back for a moment. Another student came to talk to me and touched my shoulder. She greeted me at the same time. It felt a little bit strange. Because in Finland we usually have our own personal space and we dont touch each other during the conversation.

2. INTERPRET: Think of possible explanations (interpretations) for what you observed or experienced. From your cultural perspective, try to explain why you think this situation or experience occurred? Try to find at least 3 different interpretations of the interaction or occurrence. What cultural information have you used to produce these interpretations?  

I think that a person just wanted to be friendly because we were both students. it can also be a habit to touching someone's shoulder or arm when talking or making a point. Maybe Danes are more open than the Finns. In Denmark touching during conversations is a sign of intimacy, so if you are very close with someone so maybe she think that we are good friends. I think also that personal space depends on how well you know the person. And I had been discussing with her several times before.

3. EVALUATE: Evaluate what you observed or experienced. What positive or negative feelings do you have regarding the situation? Consider how you might feel if you were a member of the host culture and held the dominant cultural values and beliefs?

First it felt a little strange, but when I thought of it I realized that she wanted to be just kind. I also heard from other students similar experiences and I thought it was fine. If I had been a Danish I think it would have been more familiar to me. On the other hand, if I had not known this person, it would still have seemed strange. I red that touching during conversations is a sign of intimacy, so if you are very close with someone, it is normal, otherwise it can be construed as insincere, invasive or out of place.  

 Pictures from the lake called Søndersø.

Introduction - Hanna Saukko

Hello!

My name is Hanna Saukko and I am currently studying third year in nursing at Centria University of Applied Sciences in Kokkola. I am originally from Kalajoki and moved to Kokkola about two years ago.

I am going to do 3-month-long intership in Shanghai,China in spring 2018. I chose to go to Shanghai because I have always been interested of Chinese culture.

I want to learn about China's history and culture, meet new people and develop my language skills. I am also interested in getting to know Chinese health care system.