Germany nursing school

On our last day of the trip we were able to go to a German nursing school and also interact with students there. It was interesting to learn about how their program is different from both ours and the French system.  Like the French system they are in school for three years and they seperate their clinical and lecture.  They told us that nursing in Germany is not a respectable profession which is so much different then how it is in the states.  They arent praised for going to nursing like most of us are.  I think it is awful that they go to school for such a long time and after they graduate that have to do a job that hardly anyone respects them for.  If that's how nursing was in the united states I don't think I would be able to do it. I thought visiting with the German nursing students was a great experience for us, and it really opened my eyes to how lucky I am to be living in a place that respects nurses.

Amber

Nursing in France

On our trip we were lucky enough to visit and talk with some of the nursing students in the French nursing program along with a couple of teachers.  This is was my favorite part of the trip because it was really relaxed and we just asked each other questions and had a good time learning about the different systems.  I was suprised to know that they don't integrate their lecture and clinics practice a the same time. I don't think I would like that very much because they clinical actually helps me process and learn the content material for our exams. I was also surprised to know that they don't have to take a state board exam like we do to get their license to practice. All in all I think that this visit was my favorite part of the trip because they were so welcoming and made us feel at home while we were there.

Amber

St. Thomas

We were lucky enough to be able to visit St. Thomas hospital which is physciatric home for mentally ill patients. It was a good experience for me because it was a lot different than any of the psychiatric places we have in Memphis.  I thought it was good that st. Thomas is the place they live and they stay their the rest of their lives once they are admitted.  The staff pays careful attention when that's choose where to place the patients which I thought was great.  They really seem like they care about their patients so much much and it made the trip really refreshing.

Amber

Our first day in Germany was awesome! It had a different sort of charm from Geneva and Paris. It's a blend of old and modern architecture that's unique and beautiful. 

We visited the German Pharmacy Museum to learn about the history of pharmacy in Germany. There we saw ancient medication that use to used. For example, they had unicorns horn which was used to cure poisoning, and if i remember correctly really it was the horn of a fish. Also for you harry potter fans, they had mandrake, which is the plant that screams, and it was used as a sedative way back when. 

Sitra

German Pharmacy Museum

We visited the German Pharmacy Museum which is located inside Heidelberg Castle.  It was interesting to see how the storage and distribution of medicines evolved through the centuries.  I have included a picture of an officina, which has an alligator hanging in the middle.  Alligators are not found in Europe, but as the pharmacists were traders, they had access to interesting animals and would hang them in their shop windows to attract customers.  The most interesting fact that I learned was that people used to believe that you could cure maladies with natural things that are the opposite of the malady.  For example, if you have a skin condition, you would put snake skin on it because the snake sheds his for new, healthy skin.  I have also included a picture of a student grinding beetle shells to make dye, as pharmacists also used to sell them as well.
Amy

St. Thomas e.V. in Heidelberg

We visited the residential home for mentally handicapped patients with chronic disorders in Heidelberg called St. Thomas e.V.  It is in an absolutely beautiful location, and I have included a picture of the view from the second floor balcony.  This institution is unique because it is an open facility and the residents are free to come and go as they please.  The town was concerned when it was first opened, but the residents and the townspeople get along very well.  One resident we met told us how much he enjoyed speaking English and we discussed music, including Mick Jagger and older songs.  The facility provides meals and activities for the residents, including art therapy and aerobics.  Some of the residents even work in a shop on site, making pens.  We had the opportunity to eat lunch there and I have included a picture of it.  I'm not sure what it is called, but it was chicken with what tasted like pimento cheese with more cheese on top, white asparagus (which Heidelberg is known for), and fried mashed potatoes.
Amy

Saint loup

We visited Saint-Loup and it's one of the nicest nursing homes I've ever seen! I think that Saint-Loup has a system that needs to be adopted everywhere. The nursing home is decorated in bight vibrant colors, and we learned in gerontology that those colors are what the elderly is able to see the best. The residents of the nursing home have a beautiful view of a lake  during their meals. There is also a hair salon, nail and pedicure room, and also a room for water therapy .There are a variety of scheduled activities that the residents are able to participate in. The nurses at the facility have a room that they can go to relax and rest during there shift.

We also had time to interact with the residents. We helped serve crepes to the residents at the home. They all were happy and smiling. One of the residents told us even told us that they loved it there.

The staff and residents were very welcoming and I really enjoyed my visit there!


Sitra

May 17, 2013- Saint-Loup Nursing Home

Hello all, today we went to Saint-loup. This nursing home has to be THE BEST nursing home I have seen so far. It was also very clean! There are about four floors and each floor has one nurse and two nursing assistants (if I remember correctly). This facility has an extremely nice spa room that is used for therapy. It is phenomenal. I wish I had my camera to take pictures. This place also has a room that is like a hair and nail salon. It is a nice touch for the residents.

The facility costs about 400 CHF/ day. The facility provides individualized interventions for their patients. Each floor is a different color to remind patients which floor they're on in case they forget. The staff has special training to gain knowledge on how what interventions to implement in that case of dementia patients. The facility also addressed the question of death. It is very patient-centered at this facility and they want to create a place of living, not death. Overall, I enjoyed this visit and the visit with the elderly in the end was a nice experience. There was an elderly lady who served us when we were supposed to help serve them! She was so insistent. That was special. Until next time! -Christy

May 24, 2013: Nursing in France

Today was one of my favorite visits of the trip, which was at an institute St. Vincent. We had the opportunity to talk to students about the education path that they have to take to become a nurse. There are many similarities and differences in comparison to our program.

 They have a set of skills that are similar to the competencies from our program that includes skills like quality of care, development of relationship with patients, and organization and coordination of nursing interventions. Their two programs are for auxiliary nurse (10 months) and registered nurse (3 years). A difference is that they don't have to pay for their education! How awesome would that be?! They also have to take a competitive exam to get into their nursing program. 

We ended with some wine and kouglof, a type of cake. The students and everyone was so welcoming. I thoroughly enjoyed this visit! -Christy

University Medical Center Freiburg

Freiburg was a very unique experience for the entire group from Memphis.  We met up with two other nursing students from Georgia Southern and then went to the nursing school to learn about the German healthcare system and the German nursing system.  After introductions from the staff from Freiburg university, we listened to one of the instructors as she described the German healthcare system and a nurses role in the care process of patients in Germany.  After the lecture, as a group we exchanged questions between the German nursing students present in the room. After questions from nursing school curriculum in the US and Germany to challenges in nursing we broke into the individual groups. I was the lone American and male in my group! The German students in my group were very interested in our paying for education and future career options that nurses in America enjoy.  This unique experience allowed us as a group to from bonds with nursing students from around the world.

-Matt    

St. Thomas e.V. tour from Matt

On may the 23rd the group with our coordinator Lena arrived at St. Thomas in Heidlberg, Germany. This is home from mental handicapped people.  This home has no locks and allows its residents to travel down the mountain to the city.  This system of caring for these people is very similar to the system in the USA, however I believe that this system in Heidlberg is more advanced.  One example is that at Saint Thomas, each home in the community has a nurse, where as in America we don't have nurses in the homes.  The tour was also quite impressive.  We saw the cafeteria, art studio, and other rooms in the house.  Every resident we saw and talked to was very happy with their living arrangements and the staff was always very kind to the residents, which is not always the case in the USA.  It is very inspiring to know that the citizens of Heidlberg care for people in their community that cannot care for themselves.

-Matt  

Hopital Trousseau Tour from Matt

The tour of  Hopital Trousseau in Paris, France was very interesting.  After arriving to the hospital by metro with our guide Fatima we met with administrative staff at the hospital.  The president of the hospital welcomed us to the facility and then we toured the hospital with different individuals in administration and nursing.  Hopital Trousseau is a children's hospital that preforms care for patients ranging from premature babies to teenagers.  Throughout the visit, our group from Memphis visited multiple wards (floors) of the hospital.  My favorite was the NICU, because I was in the NICU when I was born.  I was surprised to discover how advanced the NICU unit at Hopital Trousseau was compared to NICUs in America.  The visit was very informing and gave me a new found respect for the French healthcare system and the dedication the the staff at Hopital Trousseau have for their patients.

-Matt

WHO Tour from Matt's perspective

This experience abroad was  eye opening and has broadened my perspective on nursing.

The first major organization that I enjoyed was the world health organization, which we visited on May 16th.  While at the WHO in Geneva Switzerland, the group heard two presentations from Susan Wilburn, RN MPH, about promoting health practices and recognizing health indicators for sustainable development around the globe.  Selma Khamassi, M.D. from Tunisia spoke to the study abroad group about injection safety including, vaccinations on a worldwide level.  Furthermore, both of these topics focused our attention to safety aspects of nursing and healthcare that we as student nurses in the United States can actively perform on a daily basis.  

-Matt

(more stories to come)

May 15, 2013- Tour of Geneva

Hello! This was the first official day on our trip. Luckily, it wasn't my first day there or else I would've been as tired as the people who arrived that morning! Our tour of Geneva was amazing, informative, and cold as we walked around learning about the city in the cold and rain. Despite the weather, we made the best of it!

One of the interesting facts of history was how Geneva became famous for its watch industry. It was during the Reformation when possession of nice items and a luxury lifestyle was forbidden. Wearing jewelry was not allowed, but the tour guide told the group that they allowed watches so people would arrive on time for church. The watch industry grew and Geneva now has a reputation for beautiful and high quality watches. All watches have "Swiss made" on it and they're really strict on preventing counterfeit watches. Our tour guide assured us that it was safe to purchase a watch in Geneva without fear of counterfeit. Another interesting fact is that some of the buildings in Old Town of Geneva had a third story built for the influx of immigrants. The tour guide pointed out the more elaborate windows on the first and second floors compared to the third.

We finished our tour with a welcome dinner at La Potinière. It was a nice ending to a long day. On our walk back to our hotel after dinner, some brave souls got ice cream to eat in the cold weather. Kudos to those who did! I'm sure it tasted amazing! Hope you enjoyed the post! -Christy

Some pictures from the day:

Longest wooden bench in the Guinness Book of World Records

Our dinner

Notice the difference on the 3rd floor windows

Last day in Freiberg!!

We woke up bright and early in our professional dress and went to a beautiful little town in Gunsbach, France where we went to the Albert Schweitzer Museum. We learned about the interesting life Albert Schweitzer who won a nobel peace prize for his medical work in Gabon

Next we went to the University Medical Center in Freiburg where we learned about nursing and talked to nursing students in Germany. We had a great time! We learned a lot about the similarities and difference of nursing. The thing that really shocked me the most is that nurses there can have up to 20 patients to care for!!

Afterward we had a delicious farewell diner!

Sitra
 

Hi,
The CEPA group is so very well organized that everything has been on time and perfectly lovely.  I had to take just a moment to let you know how impressed I have been with everything that CEPA has organized for us.  Our trip to Heidelberg was so charming.  The town is nesteled in the mountains and the hospital we visited named St Thomas was amazing.  This was the first hospital to offer open therapy were the patients could come and go from their residence to town or the grocery etc.  It was beautiful and and so very professionally and loving run.
Again tomorrow,
Mary
Mary

Hello,

Today, you may be interested in our trip to the UNAIDS to meet Morton and speak about the improvements for AIDS prevention and treatment.  The talk was very informative and we learned that George Bush had a role in developing the first organization PEPFAR that is now expanded to UNAIDS. 

The target for 2015 is to reduce by 50% he transmission of the retro virus, ensure no children are infected at birth, close the resource gap, have 15 million on antiviral treatment, eliminate gender inequality, eliminate the stigma and discrimination toward those with aids, eliminate travel restrictions for those with aids and strengthen HIV integration according to our speaker, Morton.  So you can see that a comprehensive approach to helping those with AIDS is helping to improve life and health of those with the disease.

Until tomorrow,
Mary

Hi
I just wanted to tell you about the WHO visit.  It was so informative and I learned so much from our speakers Susan Wilburn and Selma Khamassi.  The first talk we received information about the needle stick prevention research and the most amazing outcome of a 91% improvement from the results of what was learned in the research.  We also learned of the improvements around the world for water, waste control and air.  We all know prevention is better than having to treat and I was so thankful that the WHO is helping all countries to advance in every area.
One of the quotes presented was "never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  Margaret Mead
Until tomorrow,
Mary Wade

Castles in Heidelberg

Today we arrived in Heidelberg, Germany. Once we arrived and checked in to our quaint hotel, we all then went to the German Pharmacy Museum. It was located in the Heidelberg Caetle.  It was my first time to ever see a castle and I was amazed by it. Once we were inside the museum we were taken on a guided tour by our wonderful tour guide Roberta. She showed us around the whole museum and talked to us about almost everything that was there. She informed us that years and years ago they use to think that if they took the skin of the snake and used it for their own skin problems or infections that it would help. They thought this since the snake sheds its own skin so it was kind of like their own anti aging product.  She also showed us how some of the old pharmacies use to be set up. My favorite was where all the bottles were set out on the shelf for everyone to see. I thought it was neat that they use to store their medicines like that especially in the glass containers. After we explored the castle, we then went shopping for a couple of hours before we went to have dinner. Our coordinator Lena was with us the whole day and night and she was great.  Today was a really wonderful experience not only because we got to explore a castle but because we got to see some of the beginnings of medicine in the pharmacy aspect of it.

Today we visited the Hospital Trousseau to learn about the hospital and how it’s organized. In France they have universal health care which provides free healthcare to all of France’s citizens. They call their health care system Sécurité Sociale or Social Security which should not be confused with our system of Social Security. 

The Hospital Troussaeu is a public hospital in district 12 in Paris. It specializes in gynecology and pediatrics. The Hospital Trousseau- La Roche-Guyon have 388 beds,  2300 healthcare professionals, and 30,000 patients coming in between those two hospitals. 

There are many similarities and difference that we observed from our visit to the hospital. We noticed that they have many of the same standard precautions like we do like posters of hand hygiene, preventing needle stick injuries and patient confidentiality. One of the major differences is the educational training in France to become a nurse or infirmier. It only takes them 3 years to become a nurse and in their curriculum they are not taught pediatrics. Instead if they choose to  work on the pediatric floor they will be trained during their orientation   

       There are downfalls to system of healthcare. Since medical care is considered a right in France, healthcare proffessionals find many people abusing their privileges like more frequent medical visits and over mediation. Because of this they found that their healthcare system is putting them into financial debt and that they need to find a solution to their problem before their country gets into financial ruin.  

Sitra