Well, we've been warned.
The 'intensive' part of MINE Intensive Programme really does not lie. It's been a hectic past week where everyone is scrambling to get all the work done on time (bar for the little spa/sledging trip and ice hockey match we had last Tuesday which were just wonderful). I noticed that stress and fatigue really do bring out the worst in people. I have been more irritable than usual and my usual exuberance dims down to exhausted silence. I also noticed friction between some people and our frustrations sometimes get the best of us. The journey to getting our work done hasn't been easy and it's not over yet.
The conference is tomorrow and we are more or less ready with everything. Today has been dedicated to putting everything together and tying all the loose ends. Although not all of us has been successful in finishing our digital stories and the run through tonight has been less than ideal, I still think that amidst the panic and worries we're all feeling about tomorrow, we're still quite optimistic about the outcome. We're all working hard for this project and hopefully all our efforts will soon pay off.
Somewhere along the way, my job of opening the conference turned into me hosting the whole thing. It's flattering but very daunting at the same time. I've never emceed an event as big (and as important) as this and I'm afraid of whatever mishaps that may happen. It's not an uncommon worry and almost everyone is concerned about tomorrow to some degree but worrying myself silly won't get me anywhere either (except even more stressed out). I need to believe in my colleagues' confidence in my ability to do this. And the fact that everyone had done their part in trying to make tomorrow a success.
Crossing my fingers that everything runs smoothly tomorrow!
*This title has nothing to do with this entry. I just couldn't let the opportunity pass to make a James Bond reference, no matter how lame some may find it. ;-)
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Saturday, 11 February 2012
006. Evaluating the Wiki
I find the Wiki site to be very helpful especially to students are are considering going for the Erasmus programme at some point during their studies. The site is filled with very important information from what is the Erasmus programme to practical things like lodging rates and cost of daily living. I especially liked the etiquette section. I won't be going on an exchange anymore but reading the different etiquette for each country will definitely come in handy if/when I go and visit. I'm always worried I may be disrespecting other people just because of my unfamiliarity of their culture. So that section in the site caught my attention. (I noticed punctuality as a common point in most countries' etiquette section and couldn't but feel very sheepish for our tardiness the first few days. But rest assured, we're trying our best to be on time now).
Another interesting section for me are the 'Recreation and Social Activities for the Students' section where fun activities and must see places are listed down. Again, seeing as I'm not going for an exchange, my use of it will be more for tourism than anything. But it's still very useful.
I think that aesthetics wise, the wiki page can still improve immensely. Possibly the formatting and the photos used. It also needs to be updated because some things may have changed (especially prices and the bus system in Malta, particularly) over the last year or so.
Another interesting section for me are the 'Recreation and Social Activities for the Students' section where fun activities and must see places are listed down. Again, seeing as I'm not going for an exchange, my use of it will be more for tourism than anything. But it's still very useful.
I think that aesthetics wise, the wiki page can still improve immensely. Possibly the formatting and the photos used. It also needs to be updated because some things may have changed (especially prices and the bus system in Malta, particularly) over the last year or so.
Friday, 10 February 2012
005. Group work
I haven't been feeling well in the past days. So many contributing factors, really, but today was probably the worse. I felt like I was coming down with the flu and thank goodness the ibuprofen is doing it's job now in keeping the pain away. But in times like these, we have to trudge on.
Today marks the end of the first week of the MINE programme. So many things have happened since Monday when we all just first met each other, only sticking to our own friends because we didn't really know anyone. Half way through, I feel like I've integrated well with the group (admittedly, with some more than the others) and am starting to really enjoy myself even though we've now been given our workload.
And we have our work cut out for ourselves.
I am in group 1 and we have to discuss the differences in the preparation for nursing registration in each of the six countries. We're working with group 2 in tackling this and we've decided that we'll distribute the labour equally between the two groups and then we'll come together in the end to make one whole video.
Working in groups is hard. I've always thought that I do well in group works. Or, at the very least, I manage to work in groups. But this time is a bit more of a challenge. Maybe it's because of the language barrier that some suggestions and thoughts don't come across as well as we want to (this reminds me of our very first ice breaking game on the very first day; we have to arrange ourselves by our birthdays without uttering a single word). It can get frustrating at times because I know we're all trying and we get desperate to understand each other and help each other understand. I have a very good grasp of the English language so expressing myself is easy (comparatively) and I just realised that I sometimes take this for granted which is strange because I often find myself in situations where I have to speak a foreign language to get my point across (note: I sometimes need to speak in Maltese when speaking with patients). Needless to say, I've never been so thankful for Google Translate.
Besides the language barrier though, I think that we've worked well so far. We've allocated points to be tackled to each group and in my group, each member are doing research on their university's entry requirements, etc. for now.
As I've said, group work is hard but not impossible (obviously). I just need to have more patience - with myself and my groupmates - and be more encouraging of others. I realise that making people more comfortable in a group, where they feel they won't be made fun of or judged, will more likely make them speak up and be more participative.
Today marks the end of the first week of the MINE programme. So many things have happened since Monday when we all just first met each other, only sticking to our own friends because we didn't really know anyone. Half way through, I feel like I've integrated well with the group (admittedly, with some more than the others) and am starting to really enjoy myself even though we've now been given our workload.
And we have our work cut out for ourselves.
I am in group 1 and we have to discuss the differences in the preparation for nursing registration in each of the six countries. We're working with group 2 in tackling this and we've decided that we'll distribute the labour equally between the two groups and then we'll come together in the end to make one whole video.
Working in groups is hard. I've always thought that I do well in group works. Or, at the very least, I manage to work in groups. But this time is a bit more of a challenge. Maybe it's because of the language barrier that some suggestions and thoughts don't come across as well as we want to (this reminds me of our very first ice breaking game on the very first day; we have to arrange ourselves by our birthdays without uttering a single word). It can get frustrating at times because I know we're all trying and we get desperate to understand each other and help each other understand. I have a very good grasp of the English language so expressing myself is easy (comparatively) and I just realised that I sometimes take this for granted which is strange because I often find myself in situations where I have to speak a foreign language to get my point across (note: I sometimes need to speak in Maltese when speaking with patients). Needless to say, I've never been so thankful for Google Translate.
Besides the language barrier though, I think that we've worked well so far. We've allocated points to be tackled to each group and in my group, each member are doing research on their university's entry requirements, etc. for now.
As I've said, group work is hard but not impossible (obviously). I just need to have more patience - with myself and my groupmates - and be more encouraging of others. I realise that making people more comfortable in a group, where they feel they won't be made fun of or judged, will more likely make them speak up and be more participative.
004. Videos
I'm thinking I should be more diligent with blogging. Yes? :D
On the second day of the programme, we had the virtual European tour and European market. These two activities aim to give participants an idea and a taste (literally, too) of other participants' culture and background. It's very interesting for me to learn about the different systems in other countries, have a little tour of their hospital and university, and also have a glimpse to some well-known places in their cities. Each video just gets better and better. Some were funny and even impressive. (Kudos to Laura from the Finnish group who had to run in her jogging costume on a snowy beach whilst it was minus something outside!)
After watching the first video, I realised how different we did ours. We had a completely different idea of what we should include in the video and only when we were watching the other videos that I realise just how different. I cannot help but feel dread that we've done it wrong but in the end, what can I do? It's already there. We had recorded the videos in December and only had vague notions of what we should do. By the time clear instructions were given, the video was already in post-production.
I learned that communication is very important. We tried to be on top of our game by doing things earlier but I think it would have helped to asked exactly what was expected of us. My groupmates might've done this but I didn't know. In any case, a little proactivity from my part can only help. Having said that, I could apply this to my clinical practice as well. In the ward, I think that learning comes by being proactive and trying to communicate with the staff and the patients. It wouldn't do well to just stand in a corner and wait for instructions to be given to you as to what you should do.
To end on a much better note, I think our group did quite well in the European Market. I really enjoyed it and every country's food were delicious!
On the second day of the programme, we had the virtual European tour and European market. These two activities aim to give participants an idea and a taste (literally, too) of other participants' culture and background. It's very interesting for me to learn about the different systems in other countries, have a little tour of their hospital and university, and also have a glimpse to some well-known places in their cities. Each video just gets better and better. Some were funny and even impressive. (Kudos to Laura from the Finnish group who had to run in her jogging costume on a snowy beach whilst it was minus something outside!)
After watching the first video, I realised how different we did ours. We had a completely different idea of what we should include in the video and only when we were watching the other videos that I realise just how different. I cannot help but feel dread that we've done it wrong but in the end, what can I do? It's already there. We had recorded the videos in December and only had vague notions of what we should do. By the time clear instructions were given, the video was already in post-production.
I learned that communication is very important. We tried to be on top of our game by doing things earlier but I think it would have helped to asked exactly what was expected of us. My groupmates might've done this but I didn't know. In any case, a little proactivity from my part can only help. Having said that, I could apply this to my clinical practice as well. In the ward, I think that learning comes by being proactive and trying to communicate with the staff and the patients. It wouldn't do well to just stand in a corner and wait for instructions to be given to you as to what you should do.
To end on a much better note, I think our group did quite well in the European Market. I really enjoyed it and every country's food were delicious!
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
003. Hospital Tour
It's just the third day in the MINE programme but it feels like we've already done a lot.
We were taken on a hospital tour at the Central Hospital of Satakunta (Satakunnan Keskussairaala) where we visited four different wards: two medical wards, Intensive Care Unit and the Accidents and Emergency Department. The hospital itself didn't really strike me in that, I thought it's... normal. It's very interesting to see though, because I immediately take in all the differences I see and compare it to Mater Dei Hospital (the hospital I work my placements in). The one difference that stood out to me is that things here seem to be very well organised. And with further explanation from the nurses giving the tour, I realised why; they have sufficient number of staff working in a ward. The nurse - patient ratio is more or less 1:2 or 1:3 which is a surprise to me and truthfully, I envy. In Malta, one of the main problems in the health care system is the lack of human resources. We are (severely) understaffed that the intended 1:4 nurse - patient ratio becomes 1:6 (and I've worked in a setting where some days the ratio was 1:48 which is just staggering). However, I was told that in London, nurses often take care of up to 8 patients at a time so I guess that in normal circumstances, ours isn't that bad.
I think that sticking to our 1:4 ratio is very important so that proper nursing care could be given. We work 12-hour shifts and taking care of a lot of patients gets really tiring especially later in the day. Mistakes can easily be made by tired nurses and ever the attitude towards the patients can change. Mater Dei is a state of the art hospital with very good equipments and whatnot but what are equipments and machines without people (who have the correct knowledge and qualifications) to operate them? This isn't just about us, the nurses, and our rest. As I've said, mistakes are more likely to be made and quality of care can go down. Who wants that?
We were taken on a hospital tour at the Central Hospital of Satakunta (Satakunnan Keskussairaala) where we visited four different wards: two medical wards, Intensive Care Unit and the Accidents and Emergency Department. The hospital itself didn't really strike me in that, I thought it's... normal. It's very interesting to see though, because I immediately take in all the differences I see and compare it to Mater Dei Hospital (the hospital I work my placements in). The one difference that stood out to me is that things here seem to be very well organised. And with further explanation from the nurses giving the tour, I realised why; they have sufficient number of staff working in a ward. The nurse - patient ratio is more or less 1:2 or 1:3 which is a surprise to me and truthfully, I envy. In Malta, one of the main problems in the health care system is the lack of human resources. We are (severely) understaffed that the intended 1:4 nurse - patient ratio becomes 1:6 (and I've worked in a setting where some days the ratio was 1:48 which is just staggering). However, I was told that in London, nurses often take care of up to 8 patients at a time so I guess that in normal circumstances, ours isn't that bad.
I think that sticking to our 1:4 ratio is very important so that proper nursing care could be given. We work 12-hour shifts and taking care of a lot of patients gets really tiring especially later in the day. Mistakes can easily be made by tired nurses and ever the attitude towards the patients can change. Mater Dei is a state of the art hospital with very good equipments and whatnot but what are equipments and machines without people (who have the correct knowledge and qualifications) to operate them? This isn't just about us, the nurses, and our rest. As I've said, mistakes are more likely to be made and quality of care can go down. Who wants that?
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