Back to Malta since the MINE program has finished, like any other thing. Even though this program was only for 2 weeks, getting used again to life at home and at the university and back at work is hard, but it has to be like this. I have missed everything that we did and also everyone that was there to share this experience with.
By this experience I have made new friends from different countries and that if it was not for this short program I would have never met and would have never shared these experiences and had so much fun with.
From this program I have learned a lot from the different countries; like what are the requirements needed for students to enter the nursing course, what are the roles of the nurse in the different countries and what are the difference between them, if a nurse is seen as a professional and the responsibilities and accountability of the nurse. By knowing these similarities and differences I have seen where I can work in the future, if I want to when I am graduated.
Through this program I have also learned about the difference types of learning theories that exist and can be used and also the difference types educational programs that are used in the countries. Through this I have seen how much the countries differ in the courses they provided for there nurses, with respect to their practical placements and classes and what type of examination occurs.
Since I am in my final year I can not go to Erasmus now but still if I had the chance to go I would go after this MINE program. Before I came to this program I would have never imagined that I would go to Erasmus since I did not know how it would feel like to experience living in another country for a such long period of time. When our academics talked to us about this program I was some what excited and wanted to go since this was only going to be a two week course and through this course I would have a taste of what Erasmus students go through. Thus saying this this project will be helpful for those students that next year are going to Erasmus since with this MINE program they will be preparing themselves for the future to learn to live on their own in another country. It is a shame that this was the final year for the MINE program, but on the other hand the Wiki that was proposed by one of the groups (which for me is much more user friendly and better to use) should be put online and should be available to all those students going to Erasmus since with it they can prepare a bit themselves and read related information about the particular country that is important to them.
For our previous learning process in our course, this type of web process was never used thus it was something new. But now that I have seen what it is exactly I can say that sometimes it is much better than other learning processes since using the web like facebook, blogging and the digital stories, you can do this at anytime you want since you can access them at an time you want. Working in groups that consisted of people from different countries has its ups and downs. The advantages included that you are on an Erasmus program and thus you are there to learn from others and learn about the different countries thus it was important to use this groups formats and by this we have learned about other countries. The disadvantages are that everyone has their opinion like in any other group but since we are from different countries even the our culture and the way we do things may be different. Thus learning to comprise with everyone in this very short period of time and to produce a video is somewhat difficult I may say, but then this is what the MINE program is all about.
To use of patchwork was a good idea since when you complete a patch you will get closer to the final stage, and to produce this final stage you have to go through all the patches since by that you will have all the material to be able to produce the student lead conference, in our way. This was an easier approach since for me I would know what I need to do and what is required from me. By this approach it would also be easier to assess a person since you would see what the person did and what s/he did not do and thus mark accordingly.
As I have already said this was an experience that I will never forget and will keep remembering the fun that we all had and will relive it again through the photos...
Yours
Lorraine
Friday, 24 February 2012
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Almost Over...
Although at first it looked liked this was going to be a holiday, these last three days were nothing but holiday since we were deprived from sleep and working on our digital story. We really had to join forces and make this work. As a group we had a bit of difficulties since it was a bit hard working together since some of us just were not interested in or did do the the work; therefore it was up to the us to produce and make this digital story.
In the last day when the other groups were almost ready with their filming, we had changed our plan again thus we had to redo all our stuff and still needed to record and produce the story. But I can say that in just 2 days, 4 of us has worked really hard and together to produce out digital story. I am still very anxious about tomorrow because I don't know how exactly we will be presenting since our group did not have a proper reharesal today and just now we have finished our introduction, the digital story and also the discussion.
The only thing that I hated about this group work was that some of us did not work in the group and help in the production of the digital story, but they just were only present for the number and because it was obligatory and not because they really wanted to be here. On the other hand if we wanted this story to be ready by tomorrow, 4 of us had to really work together and we all gave our utmost and contribution for it to happen and thus because we worked together it wasn't that much strain on just one person and that is how group work should be; sharing of the work and all the members pitch in with their ideas and contribution to get the work done.
Well what I can say is that I have done by best and given my all for the digital story to be done and and can wait for tomorrow to see how it will go...
In the last day when the other groups were almost ready with their filming, we had changed our plan again thus we had to redo all our stuff and still needed to record and produce the story. But I can say that in just 2 days, 4 of us has worked really hard and together to produce out digital story. I am still very anxious about tomorrow because I don't know how exactly we will be presenting since our group did not have a proper reharesal today and just now we have finished our introduction, the digital story and also the discussion.
The only thing that I hated about this group work was that some of us did not work in the group and help in the production of the digital story, but they just were only present for the number and because it was obligatory and not because they really wanted to be here. On the other hand if we wanted this story to be ready by tomorrow, 4 of us had to really work together and we all gave our utmost and contribution for it to happen and thus because we worked together it wasn't that much strain on just one person and that is how group work should be; sharing of the work and all the members pitch in with their ideas and contribution to get the work done.
Well what I can say is that I have done by best and given my all for the digital story to be done and and can wait for tomorrow to see how it will go...
Monday, 13 February 2012
GroupWork
Well I don't really like working in a group since I hate the idea to rely on others for work and also since I like every thing organize. On the other hand, I knew that by coming to this MINE program I had to work in a group; thus I will try my best to really make it work. This will also help me since as nurses we have to work in a group if we want to care for our patients efficiently and effectively.
In our group we have to produce a digital story about the differences roles of nurses in the different countries and also explain why these differences may exist. We also need to include who is accountable for the decisions taken in specific situations and also who regulates nurses.
By trying to do this digital story and working in a group I have learned and reflected on the roles of nurses in other countries. Every country have different roles than others with some common simple roles but when it comes to cannulation, blood taking, giving medications and catheterization of male and female every country differed with the roles of the nurse. This could have been due to many reasons and we are still thinking why this is so.
Till now we have gathered our information and we are trying to see how we are going to produce the digital story but I think that it will take much more time to produce the video rather than gathering the information. This is because everyone has a different idea than others thus deciding on a common format to us and how to produce the video is going to be difficult. We only have a few more days to work on this video but if we really put our mind to it and work together I think that we will get it done on time.
Well all we need to do is wait and see the result of it all...
In our group we have to produce a digital story about the differences roles of nurses in the different countries and also explain why these differences may exist. We also need to include who is accountable for the decisions taken in specific situations and also who regulates nurses.
By trying to do this digital story and working in a group I have learned and reflected on the roles of nurses in other countries. Every country have different roles than others with some common simple roles but when it comes to cannulation, blood taking, giving medications and catheterization of male and female every country differed with the roles of the nurse. This could have been due to many reasons and we are still thinking why this is so.
Till now we have gathered our information and we are trying to see how we are going to produce the digital story but I think that it will take much more time to produce the video rather than gathering the information. This is because everyone has a different idea than others thus deciding on a common format to us and how to produce the video is going to be difficult. We only have a few more days to work on this video but if we really put our mind to it and work together I think that we will get it done on time.
Well all we need to do is wait and see the result of it all...
Friday, 10 February 2012
5th Day
Group work! Thinking and preparing for the digital story requires a lot of work and together we have to work in order to achieve and produce a good digital story. Well, as in any group, in the group that I am in there are people who are heard a lot and others who just sits and listen for the opinion of others. But on the other hand everyone in the group does the work that is required on his/her particular country. Since this is group work everyone has its opinion and that is why this video requires a lot of time to get it finished since the group has to adjust and try to fit every ones idea into the making of the video. I am sure that as a group we will do well and help each other whenever we can in order to make the best digital story and also learn about each others country with regards to nurses roles and responsibilities.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
4th Day!
Well today was a relaxing day rather than a hard working day like the ones we are soon be getting! It was so excited and nice the cottage just to be inside and warm. The fact that we had time to spend in the snow and just doing snow angels, snow fights and running in it was so much fun :) (this can also be since in Malta we can't do this stuff!) The scary bit that I was afraid of was the dip in the ice cold water after the sauna but after seeing others do it and since it is once in a lifetime experience I was ready to try it and do, and I was very proud of myself as well!
Well now that we have relaxed, had some fun and saw and tried the famous Finnish sauna, now it is time for the real work to start. The reflective blogging and the digital stories plus then the conference. Well lets see how it will all go....
Well now that we have relaxed, had some fun and saw and tried the famous Finnish sauna, now it is time for the real work to start. The reflective blogging and the digital stories plus then the conference. Well lets see how it will all go....
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
First 2 Days
Hey All,
So we have all arrived in Pori and today is our third day together! Well Pori is a nice place and the snow is fantastic (since in Malta we don't see snow). Hope that we enjoy our selves together and learn from each other :)
In our first day here, we all get to know each other and that was really great since now we have to work in groups together. The games were really fun especially the one that we had to come up with a song =] Before these games, we were taken around Satakunta Hospital to see some of the wards. Well the first thing that I liked is that it is a big but quite hospital and that is rarely seen in Malta. On the other hand I did not like how the hospital is divided since the wards are not near each other, they are spaced from each other (if I had good orientation that day of the place!). In Malta this would be a bad idea since sometimes we have to transfer a patient from one ward to another or else would need something from the other ward thus it would take long to go from one place to another, therefore in Malta all the wards are near each other on one side of the hospital. Talking to the nurse on the wards, we have asked them about their shift and also about the ratio of nurses to patients in one particular ward. Well the shift are way better than Malta since an 8 hour shift is much more reasonably than a 12 hour shift. Therefore this could be adopted for the nurses in Malta. The ratio of nurses to patients is around 1: 2/3 and that is also a good thing since then you can care and give your full attention to those 3 patients. In Malta since there us a shortage of nurses, the ratio would be 1:6/7 sometimes and thus it is more stressful on the nurse since the workload increase and therefore sometimes a mistake can easily take place (although rarely). I was amazed at the empty and quite emergency department since that in Malta is never seen! Thus emergency department for me is associated with people everywhere, busy and also a lot of work, thus when I saw this emergency department it was so different and could not believe my eyes that it was this quite. Although we have visited 4 wards, these are the things that really made me think and reflect.
On the second day, we had been told what we needed to do as our assessment, the digital stories, the blogs, wikis and reflection. Well, we though it was going to be a holiday hehe at first and not all this work :), but we need to do some work if we want the credits and that's only fair. Well we started working for this program in Malta with the Facebook Group and the blogs and now we have to continue them and also make the digital stories. We also did the digital video to introduce our county. Well, when we did our video we had fun and laughed a lot, and we though that it was good, but then when we saw the others video we thought that this was way better than ours. The other countries had all included stuff about their country, their health care system and their university. In our video we did not mention a lot about the health care system and university thus we could have included those aspects in our video. We have only talked about ourselves and said things about Malta. Seeing the others videos made me realized that we needed to add these things to our video. We could have looked at the instructions that were given to us for this video, in order to produce a better one and not just listened to our teacher in what we were needed to do.
These were the great 2 days to start our journey in Pori and am really looking forward to continue it!
So we have all arrived in Pori and today is our third day together! Well Pori is a nice place and the snow is fantastic (since in Malta we don't see snow). Hope that we enjoy our selves together and learn from each other :)
In our first day here, we all get to know each other and that was really great since now we have to work in groups together. The games were really fun especially the one that we had to come up with a song =] Before these games, we were taken around Satakunta Hospital to see some of the wards. Well the first thing that I liked is that it is a big but quite hospital and that is rarely seen in Malta. On the other hand I did not like how the hospital is divided since the wards are not near each other, they are spaced from each other (if I had good orientation that day of the place!). In Malta this would be a bad idea since sometimes we have to transfer a patient from one ward to another or else would need something from the other ward thus it would take long to go from one place to another, therefore in Malta all the wards are near each other on one side of the hospital. Talking to the nurse on the wards, we have asked them about their shift and also about the ratio of nurses to patients in one particular ward. Well the shift are way better than Malta since an 8 hour shift is much more reasonably than a 12 hour shift. Therefore this could be adopted for the nurses in Malta. The ratio of nurses to patients is around 1: 2/3 and that is also a good thing since then you can care and give your full attention to those 3 patients. In Malta since there us a shortage of nurses, the ratio would be 1:6/7 sometimes and thus it is more stressful on the nurse since the workload increase and therefore sometimes a mistake can easily take place (although rarely). I was amazed at the empty and quite emergency department since that in Malta is never seen! Thus emergency department for me is associated with people everywhere, busy and also a lot of work, thus when I saw this emergency department it was so different and could not believe my eyes that it was this quite. Although we have visited 4 wards, these are the things that really made me think and reflect.
On the second day, we had been told what we needed to do as our assessment, the digital stories, the blogs, wikis and reflection. Well, we though it was going to be a holiday hehe at first and not all this work :), but we need to do some work if we want the credits and that's only fair. Well we started working for this program in Malta with the Facebook Group and the blogs and now we have to continue them and also make the digital stories. We also did the digital video to introduce our county. Well, when we did our video we had fun and laughed a lot, and we though that it was good, but then when we saw the others video we thought that this was way better than ours. The other countries had all included stuff about their country, their health care system and their university. In our video we did not mention a lot about the health care system and university thus we could have included those aspects in our video. We have only talked about ourselves and said things about Malta. Seeing the others videos made me realized that we needed to add these things to our video. We could have looked at the instructions that were given to us for this video, in order to produce a better one and not just listened to our teacher in what we were needed to do.
These were the great 2 days to start our journey in Pori and am really looking forward to continue it!
Friday, 3 February 2012
Wikis and thoughts
It is almost time that we all meet in Pori! Now I am really looking forward to meet you all and share my experience with you. I am ready to learn as much as I can from this MINE program regarding other countries and also about their health care systems and courses.
Regarding the Wiki links it was very useful since it has included all the important aspects about the participating countries. Since this year the MINE program will be held in Finland, I had mostly read the page that talks about Pori. It was great to learn some general information about Pori and their University. The part about the activities in Pori was useful since therefore we can plan beforehand want we can do in our free time. In Malta the weather is much more warmer than it is in the other participants countries, thus the part about the clothing was very helpful. We had bought our thermals and ski boots and jackets since we do not use them here However, it will be fun to see how we will look in all those layers of clothing and I am sure that we will laugh about it :) The Finnish phrases were fun to learn and try and pronounce them, and they will be helpful since we can communicate a bit in Finnish using these simple words.
The other pages about the other countries were also good to look at since then we can already know a bit about the other countries.
The disadvantages of the Wiki are that it is not easily accessibly by every student that is going to Erasmus but only to those in the MINE program and also it is not an easy site to find on the internet. Another thing is that it is not user friendly because it is not that well organized and it is just boring looking at all the text it has with no pictures or anything even though it has very useful information as already stated. Therefore since this WIKI has good information that can help Erasmus students to choose were they are going to study I think that it is useful if this site is regularly updated and also that it will be available to every Erasmus exchange student.
Now since the MINE program is only a few days away, we have the program and the handbook is our hands thus we can already know what we will have to do and what is waiting for us and therefore we can prepare ourselves. I am really excited for this new experience and can't wait to be in Pori now =]
Tomorrow we will start our journey from Malta to Finland!
Regarding the Wiki links it was very useful since it has included all the important aspects about the participating countries. Since this year the MINE program will be held in Finland, I had mostly read the page that talks about Pori. It was great to learn some general information about Pori and their University. The part about the activities in Pori was useful since therefore we can plan beforehand want we can do in our free time. In Malta the weather is much more warmer than it is in the other participants countries, thus the part about the clothing was very helpful. We had bought our thermals and ski boots and jackets since we do not use them here However, it will be fun to see how we will look in all those layers of clothing and I am sure that we will laugh about it :) The Finnish phrases were fun to learn and try and pronounce them, and they will be helpful since we can communicate a bit in Finnish using these simple words.
The other pages about the other countries were also good to look at since then we can already know a bit about the other countries.
The disadvantages of the Wiki are that it is not easily accessibly by every student that is going to Erasmus but only to those in the MINE program and also it is not an easy site to find on the internet. Another thing is that it is not user friendly because it is not that well organized and it is just boring looking at all the text it has with no pictures or anything even though it has very useful information as already stated. Therefore since this WIKI has good information that can help Erasmus students to choose were they are going to study I think that it is useful if this site is regularly updated and also that it will be available to every Erasmus exchange student.
Now since the MINE program is only a few days away, we have the program and the handbook is our hands thus we can already know what we will have to do and what is waiting for us and therefore we can prepare ourselves. I am really excited for this new experience and can't wait to be in Pori now =]
Tomorrow we will start our journey from Malta to Finland!
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Packing!
Since we will soon have to leave for Pori, its about time that I start packing so that I will not forget anything. I do not know how 20kgs are enough for this trip but lets only hope and keep our fingers crossed. For sure on the list there are thermal shocks, gloves and boots!
Now really looking forward for this experience to start and can't wait to see you all =]
Now really looking forward for this experience to start and can't wait to see you all =]
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Video!
The Maltese Group have almost prepared their video, just some editing left! Well it was a nice experience doing it, going around Malta and trying to capture the most beautiful aspects of it all =] and also since we had a great time doing it and we even laughed at ourselves while doing it (since we are not professionals)! Well I hope that you all enjoy it :)
About 2 more weeks and we all be in Pori working and enjoying ourselves!
About 2 more weeks and we all be in Pori working and enjoying ourselves!
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Pori 1st Blog!
Hey All,
In less than a month, we will all meet in Pori, Finland and I am really
looking forward to this whole new experience!
I am very curious to discover what Pori got to offer. I'm pretty sure I
will be meeting new foreign student nurses, making new friends and why not...maybe trying out snow fights ;) At the moment I have to keep busy with my dissertation and can't think about Pori that much, but as time passes and it will be time to leave for Finland I will get all excited and ready to have fun with you all. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)