A cohort of nursing students from Prince George and Quesnel are getting a chance to test their skills in a new – and very different – environment. The 12 second year students will be spending the next month in Bangalore, India for their final clinical rotation.
“We’re going to be spending approximately four weeks in one of the hospitals,” says Crystal Lawrence, a registered nurse and instructor with the College of New Caledonia’s nursing program. “Every Friday we do some activities with the kids in foster care. And we also will be spending a few days at the House of Hope orphanage.”
Before they left, the group raised money for donations for the kids – each student took an extra suitcase full of donations for the children at the House of Hope, all of whom have lost parents to AIDS.
Lawrence says working in a different culture will give the students a lot to process. “Looking at their own perspectives on health and well-being and the whole aspect of culture. When they actually are immersed in the culture versus just studying about it or talking about it, it should be transforming for them – for their own perspectives and values,” she says. “Lots of different aspects of health compared to what they would find normal here in Canada. I think their whole perspective on health and well-being is going to be expanded.”
This trip is a first for the school and was more than a year in the planning. Lawrence says this pilot trip will help them iron out any wrinkles for future trips.
The students and their instructors will return at the end of May.