Visiting Mount Mercy

Here, Sian Hunt, a third year Adult Nursing student, reflects on her time visiting Mount Mercy University in the USA.

It's hard to put into words how the experience to Mount Mercy was for me as an individual. When I was visiting the different health care settings in Cedar Rapids I had many mixed feelings and thoughts. To start with the team from the School of Nursing that visited were brilliant. I am grateful that I was able to share this exchange with other like-minded students who were as interested and intrigued about the American healthcare system as I was.

At the university I was surprised by the way in which the student’s curriculum was run and what they had to learn. The course they undertake is not only a year longer but covers adult nursing, paediatric nursing and mental health nursing. You then get to decide what to specialize in once you have qualified. Personally I would not like to cover all three aspects in my training; I am happy that we can make these choices before we enrol in a course. Initially when I heard about how they trained and the classroom hours they completed, I felt that we as students we could potentially have a lower level of knowledge and skills. It was only when I began to understand how the students are taught and how the healthcare system works that I realised I was wrong and had underestimated how competent CCCU students are. 

Towards the end of our visit we spent some time in the skills lab with the fourth year students. This is where we discovered the Mount Mercy students had significantly less time in placements areas. We had the opportunity to join in 2 simulation scenarios in the Simulation Suite with the Mount Mercy students. This is where the difference in training really stood out for me as we have achieved a high level of clinical making and decision making skills. It was highlighted that nurses in the U.S follow strict instruction from medical staff; and even in an emergency situation permission for nursing interventions from medical staff is required. In the U.K we have more autonomy than our U.S colleagues. Therefore a difference in the course is that we are supported to think critically, to question situations which we find ourselves in and to consider what decisions we would take. This has helped us to develop the way we manage clinical situations with more autonomy. As we left the skills lab I was proud of every CCCU student that I walked in there with but also grateful for the lecturers like Andrew who have given us the opportunities that we have had to help us grow and develop as Adult Nurses.

We visited many different healthcare settings during the visit. They were all beautiful to look at. The facilities were similar to those in the U.K private sector.  At times, it was like being a luxury hotel and maximum comfort appeared to be used to attract patients. I was surprised with regards to Infection Control procedures whilst I was in the healthcare settings. For example, there were carpets on the floors, no “Bare Below the Elbow” policy and I did not observe much hand hygiene when I was there. Being pushed to think critically made me  instantly have conflicting thoughts about everything I observed. I felt the hospitals focused a lot on patient comfort and luxuries to bring in the patients due to the fact these are services that are paid for. It made me reflect on how things were at my local hospital which is very clinical and Infection Control is a high priority. Alternatively, I would love for my patients to be treated in an environment where they get everything that they could possibly think of. 

Every member of nursing staff that I met was full of enthusiasm. There was huge sense of support from local communities and everybody seemed to want to help others. A lot of the money is donated to healthcare providers. I think this is one of the things that I would love to see more of in the UK. In one of the hospitals there was a Rehabilitation Unit. There was a cooker there that had been brought with money that a few young girls had raised selling lemonade by the road side. That for me was really inspiring.

The last thing I would like to mention is how much I learn about myself. I came home proud of CCCU and my local hospital. I also felt lucky to have the NHS. I now feel re-energised and am buzzing to get back into what I love doing and helping other people.