Getting down to business

So I guess amid all the exciting posts these last two weeks, I may have you all confused into thinking that I'm on a vacation here in Finland. I'm actually not... Starting next week things really pick up big time. So let me give you low down on what I'll actually be doing here. (Let's be honest, I just found out today haha)

Basically, this is my capstone semester, my last semester, before I graduate with a bachelor's degree in Nursing. If I had stayed in Utah, I would be doing about 216 hours on one hospital unit during the semester. I would work with one nurse and sort of get a feel for nursing and learn to be my own nurse. We also have classes about leadership, NCLEX (board exams) prep and basically preparing to graduate. However, I'm not really doing any of that while I'm here.

When I decided to come to Finland, the BYU College of Nursing agreed to accept any work I do over here as my capstone. This university in Finland signed me up for their Community Health and International Nursing class and Finnish Language and Culture class. They are taught in English and have a mixture of students from other countries. This community class is only three weeks of lecture, three weeks of clinical practice. So I have already spent one week in that class, and next week I'll start everyday all day in community centers for clinical for three weeks. I'm very excited! I'm doing the first week at an elementary school, the next at a pregnancy clinic, and the last at a pediatric clinic. Now, this class wraps up at the end of February, but I have to fill my time somehow right?

The last month or so I'm here will be so crazy. After the community class is over and I celebrate my one week ski holiday (yay! finally a spring break!) I'll be working 2 weeks in the Pre-op/OR/Post-op at the hospital, 2 weeks at a rehab/progressive care at the hospital, and one week in a nursing home. That combined with the three weeks before in the community will give me around 280 clinical hours. No more sleeping in and having fun days :(

Actually, I'm very excited to see all the different areas of healthcare here. Finland has socialized medical care, so as I learn about each of these places, I'll be updating my blog and sharing my thoughts on their system and how it compares to ours. Stay tuned!

And see, this page doesn't even have a single picture! Proof that this is a serious, studious trip :)