Vastly Different Experiences

A few days ago, I was teamed up with a young, Irish nurse.  One of our patients was an absolute mess, so we decided to clean her up and change the linens before the next shift arrived.  As we worked, we chatted.  “What kind of beds d’ya have in America?” she asked.  I must have looked at her strangely, because she continued on.  “I just think these automatic beds are amazin’.”  She waved the controller around, playing with the buttons.  “We don’t have anything like this back home.  Our beds are still manual.  Ya have to crank 'em.”  I couldn’t help it; I had to chuckle.  The bed she was so enthralled with was ancient by American standards.  I’m pretty sure we stopped using such models in the 1970s, and I told her as much.  We both laughed and continued on with our work, chatting and comparing nursing in Ireland to nursing in the States.

That’s one of the best things about working out here, though – meeting and talking with such a wide variety of international nurses.  I love hearing the first-hand accounts of what it’s really like to nurse in other parts of the world.  The Scottish nurses tell of the strict “Ward Mothers”, who rule the hospitals in nun-like fashion, striking fear into the hearts of all the junior nurses.  The British nurses complain about their ridiculous patient loads, often caring for more than twelve patients at once, including immediate post-operative patients, who require frequent monitoring.  The Indian nurses talk about how the patient’s family members typically stay at the bedside around the clock, providing the majority of the patients cares, so the nurse can focus on more medically-related tasks.  The one Romanian nurse I’ve met tells how the physicians would prescribe antibiotics for inpatients, but because the hospital supply was non-existent, the family members would have to retrieve the medication from the black market.  (Imagine!  In the U.S., patients aren’t even allowed to take their own medications from home.  In Romania, the patients only hope for survival is to obtain medications illegally!)

I find such vastly different experiences and backgrounds absolutely fascinating.  I’ve heard it said that nursing is nursing, no matter where you are in the world, but I have to disagree.  I understand the same basic principles apply, but every country and healthcare system develops its own unique personality and workplace culture.  Nursing in the U.S. is not the same as nursing in Australia, or the U.K., or even Canada.  But I’m appreciative that I’ve been able to learn some of the differences firsthand, as this is knowledge I will carry with me throughout the remainder of my career.