ICU Teaching Assignment #1
On Monday, November 24th, Asa and I did our first session with the nursing students. We had 5 girls in the first class and we figured we would talkabout Thanksgiving and have them tell us a little bit about Thai holidays but it turned out that we just chatted for the whole hour.
We found out about the nursing program and all the work they do. They have very little free time because they have so many classes and extra activites that are mandatory. For example, all the first year nursing students and required to do “cheer” for the seniors. They said they have to have cheer practice for 4 hours everyday! They do not get to go out really at all because any spare time they have is spent studying. When they do go out they usually go shopping.
I was also shocked to hear that in their second year they have to practice putting IVs and breathing tubes into each other. I don’t think they do anything like that in the US! I feel like if they did there would be a lot of complaints… something like inhumane treatment or something. It sounds like it could be painful or even dangerous!
I think the session went pretty well although there were a few moments of awkward silence. All of the girls wanted to be there to practice and were really excited to meet us. We didn’t think at the time that we were going to be seeing them again but it turned out that we got to see them again. They were very enthusiasitc about learning which I have seen is a common trend among many Thais. We often complain about studying and school work and even though they complained about having to free time they seemed to enjoy the studying that they do.
