First time in clinical practice at Odense Universtiy Hospital

Monday 25^th November! This is the day that I will be starting my clinical practice in Odense, Denmark. I have been placed in an Intensive Care Unit – Neurosurgery for 4 weeks. Prior to starting, I had refreshed my knowledge about the anatomy and physiology of the brain because I did not know what to expect. I felt quite pressurized, excited and anxious because the patients were critically ill and I had no previous experience of working in any ICU setting, yet, it was an opportunity for me to learn things that I would not in any other ward.

On the first day of placement, I was mostly observing the routine of the ward. Me and mentor had discussed what I wanted to achieve-objectives, skills, what was expected and my plan for the next 4 weeks.

Whilst I was observing the ward, I noticed a few things that were uncommon in the UK. For instance, there is no paperwork at all! All the nursing notes, documentation and observations are all stored on the computer. Patients in ICU are usually put on a monitor that sends measurements of vital signs directly into the system. The ward immediately felt advanced. Storing information on the computer enables all information to be kept orderly and organized and enables MDT members to access information anywhere within hospital premises.

In the UK, there are different colored bags for certain waste products, orange-biological waste, and black-general. However, here in Denmark, there is only one bag for everything. This helped me avoid confusion as to where certain things need to be placed.

In addition, after observing my mentor administer IV fluids, one common practice for us after drawing up fluids is to throw away the syringe and the needle. Although, in Denmark, the needle is removed from the syringe and thrown in the needles bin and the syringe in the general wastes. When asked why they did not throw away the whole syringe, they replied that it saved spaced and avoided the need to constantly change the bin. Please note that while I am expected to learn and follow their way of practice, I still do consider this unsafe practice and I do recognize and continue to practice in a safe manner.  

 There was a lot to take in on the first day of placement, however, the ward seemed really interesting and I look forward to working there again.