Towards the end of placement, I felt that four weeks was not long enough to fully grasp the role and responsibility of a nurse in Denmark, however, I managed to learn a lot about their way of practice.
There were a few differences between Denmark and England that I could identify. During my time on the ward, the nurses had a lot more responsibility, some of which nurses in the UK could not do. For example, nurses were allowed to change the dosages of medications depending on the status of the patient. The relationship between the nurse, doctor and patient seemed to be on an equal level, there was no sense of hierarchical statuses, nurses were free to call doctors and patients by their first names. In the UK, it is seen as respectable to call patients Mr. or Ms and to gain their consent to call them by their first name.
Students in Denmark also had a lot of opportunities to carry out a wide range of procedures, procedures which would be unacceptable for a student to do in England. These included male catherisation, cannulation and administering IV fluids (Please do keep in mind that I am still fully aware of the responsibility and boundaries of a student/nurse in the UK and I will continue to abide by them).
One interesting moment was the problem-based learning meetings. As only some of the students could speak English, I could only attend one meeting. This PBL involved students from the hospital getting together every week, creating a scenario and discussing what the problems are and what the treatment and interventions would be from a nurses perspective. I feel that this would be an interesting session have in the UK, as it enables students to get together, discuss their experiences and use their knowledge and skills and apply them to any scenario created.
