So yesterday was my first full day in Umea... I began the day doing some exploring on foot of the uni campus and the uni hospital and found my route to placement. My sense of direction is TERRIBLE so took some time but got the hang of it now!
I then met one of the lecturers who took me to the medical department's uni library and showed me around which was brilliant! the library is really modern looks like a great place to get some work done.
Then I met Helena - the staff nurse I will mainly be working with and together we drove in her car to the city centre where she helped me get a Swedish SIM card and bus pass. The to a big supermarket, where i got some food, towels (which i stupidly forgot) and there was an H&M there too! so i got a pair of trousers for starting work today.
Helena also had told a colleague i was in the market for bicycle, and he brought one in for me! a great wee bike with two locks! its a bit rusty but has new tires and a new saddle and works perfectly well! (picture to follow) he's allowed me to borrow it for the duration of my stay and i've not been charged a thing!
Today.....
Today was my first day in the Psychiatric Rehab unit. I started my day with two MDT meetings and was introduced to all of the staff in the area. Luckily, Helena speaks perfect English and translated most of this meeting for me. The meeting also gave me a short insight into the way the healthcare system, and particularly the psychiatric care system is run. After the meetings everyone sat together and had a chat and some coffee and even some cake! in Sweden they call this"Fika" pronounced "feeka" the literal meaning is break...but it means much more than that to the Swedes...to "fika" is to spend time with one another, to feel comfortable and chat, to stop worrying for a short time and have a refreshment, it seems like a very comforting, nurturing thing and my impression is that it is important to them.
After the MDT and our Fika, Helena then took me on a tour of the psychiatric unit within the hospital. The ward layouts are similar to in Scotland. I also got to meet the ward manager of the ECT unit and arranged to spend Friday morning this week there to experience it in Sweden.
Next, I went another nurse, Camilla on a home visit to one of her patients. This is when it hit me just how different the lifestyle is here...
Firstly, all staff in this unit just where casual clothes, even jeans are fine! When it was time for Camilla and I's appointment with this patient, we cycled to the patients house!! cycled in the sun a short distance away..and got to spend over an hour with the patient. Again this had to be translated for me after it finished, but everything seemed so person-centred and recovery-focussed it was so motivating and refreshing to see! There were other healthcare professionals there too who are also involved in this individuals care. It is VERY IMPORTANT to the Swede's that you remove your shoes when entering their home...and nurses are no exception to this rule. We arrived and took off our shoes, sat together around a table and drank coffee and had a lengthy discussion...
Today i also got to visit treatment rooms, pharmacy, acute admissions unit and have good conversation with a variety of staff members of varied experience at lunch time.
Tomorrow is a national holiday here in Sweden so the service is shut. But Helena has given me some great books written in English which I am going to study and look over. Plus i now have my own bike, so Umea is my oyster!
Julie :)
