End of Week 11...

I am now at the beginning of week 12 here in Umeå and i really cannot believe how fast it's all going in!!

Last week I spent two days at the methadone clinic here which was a really interesting experience as I have spent time on these clinics in Scotland. What surprised me most was the difference in presentation between the service-users... All of the service-users here have permanent housing, and most of them were in employment. Which is a stark contrast from what I have seen in Glasgow, where the majority of the service-users have come from or are still living in relative poverty.
However, unlike in Glasgow, the service here in Umeå does not offer a needle exchange programme nor does it operate Naloxone training or give out Naloxone kits. However the principles and aims of the programme were very similar to home as well as the terms of commitment to the programme. I believe needle exchange programmes do operate in some of the bigger city's such as Stockholm.

At the weekend I spent time with some friends, as some of the people I have met here have been finishing up there summer jobs and having a short break before classes begin again.

This week I will be spending a lot of time with one of the social workers on the Rehab team to find out more about their role within mental health care here in Sweden. I will also continue with medicine administration and some home visits.

I am still absolutely loving it here and beginning to panic about how little time I have left!

Julie :) 

End of Week 10...

Week 10 in Umeå was another really great one - I completed my last shifts on the in-patient ward for the summer so the remainder of my placement will be on the out-patient unit. I really enjoyed my time on the ward as it was a really unique setting in that we don't really have anything similar at home. I also met some really inspiring patients who were more than happy to tell me more about themselves and in English. I believe the care and treatment of people with substance misuse problems here in Sweden is fantastic and the experience has further motivated my aspirations as an soon to be mental health nurse.  

My friend, Emma also came to Umeå this week to visit me! It was so good to see a good friend after over 2 months. We spent most of our time in the sun and made the most of the lake which is so nearby. I will attach a beautiful photograph I took while there.

I am absolutely loving my time here and the thought of going home in just three weeks is starting to panic me as I could very happily stay on here!

This week I will continue on the out-patient unit and I am spending two days at the methadone clinic which I am really looking forward to. I feel my Swedish language is coming along too, although my own patter isn't yet perfect I am able to understand other's pretty well and can usually follow the general idea of a conversation by listening. 

Again, this entire experience has proven to me first hand the importance of non verbal communication and has shown me not only how important it is to assess this effectively in a service-user, but how imperative it is for me to be aware of my own non-verbal communication as a way of developing my therapeutic relationships.

Only 3 weeks to go so I'm off to enjoy them! hope you like the photo. This truly is the most beautiful place in the world. (in my opinion).

Julie :)

 

End of Week 9...

Week 9 in Umeå was another really enjoyable one! I continued with my own patients and was given the responsibility of some more challenging situations which were brilliant learning experiences. The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous, sunny, clear skies and temperatures of up to 32 degrees.

I feel as though my therapeutic relationships with service users are really coming along as well as my relationships with other team members - nurses and MDT members which is making this an even more enjoyable working experience.

I have also been involved in some admin which is done here to ensure patient safety and quality control which has been really interesting. I have picked up some good practice which exists here which I am very keen to bring home with me to Scotland and share with colleagues.

At the weekend I spent time in the sun as well as spending time with a friend who is a psychology student here, which again is a great opportunity to find out more about the Swedish healthcare system in an informal way. 

On Sunday Helena and I went to the beach to go swimming which was amazing! swimming in the sea surrounded by forest and trees. I am continuously getting the chance to do new things and live typically "Swedish".

This week my friend, Emma is coming to visit which I am very excited for. Today we also arranged for me to spend a day next week at the methadone clinic here, I have had short experience of the way this works in Scotland, so again I am interested to compare the two.

Julie :)

End of Week 8....

I have now completed week 8 of 13 here in Umeå and I'm starting to fear the the countdown is on for coming home...

I now feel very settled into my wee life here and really enjoying it. This week at work I continued on the out-patient unit and at the inpatient ward where I continued with medicine administration and building upon therapeutic relationships. I've also spent more time studying both Scottish & Swedish mental health law and comparing these too.

This week I also flew to Stockholm for 24 hours where I met my dad and his partner. Stockholm was amazing - but I experienced a bit of a culture shock, within a culture shock. Stockholm is so busy and vast compared to Umeå. It was so good to see the capital city and all it has to offer. Although I was only there for 24 hours I managed to get a lot done!

On Saturday night I went swimming in the lake as the weather here has continued to be amazing! My father and his partner then came to Umeå and met me here too. It has been great to spend time with family as I have not seen them in such a long time. Although this entire experience is flying in! I cant quite believe I've been here 8 full weeks already!

I've attached a video link for a brilliant video! ... Just like in Scotland, here in Sweden there is a major shortage of nurses. Although, unlike in Scotland, this is because there simply are not enough nurses in Sweden to fill the jobs, as opposed to Scotland where due to lack of money there simply aren't enough nursing positions within the NHS. 
Anyway, the hospital I'm working at is a massive university hospital which meets the needs of the majority of Northern Sweden. The staff on the ortho ward decided to make a promo video to try and get nurses to apply for the jobs they are struggling to fill. I think this video is amazing. It was filmed in the real ortho ward and all the people in it are real staff, even the hospital manager features. The song is in Swedish but the lyrics basically say "we really need nurses, we're a brilliant team, come and work with us please!" Enjoy....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbDW4He3jUg


Another busy week at work starting tomorrow.

Julie :)  

End of Week 7...

This week on placement I continued working between the out-patient rehab unit and the in-patient ward. I also took part in out-patient medicine administration. This was an interesting experience to compare this service to ones at home. Unlike at home, the healthcare system no longer uses Kardex's or written notes as all record keeping is done one the computer on a shared system. I find this to be a far more efficient method of storing records as everything is on a central system and locating previous notes is incredibly easy.

On Friday afternoon I also had the opportunity to visit a supported accommodation unit. This supported accommodoation was relatively new so everything was of very high spec. Every person's room reflected their personal interests and character. It was very person-centred and really interesting to see.

On Friday night I spent time with Helena as the weather has been so good here! and we went to a bar in the city centre. On Saturday I spent most of the day relaxing and sunbathing and on Saturday night I visited the lake again.

Week 8 begins tomorrow and this week I am going to visit Stockholm!

Julie :)

End of week 6...

Last week i continued work on the in-patient substance misuse ward. I am beginning to get the hang of the routine and running of the ward now and I'm continuing with medicine preparation and administration.

I also spent time on the out-patient unit continuing to work with my existing patients and this week I met with a new patient to obtain the service-user's perspective of mental health care here in Sweden. This was a really interesting opportunity to hear about this patients experiences with mental health services: what was good and what was not so good about his experience. I also used this opportunity to find out what nursing skills and approaches this service user felt were necessary to build a therapeutic relationship built upon trust. This gave me further insight into the massive impact we, as mental health professionals can have on a person's life and their recovery.

This week I also booked a short trip to visit Stockholm for one night where I will meet my dad and his partner, which I am really looking forward to.

On Saturday I spent the day enjoying the sun here in Umea as the weather has been gorgeous this weekend. On Saturday night I went to a BBQ by the lake with some people I have met over facebook. It was great to meet new people and socialise.

Today I am spending some time catching up on reading and later this evening I am going for dinner to a new friends house.

Start of a new working week tomorrow!

Julie :)

End of Week 5...

Week 5 was another brilliant week in Umeå !

I spent more time this week meeting with more patients with my mentor and on my own. I am continuing to work through medicine evaluations with service-users in order to assess the positive effect of their medication and any possible side effects they may be experiencing, whilst measuring their vital signs.

 

I am beginning to build therapeutic relationships with my own patients now which I am really enjoying.

On Friday I spent time with the lead Occupational Therapist at the OT department. This was a really interesting experience. Most of the assessment tools used are very similar to that at home. Most of the duties of the OT’s here involve supporting out-patients, however, within this municipality, there are also OT’s who work with in-patients, and some who work directly with “youths”: people aged 18-25. There is also an OT at the equivalent of the Job Centre.

The occupational health department is an entire department purely for the work of occupational therapists. Within this department is several meeting rooms, as well as a large kitchen, an arts and crafts room and even a woodwork workshop. As well as providing therapeutic activities, this use of space is also a great environment for the occupational therapists to be able to effectively assess service user’s ability to carry out these tasks and level of functioning.

Also this week within the city centre of umeå was the Swedish Beachball Tour. An area of the city centre was turned into a beachball stadium and over the course of the week a tournament took place from 9am-9pm. The weather was nice last week too which made it even better!

 

I am continuing work in the rehab outpatient unit as well as spending morning shifts on the inpatient ward and I’m enjoying the variation!

 

I’ve also enjoyed some really nice cycles this week and managed to get some beautiful photos which I will upload ASAP.

 

Julie J