Experience Nursing Overseas

Practicing nursing, exploring cultures and making new friends in Norway

Here are a few excerpts from some of our students who actively blogged about their trip to Norway where they immersed themselves in Norwegian culture and completed 63 clinical hours (May 22-June 6, 2022).

Setting the scene
From Jeanie M. Bochenek, DNP, RN, LSN, NCSN, Tracy Taylor, DNP, RN, and the community health nursing students

Norway! Trains, planes, buses and trams connected us to Unni (Our “host mom” and main point of contact on this trip) in Oslo City Center. We had a full afternoon exploring our new home for the next two weeks. We noticed right away how the city was more diverse than we expected. We heard lots of different languages.

We used public transportation to get everywhere, and it was easy to navigate and full of people. Our Norwegian friends confirmed that walking and public transportation are more common than driving. The city is crowded but not congested; full of people, yet quiet, calm and clean.

While eating dinner in a popular food hall (fun fact: it used to be a bathhouse), we noticed how communal, diverse and family-friendly the atmosphere is
in Norway.

We were impressed with the environmentally friendly practices here: wooden utensils, glassware, separate bins for wood, glass, food waste, recyclables, etc. The vendors were kind and patient, on top of being (at least) bilingual and speaking to us in English.

After dinner, we took a trip to a local grocery store. Unni told us that most Norwegians eat in season, and the food changes based on what’s currently growing. There is a lot of whole food, as opposed to processed food, available.

Finally, we arrived at our hotel, showered and slept off our jet lag. We’re looking forward to being here and so excited for what’s to come.

Hands on nursing
From Priya Chandna

In Norway, nursing school is three years long and in their third year, students are primarily working on their practicum (clinical) hours. This week, I was paired up with a third-year student, Charlotte (from Norway, who graduated shortly after we left), and I had the opportunity to go with her to her practicum hours at a local nursing home. The floor that we were on was for patients with aggressive tendencies and memory loss. As one can imagine, the main goal of the floor was to promote a calming environment to ensure that the patients remained safe and at ease to avoid any aggression or agitation.

One of my favorite things about this experience was getting to view healthcare and nursing through the lens of the Norwegian culture. The care and intention that they employ with every single patient was eye-opening and reinforced the idea that everyone is a human being before they are a patient. Empathy, compassion and therapeutic communication were incredibly prominent in everything that we did!

Because it was the first of the month, we went around and collected the NEWS on each patient. Gathering the NEWS is essentially taking weight and vitals. After Charlotte explained to me that the NEWS stands for the National Early Warning Scale, she pulled out a chart that assigns a score to each patient based on their data. My jaw dropped when I realized that it is almost the same as our Modified Early Warning Scale (MEWS) which looks for potential risk factors in patients!! This week has reinforced the idea that even though we are learning how to be nurses in very different countries, the root of our practices, the knowledge and skills that we learn and our passions for patient-centered healthcare are all vividly apparent. I can’t help but smile when I think about this.

Public health in Norway
From Sharon Simmons-Nolden

Today’s Norway experience was a wonderful trip to Oslo’s largest parks called Frognerparken and Vigelandsparken. I was so amazed by the multitude of people enjoying leisure and bonding time with families and friends.

Many people were out jogging and walking and others, like me, were strolling relishing in an art walk which confirms why Norway’s promotion of good health and well-being is truly embedded into its rich culture and society. In Norway, the local government is the chief promoter of health and disease prevention. The local government regulates and manages healthcare policies and activities designed to prevent diseases and promote healthy behaviors ... Good health and well-being are seen as a resource for everyday life and firmly rooted in its culture.