Alissa's Blog
Day
1: Friday March
15 , 2013
Today we woke up and headed
from Anchorage to Seward. There were plenty of places to stop off along the way
to take wonderful pictures of Alaska’s beautiful picturesque landscape. We
stayed at a great B&B in Seward, the owners were so friendly and helpful. We
then spent the rest of the day touring the
town.
Day
2: Saturday March 20, 2013
This morning we had a great breakfast at the B&B, from there we went and toured
the Seward hospital. The hospital was really small with 4 patient beds. As small
as the hospital was they are very modernized. The hospital did not do any
operations they send them to Anchorage and then they recover in Seward providing the roads are good for
traveling. After the tour we headed out on a scow-cat tour of Exit Glacier. The
snow-cat did not bring us all the way we had to snowshoe in from a visitor’s
center located in the park.
Day
3: Sunday March 21, 2013
Today we woke up at 3am, and drove to Homer to make our 8am. Fishing excursion.
We had to take three boats out on the
ocean because of the size of our group.
We fished all day and between the three boats we were able to come back
with 2 king salmon which we ate for dinner. The house we rented in Homer was
awesome; it had the most amazing views.
Day 4: Monday March 22, 2013
Still in homer, this is the first day of
our clinical rotation. We went to meet Jane and head up to the Nikolaevsk
School. Jane was wonderful in explaining some of the culture to us. Many of the
girls have to wear skirts below the knee and their hair in a braid. This is
students of Russian culture. We
found that as small as the school is (170 students) they are very good at
sports. It is all a lot of people do up here they have open gym for the students
as well as the grownups. The girls’ basketball team was at state the day we were
visiting so there were not many high school aged children in the building. We
were able to sit in on the 6th-7th grades CPR
training. They were learning how to use the AED device, so we were able to
answer some very intelligent questions they
had.
Day 5: Tuesday March 23, 2013
Today we met Nurse Sam at the Ninilchik school. He is the only male nurse in the
district. This was a fairly modern school, they even had a pool. When we were
there he was being audited so he had to have all the paperwork in order. Many
parents up here do not believe in getting their kids vaccinated due to religious
beliefs, so they have to sign religious waivers for the school. Sam also
informed us that if or when a girl becomes pregnant while in the school system
there is a woman (kind of a case worker) who will follow up on them and make
sure they are completing everything they need to for graduation. The girls may
also go to an alternative school.
Day 6: Wednesday March 24, 2013
Today I went to the Nikiski Middle/ High school. I met the school nurse Glynes who
practices a holistic approach with the students and families. Glynes also has
her NP license so she will look at students and recommend the ones who may need
antibiotics to make an appointment with their provider or is able to tell them
what is going on to save them money and a trip to the Doctor if it is not really
needed. She is a great resource for the community. Glynes also go out and get's donations for community shop for her practice at the school, such as shampoo and conditioner from local hotels. She also has a bin of donated clothes for students that do not have many. In her office she keep some fresh fruit and snacks, different kinds of tea to help with constipation or upset stomach. It was facinating to see how much one person could help out a community.
Day 7: Thursday March 25, 2013
This is my last clinical day. I visited Donna the school nurse at Redoubt Elementary. Donna's office was very nice, she had made a quiet setting for the kids to rest. This school had about 360 kids in it and she said that when the flu comes through the school her office floor along with the beds are full. A lot of the students have medical or Religious exempt slips that allow them to go to school with out immunizations. This was true for all the schools I was at this week.
Day 8: Friday March 26, 2013
Today we drove back to Anchorage. Along the way we stopped at Coopers Landing which had a one room school house and toured that. It was nothing like I had expected. They had all the modern technology, like a smart board and the highschool students did some of there classes on line or video conference type of thing. They had a nice gym and one teacher tought all the grades. It was interesting, from there two vehicles headed for Anchorage to check into the hotel and one went out to a mountain skiing for the day. I went to check in at the hotel and see the sights in Anchorage! I absolutely loved Alsaka and found this experience to be a very valuable one! I learned a lot about different cultures and the way rural nursing is done in remote locations!
15 , 2013
Today we woke up and headed
from Anchorage to Seward. There were plenty of places to stop off along the way
to take wonderful pictures of Alaska’s beautiful picturesque landscape. We
stayed at a great B&B in Seward, the owners were so friendly and helpful. We
then spent the rest of the day touring the
town.
Day
2: Saturday March 20, 2013
This morning we had a great breakfast at the B&B, from there we went and toured
the Seward hospital. The hospital was really small with 4 patient beds. As small
as the hospital was they are very modernized. The hospital did not do any
operations they send them to Anchorage and then they recover in Seward providing the roads are good for
traveling. After the tour we headed out on a scow-cat tour of Exit Glacier. The
snow-cat did not bring us all the way we had to snowshoe in from a visitor’s
center located in the park.
Day
3: Sunday March 21, 2013
Today we woke up at 3am, and drove to Homer to make our 8am. Fishing excursion.
We had to take three boats out on the
ocean because of the size of our group.
We fished all day and between the three boats we were able to come back
with 2 king salmon which we ate for dinner. The house we rented in Homer was
awesome; it had the most amazing views.
Day 4: Monday March 22, 2013
Still in homer, this is the first day of
our clinical rotation. We went to meet Jane and head up to the Nikolaevsk
School. Jane was wonderful in explaining some of the culture to us. Many of the
girls have to wear skirts below the knee and their hair in a braid. This is
students of Russian culture. We
found that as small as the school is (170 students) they are very good at
sports. It is all a lot of people do up here they have open gym for the students
as well as the grownups. The girls’ basketball team was at state the day we were
visiting so there were not many high school aged children in the building. We
were able to sit in on the 6th-7th grades CPR
training. They were learning how to use the AED device, so we were able to
answer some very intelligent questions they
had.
Day 5: Tuesday March 23, 2013
Today we met Nurse Sam at the Ninilchik school. He is the only male nurse in the
district. This was a fairly modern school, they even had a pool. When we were
there he was being audited so he had to have all the paperwork in order. Many
parents up here do not believe in getting their kids vaccinated due to religious
beliefs, so they have to sign religious waivers for the school. Sam also
informed us that if or when a girl becomes pregnant while in the school system
there is a woman (kind of a case worker) who will follow up on them and make
sure they are completing everything they need to for graduation. The girls may
also go to an alternative school.
Day 6: Wednesday March 24, 2013
Today I went to the Nikiski Middle/ High school. I met the school nurse Glynes who
practices a holistic approach with the students and families. Glynes also has
her NP license so she will look at students and recommend the ones who may need
antibiotics to make an appointment with their provider or is able to tell them
what is going on to save them money and a trip to the Doctor if it is not really
needed. She is a great resource for the community. Glynes also go out and get's donations for community shop for her practice at the school, such as shampoo and conditioner from local hotels. She also has a bin of donated clothes for students that do not have many. In her office she keep some fresh fruit and snacks, different kinds of tea to help with constipation or upset stomach. It was facinating to see how much one person could help out a community.
Day 7: Thursday March 25, 2013
This is my last clinical day. I visited Donna the school nurse at Redoubt Elementary. Donna's office was very nice, she had made a quiet setting for the kids to rest. This school had about 360 kids in it and she said that when the flu comes through the school her office floor along with the beds are full. A lot of the students have medical or Religious exempt slips that allow them to go to school with out immunizations. This was true for all the schools I was at this week.
Day 8: Friday March 26, 2013
Today we drove back to Anchorage. Along the way we stopped at Coopers Landing which had a one room school house and toured that. It was nothing like I had expected. They had all the modern technology, like a smart board and the highschool students did some of there classes on line or video conference type of thing. They had a nice gym and one teacher tought all the grades. It was interesting, from there two vehicles headed for Anchorage to check into the hotel and one went out to a mountain skiing for the day. I went to check in at the hotel and see the sights in Anchorage! I absolutely loved Alsaka and found this experience to be a very valuable one! I learned a lot about different cultures and the way rural nursing is done in remote locations!