Day 6

Hola, Buenos Dias! The day started early with morning wake up call at six am. All students started their day at the children’s hospital or the cancer research hospital. Students taking the subway are almost ready to travel on their own as today required little assistance from the tour guide.  For the students taking the bus, they have been traveling alone since a few days.

At the children’s hospital students split up into different areas; pediatric transplant unit, oncology, recreation, NICU, infectiology, CCU, and many more. Many children on the infectiology unit had a diagnosis of tuberculosis. As there is a high rate of tuberculosis in Argentina. Students discussed differences in infection prevention in Canada versus Argentina. Primary prevention is a primary concern in Canada. Students at the hospital received exciting news that two students will be selected at random to observe a pediatric cardiac surgery later in the week. Many doctors took time out of their day to educate students regarding their speciality such as; general surgery, cardiac surgery, recovery, and current healthcare issues in Argentina. The cardiac surgeon discussed past heart surgeries on pediatric patients. One case involved creating a left ventricle with the pulmonary artery.     

The students at Roffo hospital got to participate in paint therapy along with reflexology with the patients and volunteers. The paint therapy involved patients painting scenery of their choosing with assistance from the volunteers. It was nice to see smiles on the patients faces and how this activity relaxed them while dealing with their cancer treatments. This was followed by a tour of the Nursing school located on the hospital grounds. Roffo university is the only nursing school in Argentina that focuses specifically on oncology. The students who attend this university will work at the Roffo hospital once they finish their training.  The students had a tour of the university which included; speaking with the faculty, students and a tour of the classrooms and simulation lab. The nursing school lacked many resources that we take for granted at CBU but the nursing staff and students are extremely innovative to work with the resources they have.

Due to extreme heat (33 degrees, feels like 36 degrees) the afternoon education sessions were rescheduled for next week. Even the locals are having difficulty working in this heat wave. Most students spent the afternoon exploring the city visiting sites such as; Recoletta, La Boca and Floralis Generica. Other students caught up on errands. Ending the day with three students giving toys, clothes and toiletries to homeless children living on the street with their families. Eye opening day

Simulation Lab in Roffo University 

Group photo of the students at Roffo Hospital and the Nursing Faculty of the University 

NICU

Nursing Faculty of Roffo University 

Nursing supplies in the simulation lab

Floralis Generica

La Boca 

Nursing student uniforms

Tuesday, February 19th 2018

Hi folks! Amy Sheriff and Katelyn Delaney here. Tuesday was a jam-packed day starting out with breakfast that included toast and Dulce de Leche which is the same as caramel sauce back in Canada (they put it on literally everything [amazing]). 

Oncología Ángel H. Roffo Volunteer group

One group of us hopped on bus 105 to the Instituto de Oncología Ángel H. Roffo for our clinical shift (this is the oncology or cancer treatment hospital). Today, we learned all about reflexology as a therapy for patients receiving cancer treatment. Reflexology is a form of therapeutic massage preformed specifically on the feet, applying pressure to certain areas to trigger a sense of relaxation all over the body. In the hospital a trained volunteer comes in to see the patients, gets to know them a little bit, and then offers them a reflexology session. I have yet to see a patient turn this offer down...who would? Free foot rub? Count me in! Another treatment offered to the patients is virtual reality therapy. This is when the patients wear the virtual reality goggles to allow them to see different scenes or settings around the world. It is also used to take the minds off of the cancer treatment. The patients are so thankful to have this type of alternative therapy offered to them and thank the volunteer many times during and after the session. The citizens of Argentina are very social, and the entire time we are visiting with them in their rooms while they receive their chemotherapy, they ask us about Canada, what it is like there, the weather, the animals, etc. Today, one patient invited us to his house for a barbecue but joked that we could only come if we brought some whiskey. The main focus of the volunteer program is to shift the patient’s attention off of the cancer and the treatment, and the reflexology, as well as talking with the patients seems to distract them, even if it is only for a little while. 
At the Gutiérrez Pediatric Hospital, we all split up into small groups to follow a hospital volunteer. Some of us went to recreation where we played with the children while they waited for their appointments at the walk-in clinic. The kids were so sweet and very patient with the language barriers, others were hesitant but quickly became comfortable! Others went to the surgical units, delivered toys to units, and went to the nursery to cuddle some babies. One thing we have noticed is that there is a high incidence rate of tuberculosis. Here, they tend to treat this with inserting a tracheostomy. This is an invasive treatment that the children have to go through here. We must say, the volunteers here are amazing, they are so friendly and try so hard to make us comfortable. The woman I (Amy) was paired up with came in to the hospital the next day with an English dictionary to help her communicate with us (since our Spanish is definitely not up to par...). 

Once we made it back to the hostel we all departed for lunch, some having pizza (for the 4^th day in a row... there is no such thing as too much pizza), and some headed all the way to the barrio (neighbourhood) La Boca to experience their outdoor restaurants where you can eat while watching local dancers tango. 

Attending a presentation about human trafficking

Later in the night we attended a presentation on human trafficking in Buenos Aires, presented by a local doctor who works with the Ministry of Justice. We were shocked to learn that almost 90% of human trafficking victims were in contact with a health care provider while in captivity, and the health care provider did not realize. This talk was extremely informative, and we were very grateful to learn some signs that may suggest someone is in a captive situation. Some things here in Argentina are a bit different than home, especially when it comes to laundry. It isn’t uncommon to hear some people in the group say over breakfast “My scrubs are clean! We washed them in the tub last night!” Overall, we had a really great day and learned so much. We miss you all back home and can’t wait to see you, but we really would love to stay here forever.

-Amy & Katelyn

First day at Argentine Hospitals

 The day started out early, we had to eat breakfast and be ready to leave by 8am. The group divided into two.. Eight students went to "Instituto de Oncologia" Angel H. Roffo Hospital that specializes in cancer research and treatment. The other twenty-one students headed to Gutierrez Hospital "Hospital Infantile De. Ricardo Gutierrez" which is a children's hospital.

This was the first time we used public transportation in Argentina, for some their first time ever using a subway.  The hospitals were in different directions so the 8 at Roffo took an hour long bus trip while the Gutierrez group walked to the subway and had a shorter, 25 minute commute.  Upon arriving both groups were surprised to find separate buildings with outdoor corridors and significantly smaller parking options (likely attributed to the use of public transport.)

The group at Roffo were taken on a tour around the site by one of the many volunteers present. This was followed by a brief presentation on the hospital, in specifically the makeup and importance of the volunteers. One evident disadvantage they have locally is that there is no electronic patient system in place meaning the secretary for each area has to physically take the information to the person that needs it next.  This pales in comparison to the amazing programs they have in place for patient relaxation, such as art therapy, reflexology and virtual reality. We had an opportunity to meet the nursing staff and they explained that they require an additional 2 years of specialized oncology training to work there.

Back Row: Johnathan Lake, Kim Lake, Angela MacDonald & Daniel Boutilier
Middle: Jenny Hines, Megan MacNeil, Taylor Allan, Mikayla Ayre (pink shirts are the volunteers)
Front: Chantal Caron & Katelyn Delaney 

Standard double room 

Inpatient chemotherapy unit 

Meanwhile at Gutierrez the group were brought in by a long-standing volunteer, who was the supervisor of all of the volunteers. We were brought to the area of the hospital where the volunteers gathered. The regular volunteers, who were there in schedules through the week, brought anywhere from 1-5 students to do various things around the hospital. Some students brought a bunch of toys to play with some kids in a busy waiting room, some walked around the inpatient units offering them bread and asking them if they or the patients needed anything, and some students helped in the pharmacy. One thing we all noticed at this hospital was how many doctors and resident doctors that were there. The volunteers and nursing staff commented on always having doctors and residents available if they need one. We mentioned the situation was a little different back home, that access to a doctor could be tough at times! We were all very impressed by the kind volunteers, some of them even said goodbye to a few of us in a traditional Argentina farewell. Overall, we had a wonderful learning experience at this hospital!

Hospital de Ninos 

After clinical we all enjoyed some delicious Argentine food before heading out to La Bomba, a traditional Argentine percussion show. This was not totally as expected, the show was a general admission outdoor event with more people than Walmart the day before a snowstorm  😂 The music was rhythmic, upbeat and fun to listen to with no shortage of dancing. The entertainment didn’t stop there, to our surprise we were treated to some  80s hits by a busker on the subway en route back to our hostel.

La Bomba 

Day 3

Finally feeling refreshed after a good nights sleep, we hit the ground running and started our day. We had a quick breakfast at our hostel and met up with our volunteer coordinators who had lots of fun riddles and a crossword puzzle prepared to help us navigate our way to lots of famous landmarks. 

The first landmark we visited was the Obelisco which is a national historic monument and icon of Buenos Aires. 

The second landmark was Plaza de Mayo where our coordinators taught us about all of the people (mostly children) that went missing during the military dictatorship from 1976-1983 and how every Thursday people will walk a circle around the pyramid in front of the plaza to pay their respects and to remind people of the past. Before heading to our final landmark, we walked through an Argentine market, took in lots of sites and saw lots of beautiful locally made items. The final landmark was the El Puente De La Mujer, which is a foot bridge in one of the more modern neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires. This bridge was created to resemble a couple dancing tango. It is nicknamed the Woman’s Bridge as it honours important women from Argentine history. 

After seeing all of the landmarks, our coordinators set up a little picnic for us where they taught us how to make Alfajores which is two cookies with the famous Dulce de Leche sauce in between, these were a huge hit with our group, the Matè not so much😂. Matè is a traditional drink made by an infusion of dried leaves of Yerba mate, it is served in a hollow calabash gourd with a filtered bombilla straw. We all had the option to try it, but only a few of us were brave enough to do so and it received lots of mixed reviews! 

Johnny, Dan and Chantal (our CBU soccer star) went to a soccer game in the afternoon and said it was such an awesome experience. The rest of the group stayed backed, relaxed in the sun and bonded with each other. We are all feeling refreshed and ready to start our first day of clinical tomorrow! 

Finally touch down in Argentina! After a long and bumpy 11 hour flight the day we’ve been waiting for has finally come! 

We met Elissa and the rest of the volunteers at the airport and boarded the bus to our home for the next two weeks. After  settling in (and Lauren March realizing she already got a sunburn from the bus) we walked through the city to United Planet’s office for an orientation and Spanish lessons. We learned a lot about what we will be doing during our time in Buenos Aires and some things we might expect from the local people. Lindsay quickly learned that certain gestures might not always mean the same thing in different countries. After our lessons we walked through the beautiful streets of Buenos Aires to our welcome dinner. We were lucky enough to experience a beautiful couple dancing tango in the streets. 

We enjoyed a wonderful meal of steak, pasta and of course traditional empanadas. After a busy day of travel half the group decided to check out an event at the hostel to meet some other travellers before getting a good night sleep finally in a bed again! Looking forward to our first wake up in beautiful Buenos Aires ! 

Day 1

And we’re off!! Our morning started off early and very chilly, all 33 of us arrived with at least two suitcases with many over 50lbs full of donations at CBU bright and early to load up the bus. After picking up a few stragglers in St.Peters we sped on our journey to the Halifax airport. Johnathan Lake arrived to the airport with 25$ in his wallet along with 2 melted credit cards... lucky for him his mama is along for the ride with a big fat wallet and ankles to match!! While walking through the airport our shirts brought lots of attention from people asking us if we were close to Saskatoon, do we have igloos and if we can actually preform CPR. Katie and Morgan had great intentions of living off their jars of peanut butter for the two weeks but we learned quickly that you can’t smuggle peanut butter on your carry ons. Debbie Cantwell was all ready to eat her firken burger that very quickly was swallowed up by her backpack. When arriving at our gate to head to Toronto we were all entertained by Belinda donning her TED stockings and doing a little dance for Dr.Phil. After a quick layover in Toronto and unsuccessfully trying to convince Jennifer to play her fiddle, we soon realized Jonathan and Daniel were MIA (what else is new). It was finally time to board our flight and embark on our 11 hour journey in the air. We are very grateful for everyone that helped us get to take part in this experience and are looking forward to updating you all more on our activities in the coming days. 

Before the Experience

Welcome to the CBU International Nursing 2019 Blog!

We are so excited for you to follow along with us on our journey to Argentina! I'm Mikayla, a CBU nursing student in my final year, and I'm going to give you some background on this experience and how we got here to travel day!

Every year for the past few years, CBU nursing students in their final year have been given the opportunity to participate in a volunteer, service learning, international nursing experience. This experience gives nursing students a look into what healthcare is like in other countries while providing volunteer services to the communities visited. Experiential learning is what our program is based on, and being culturally aware is a very important part of being a nurse, and being super awesome nurses is the goal right?

So, the magic ingredients to going on the experience: lots of fundraising and community support! For a little less than a year we have been fundraising every way imaginable. Car washes, basket draws, 50/50, an auction, you name it, we did it! But, we couldn't have done it without our community and local businesses donating venues, items, and money towards fundraisers and other costs like the bus from CBU to Halifax. We can't thank everyone enough! Really though, thank you!!

About two months before we left, in preparation for this experience each of us going did research on Argentina and presented our findings to eachother. We covered topic from weather to economic status and cultural beliefs. We also had our guide who we will meeting in country present to us on important topic and letting us know what we will be doing in country.

What will we be doing in Argentina? We will be providing patient support to clients in cancer research and maternal/pediatric hospitals near Buenos Aires. We will also be visiting a community center and providing health education to youth at risk! In between our volunteer work we will also be participating in cultural activities to broaden our understanding such as visiting museums.

This is sure to be an experience of learning and new adventures!

That's it for now and we will update you all throughout our travels!

P.S: Picture is of our fundraiser auction 😊