India!

tntrn, ASN, RN · Feb 2, 2008

How long would you be there? I have been to India, not as a student or even as a nurse, and the experience was awesome. We loved each and every minute and can't wait to go again. I think the experience would be, what do they say? Priceless.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2008

I spent sixteen days in Barbados working in the polyclinics down there - the polyclinics are like "one stop shopping" for health care under the nation's socialized system.

My trip was also two grand, and I had to sell the idea to my husband, but it was an experience I'll never forget and was worth every penny. I had some amazing experiences there that I couldn't have possibly had anywhere else. It also convinced me that eventually primary care is where I want to be.

If you can convince your husband of the value of such a trip, I highly recommend it. It is definitely an amazing opportunity, especially at a community college.

Good luck in your endeavor!

ETA: I got to work as a public health nurse, assisting one of their public health sisters. Hands-on experience in a prenatal clinic - I got to do Leopold's maneuvers, give counseling, do prenatal screening, do teaching, check fetal heart tones. I certainly wouldn't have gotten that sort of experience at that point here in the States! Plus I was working in the Third World (yes, Barbados - despite the tourism - is indeed the Third World, though is sometimes referred to as the Second world, so to speak) - you don't see hospitals like Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown here in the US; my clinic, Winston Scott, was right across the street from it. I also made some excellent friends that I still correspond with.

WELL WORTH IT!

APBT mom, LPN, RN · Feb 2, 2008

Lucky!!! I would love the opportunity to go some where else and practice what I learned. It would also not only make a difference in the peoples lives that I'm helping but also make a difference in myself to be able to care for them and see how it really works when you don't have everything within reach. $2000 won't compare to the experiences that you will have when you go.

Why doesn't anyone offer this great experiences where I live .

Alternator81 · Feb 2, 2008

How awesome is that?! I would DO ANYTHING to make it work. That sounds to me like an experience of a lifetime. Not to mention, you will have lots of great stories to tell for years to come, and it will look really great on a resume! Good Luck!

pkohm · Feb 2, 2008

i guess $2,000 isn't so bad, but at the same time, your going to go work as a nurse and you have to pay to go?? I don't really understand, i could understand just going and not getting paid any extra (just travel expenses/lodging), but to have to pay idk.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2008

i guess $2,000 isn't so bad, but at the same time, your going to go work as a nurse and you have to pay to go?? I don't really understand, i could understand just going and not getting paid any extra (just travel expenses/lodging), but to have to pay idk.

You're not working as a nurse. You're there as a student for the educational experience.

All the fee covered for me was lodging and airfare. Two weeks in Barbados - not the cheapest thing in the world; we stayed at a very nice locally owned hotel right on the Caribbean. Plus the flight was about six hundred bucks as well.

So you are only paying to stay there. Any food, etc you buy is on your own dime.

Again, you're a student - not a nurse. So you wouldn't get paid to go there.

MollyMel · Feb 3, 2008

I would also add that the vast majority of nursing volunteer work in developing countries requires a fee, usually $1000 - $2000. If this is something you will want to do in the future it will still cost you then (unless you are willing to make the 9 month commitment to something like Doctors Without Borders).

I would say it is an opportunity that would be hard to pass up. $2000 sounds like a lot, but when you get your RN you can work some OT to pay it back and will have some amazing experience under your belt.

I spent 5 months in India on a social work exchange when I was 18 and loved every second of it (in retrospect of course.... I might not have been so thrilled when I was in hospital with amoebic dysentery, of every other week when I had diarrhea or nausea, but I forget all that now :specs: )

Good luck, I hope you go!

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Feb 3, 2008

I would also add that the vast majority of nursing volunteer work in developing countries requires a fee, usually $1000 - $2000. If this is something you will want to do in the future it will still cost you then (unless you are willing to make the 9 month commitment to something like Doctors Without Borders).
I would say it is an opportunity that would be hard to pass up. $2000 sounds like a lot, but when you get your RN you can work some OT to pay it back and will have some amazing experience under your belt.
I spent 5 months in India on a social work exchange when I was 18 and loved every second of it (in retrospect of course.... I might not have been so thrilled when I was in hospital with amoebic dysentery, of every other week when I had diarrhea or nausea, but I forget all that now )
Good luck, I hope you go!

Ours counted as our Community Health clinical rotation. So essentially I paid for another class. Made it even more worth it. I completed a huge chunk of the classwork before I left (our ABSN program did Community and Gero in an 8 week block for the first half of the last Fall semester) and only had one clinical day during that first eight weeks, for Gero. This was a huge help; it made up for losing the break between the summer and that fall - but hey, I spent evenings out in Bridgetown and the weekends on the Caribbean beaches right outside my hotel. If we got off early, we hit the sand. Awesome experience AND breaks on the beach.

Duke isn't doing the eight week Community thing anymore, but I think the international experiences still count as the clinical segment of the course.