Experiencing a Different Perspective of Nursing Practices at Tzu Chi General Hospital, Taiwan

The nursing elective module is one of the modules offered in Semester 8 for the Bachelor of Nursing (Hons) programme at the International Medical University (IMU). For this module, students are required to undergo four weeks of clinical attachment in a hospital either locally or internationally. A group of four nursing students took this opportunity to do their clinical attachment at Taipei Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital in Taiwan. The students share with us their experience in Taiwan. “We chose Taipei Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Taiwan as we believe that the experience will provide us the opportunity to experience a different perspective of nursing practices overseas. We are grateful to IMU for funding us under the Student Mobility Programme for our clinical attachment from 9 March 2015 till 4 April 2015. For the first two weeks, we were assigned to a unit of our choice ie Operation Room (Cheang QingJun), Neurological Ward (Liew Wai Han), Surgical Intensive Care Unit (Sha Chian Ying) and Obstetrics and Gynaecology Ward and Labour Room (Wong Chek Zhi) while for the remainder two weeks, we were all assigned to the Accident and Emergency Department. The experience that we gained during the clinical attachment was truly an eye-opening learning experience. We managed to observe the most updated medical gadgets such as the Thumper Mechanical CPR Machine and Ligasure ® Vessel Sealing litigation, used in this hospital, which we felt was very useful in saving time and manpower. We are also very impressed with their work culture where inter-professional collaborative practices were clearly demonstrated. The physicians, advanced practice nurses (APN), nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists and other healthcare teams work very closely with patients, families, caregivers and communities to ensure that high quality of patient care is delivered. Another unique characteristic of this hospital is the incorporation of Tzu Chi volunteers in assisting with the care of the patients. They really spend their time and dedication to further support the services provided by the healthcare team such as providing motivational support to patients, sending patients to perspective units and dispatching specimens to laboratory. We truly appreciated the healthy work environment in this hospital as it really made us realise how community and the healthcare team can work together towards creating a positive and caring environment which resulted in a very fulfilling and satisfying feeling among healthcare team members. Reflecting on this clinical attachment, we felt very fortunate that IMU has given us the opportunity to gain this invaluable experience which not only enriches our university experience but it also broadens our perspectives regarding nursing as a career and how we can contribute toward quality patient care. We will definitely cherish these wonderful and memorable experiences including the new acquaintances made during this one-month attachment. We hope that our juniors will also get the opportunity to experience this wonderful experience.”