IMU Bachelor of Nursing (Hons) Semester 4 students from cohort NU119 have just completed their clinical posting at Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. This cohort of six students were posted at medical, surgical, orthopaedic ward with visits to Diabetic Resource Centre, Haemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) Unit, and Plaster-of-Paris Room for a duration of eight weeks. This posting was aimed to allow students to apply theory and procedural skills learnt in classes into actual clinical practice by providing direct care for real patients in the hospital. Here is their sharing of true stories and life lessons learnt in this clinical exposure:
‘‘Oh, you are a student from IMU! Wow, glad to see you here!’’ said an amazed patient. Yes, it is common to see nursing students in the hospital setting. As a nursing student, we need to go through two months of posting in each semester. Every day, we assess, monitor, plan care, administer medications, provide treatment, and perform nursing procedures to our patients, as supervised by our clinical instructors.
In Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar Seremban, we get plenty of chances to meet patients with different backgrounds and personalities and therefore, we learned the proper way to communicate effectively with our patients. In fact, patients are great “teachers” for us as we learned a lot from our patients. They ‘taught’ us about their disease conditions and enlighten us with greater insight on the importance of treating every single patient as a unique individual with different needs, rather than just focusing on their disease. Although clinical hours are long and the work are hectic, we enjoyed and embrace every learning opportunity as it can enrich our knowledge and skills in the nursing field.
Here is what each of us have to say about our recent learning experiences:
Susan Atieno Nyanga (International student from Kenya):
“It was truly an astonishing and eye-opening learning experience for me. I’ve learned so much from this clinical posting, as practice makes progress and trained me to be a more competent nurse day by day. Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
Nor Atika Binti Mageleling:
“Dream big, stay positive and work hard because hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. We need to take full responsibilities in self-learning, have initiative and be more proactive in achieving our clinical learning outcomes as success depends on focus, effort, and action!”
Cheng May Yan:
“Nursing life is a learning journey; my dream and aspiration are the foundation of the trip. I will keep moving forward and stay optimistic! With proper guidance and great support from my lecturers and clinical tutors, I know I will be a good nurse one day!”
Tan Cai Ing:
“It was a challenging yet memorable clinical posting. You can’t skip chapters, that’s not how life works. You have to read every line, go through with turbulence the process and experience. You won’t enjoy all of it, you will read things you don’t want to read, you will also have moments when you don’t want the pages to end. Learn to appreciate every moment spent with patients, family members, colleagues, and every single staff in the hospital. We must grab the opportunity to enjoy as learning does matter!”
Wu Zi Xuan:
“It was a wonderful learning exposure. What I have learned from this posting is always believe in yourself, as nothing is impossible!”
Last but not least, here is what Khoo Hui Ja said about her posting:
“To become a nurse is to become someone who improves and saves the lives of others. Thus, nursing involves lots of hands-on action and active collaboration with others in caring for the patients. What I have learned from this valuable experience is: Don’t talk, just act; Don’t say, just do it: Don’t promise, just deliver the best I can!”
In summary, this remarkable and valuable clinical experiences that we have gained from the hospital posting have really transformed each of us to become a better stronger person and of course, a more equipped healthcare provider who is ready to serve. We will continue to have fun in our learning, appreciate our postings and strive our best in delivering holistic care for our patients and communities out there.
Written by IMU Nursing Students of cohort NU1/19
Reviewed by Chow Suh Hing & Dr Lim Swee Geok
