Today once again a student

Today I had to get up early again, I was at the Career Center by 7 AM to participate in the team meeting. It was directly clarified that I could join as a support and mentor for a trainee in surgery at the Christian Doppler Clinic on Friday. Additionally, there was a small training session today on the topic of the flex pool in the clinic.

Then I went to the laundry with Hubert. Oh dear, he was fast. And since I bombarded him with questions on the way, I was immediately out of breath. I got a scrub and pants. Great, all in white, who does that?

Afterwards, he took me to Andrea and we arranged our meeting point for Friday. Then he was gone. Hubert from Bavaria, formerly a civil servant.

Andrea gave me a ton of input. Afterwards, we went back to an intensive care unit. A video-supported CPR training was taking place there. Cameras from all angles. And then a debriefing! How cool!

We then waited for Robert, the practical instructor of the station, to discuss the new Erasmus trainee with him. During the wait, I occasionally closed my eyes. My scanning gaze sees everything, and I can't help but absorb every detail. A typical highly sensitive trait. The problem: even with my eyes closed, I don't miss errors. So I immediately heard someone behind me breaking a syringe out of its packaging. Ouch. And then that sound of the needle aspirating fluid. That didn't sound like a filter needle….

I opened my eyes and turned around. Of course, it wasn’t…

My expression seemed so shocked that the nurse looked directly at me and gave a strange caught-off-guard look. She felt my scrutinizing gaze and already began to walk away while labeling the infusion with a marker. No emergency was in sight.

I turned back around. A nurse with a watch and a ring. I looked down at her. Her pink and purple striped socks in her clogs. Well, luckily there’s no emergency… you’d lose those while walking.

Exhausting. These impressions. These details. My scrutinizing gaze.

I was glad when we left again. Back in Andrea's office. I said goodbye to take my new work clothes to the dormitory. Short break.

Then I took the train to the university. Such a beautiful modern building. I looked for the seminar room and took a seat. I quickly found out that the students were in their 5th semester and started chatting. Interview mode.

Then Mr. M. arrived. Today again in a shirt but paired with jeans. He stood in front of a class with only 11 students. “Are people sick today?” “No, we are always this few. Totally 75 but we are 7 groups so that the instructors have smaller classes.” Wow.

He had told me that he would treat me like a student. That was fine, and I raised my hand immediately for the first question.

Topic: Evidence-based Nursing. Very dry. Lots of research. Complex.

But highly interesting. I think I could have been a really good researcher. Even though I hardly knew anything, I quickly got into the topic and started speaking so much that he had to rein me in twice.

At the end, there was case work and nursing planning. Everyone hates it. But it was presented in such an interesting way. I would have wished for such an instructor. One who draws everything out of you. Who doesn’t let go, who goes into detail.

I was somewhat irritated by the students as they hardly participated. Some didn’t even listen. In the end, I gave a “small lecture” on why they need to position themselves better, how important the nursing profession is, the nursing process, my favorite topic of reserved activities in nursing, and self-confidence toward the medical field.

It was definitely fun. Mr. M., the program director, threw in a compliment that “Hannover should consider itself lucky to have a practical instructor like me and he hopes that the future nurses will learn a lot from me!” and a student came up to me afterwards: “You were really an enrichment for the class today, thank you!”

Thank you. A balm for the soul. And that’s exactly why I do Erasmus. Not just to challenge and develop myself. But also to maybe give something of myself to others.

Happily, I drove back.