The trip to Taiwan for student exchange program had been an amazing experience. First stop was Tainan city which is 4 hours by bus from Taipei (the capital city of Taiwan) and 1 hour by High Speed Train. Even though we arrived in Tainan on Monday at 4 a.m. (We couldn’t catch the High Speed Train due to delay of my plane), I didn’t feel tired at all. I couldn’t wait to visit National Cheng Kung University.
First, We visited the Skill Center of NCKU at 9 p.m.. The Skill Center was very sophisticated. There were three kind of class in the skill Center. The first kind of class was if the student had a skills lab’s class, firstly they had to be briefed in the class about what would they learn that day. After that, they went to skills lab’s room which was connected with the room used for briefing. The skills lab’s room was very huge. It has a lot of mannequins, and also there were several comprehensive equipments next to the every mannequin such as computer, suction, etc. The second kind of class was a class used for examination/OSCE. It had one-sided mirror window like in the interrogation room at the police station so if the professor/examiner wanted to evaluate the student from outside of class, the professor/examiner could do that and it would help relaxing the student. Also, every class had cameras for judging the student objectively. The third kind of class was a class used for preparing the internship students before they entered hospital. This class had a life mannequin (I forget the name of mannequin) as if a real patient. The status of mannequin (such as breathing, blood pressure, pulse, etc) could be controlled by a computer located next to the class. This class also had cameras.
Next schedule was visiting the National Cheng Kung University Hospital. We visited cancer ward and elderly ward. The first thing I noticed at the elderly ward was the old-fashioned atmosphere. This kind of atmosphere would help the elderly recalling their old memories. The ward had lots of thing coming from an old time, such as toys, etc. Then, in every in front of ward, there was a fruit adhering to the wall, and it had different color of curtain in each ward so it would help the elderly patient remembering in which ward they stayed. Also, along with the wall, there were grab bars, and the unique thing was there were folding chairs in the middle of grab bars so when the elderly patients wanted to rest, they could open the chair, and after resting, they could folding it back and continued their walk. While we were there, we heard the sound of violin playing from the end of the hall of the elderly wards. It was the sound from a volunteered-violinist man playing his violin to entertain a one old lady. The lady looked very happy at that time. We also had the opportunity to see several equipments used in that ward such as a wheel chair that could make us also stand up. The visitation to the NCKU Hospital ended there. We went back to NCKU by using connecting bridge which connected between the NCKU and the NCKU Hospital. It was almost the same thing with connecting bridge between Radioputro and Sardjito, but the size was triple of ours. At 1.30 P.M. we joined post-graduate class which was Evidence-Based Health Care class.
On Wednesday at 10.00 A.M., we participated in post-graduate class again which was about Nursing Education by Ching-Huey Chen, RN, PhD. We learned about education for nurses in Taiwan, and I learned that every professor in NCKU had double place to work, which were in the university and the hospital so every professor could bridge the gap between theory in text books and the reality in hospital so the students would be more ready facing patient in the reality case. I liked professor Ching-Huey Chen because she had an expressive way to deliver her teaching.
After the Nursing Education Class, We went to Jianan Mental Health Hospital. We were welcomed by the patients who danced for us. Next, we were welcomed by the Director of the hospital with the staffs. They were very friendly and easy-going.
Almost in every walls of the hospital had doodles and drawings drawn by the patients with the staffs. I had to admit they were such a breathtaking doodles and drawings considering they were drawn by the patients in there. Then, we went to the elderly ward. Again, we were welcomed by dancing. I noticed there were no smells in the air in that ward, and everybody seemed very happy.
We also had the opportunity to see how they stored the medicines and equipments used in the Jianan Mental Health Hospital such as ECT equipment. The unique thing from Jianan Mental Health Hospital was there was a special room for nurses to rest if they got stressed because of the work so they could nap in this relaxing room. Overall, Jianan Mental Health Hospital was not like a mental health hospital at all because the environment of the hospital made the patients into a human being besides the stigma they had from society.
Overall, this journey had been amazing, educating, and lovely. I can’t wait to go back to Taiwan if I have the chance.
REPORTED BY FIFI DWI ANDIKA (12/335578/KU/15291)