The first couple of days have been filled with a lot of information.
Which has been really good....but still I'm strugling to see the hole picture.
As as first time on MINE for Denmark many things where new.
The strategy behind MINE wasn't that cleare, but by networking with the other Mentors and students it's easyer to see the picture now.
Reflection on the Program:
One of the things that struck me when I saw the program was that we where starting so late..... I'm used to being up and in action at 7:00 at work. That is when I'm most productiv. But I do think it's a great idea to be a little later, because we then have the time in the evnings to interact with boot, students, mentors and academics.
The danes are very structured when we do meetings and causes for students, nurses or any other people. Time is always keept, witch I feel is important so that the ones who are giving a lecture or presentation do have the time that they have prepared for.
I think time should be used properly when we are so many people that have travled to come together....but I do regotnice that there can be things that shifts the program....and makes things difficult.
I have been creating a lot of nephrology conferences in my time, and getting enough breaks in have always been very difficult, because we wanted to do so much when you finaly have people together. I'm really impressed of all the breaks we have, because the discusions and interations are really very important.
The country presentations where really good, and I would have liked more time for discussions and debat. I think that even if we are many people it can be good to hear the questions from others...and inspirer even the shy ones to ask a question.
I have found the information on the way they structure there nursing programes really good. It gets you thinking that nursing education can be done in many ways, not just in the one way you know. It gives you ideas to how we can improve our own ways....it was very inspiring. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the presentations on Friday.
But one of the things I was notisting is that it was only the academic that did the presentations. I do feel that the hole groupe(academic, mentors, students) from each country should contribute to this. Every part of the group have a unike view on nursing from where they are.
The European Marked:
The marked was a really great idea and got people talking.
I was thinking that it could be a great thing to have the marked the first day, it would make a good way of interacting... And food and drinks bond people.
More will follow tomorrow.........
Hi Maria
SvarSletSome interesting reflections on your first week and I particularly like your thoughts around time management. It is always interesting to me the different approaches to time management among the countries, I know that in Finland they usually start the day very early in the morning, as you say they do in Denmark, I presume then you would usually finish your day earlier ?
In the UK we are normally quite strict about the times meetings/conferences start, and university teaching would usually start at 9:00am and we now teach into the evenings with some classes going on until 9pm. I have also known lectures that close the doors to classrooms and wont let students who are late into the classroom.
It is an interesting thought as many students in the UK have to work part time jobs or look after children so you have to try to make a balance between being flexible and making students realise the importance of good time management.
I think with so many countries taking part in MINE and the unexpected issues that can arise we try to have a flexible approach to the timetable and work around these things, and this is something you have picked up on in your blog post.
It is an interesting observation as time and different countries approaches to it is certainly related to cultural values and would be important for any student going on exchange or working in another country to think about and understand.