31.1.2018 - Last day of work

Grabbed a hasty breakfast (the first breakfast in a long time) and went to the evaluation meeting. We signed all the paperwork talked a little and then we realized we hit a little snag. The Head nurse had kept the evaluation papers and hadn't given them to the person I was working with. Because of that, I only got the papers later in the evening. I was supposed to go to a few other museums in the afternoon but Valerie, the person who I was going with, became ill. So I decided to go for one last bicycle ride. The one thing I forgot was to check the weather forecast... I'm sure you can guess how that went. I had just passed the town of Ramskapelle when I noticed the dark clouds coming from the west. Following that, was the five kilometre ride back, in freezing cold rain and violent winds. When I got back I was soaked from head to toe. I didn't have a single piece of clothing that wasn't wet. The rest of the evening was spent warming up.

30.1.2018 - Ups and downs

On Tuesday I went back to work. I finished some paperwork, did the rounds with the nurse and helped here and there. Today was the first and only time somebody complained about the language barrier to the nurse...she was angry because it took me a while to understand what she wanted. I mean, I understand her point: She pays moderately fir the stay in Ter Duinen abd for the services there. She deserves the best possible level of care, by someone who understands her and speaks her native language. But there is more than one side to this: Because it was rush hour, I was asked by the nurse to help one patient change their clothes and go to the bathroom. I had a little trouble understanding what she was saying so it took a little longer. Finally the nurse came to check everything was ok, and the patient starts complaining about me angrily to the nurse, while I was right there next to them and could understand almost everything she was saying... It bummed me for a bit but these kinds of things happen. On a more positive note, I got a tidal wave of gratitude from a lady I stayed a bit overtime to help. I watched some nature documentary and went to sleep.

29.1.2018 - Touring WWI museums and shopping

I was ready by 10 o'clock. I went outside and waited for my coworker to pick me up. We visited the watergates in nieuwpoort, which were crucial to halting the German advance in WWI. We visited the monument of King Albert I, which I had previously only seen at night. We also went to see the Nieuwpoort church. I was amazed by the Architecture and all the works of art inside. After that we drove along the the canals which were once the front lines of the trenches in WWI. We went to visit the Yser Tower in Diksmuide. The view from the top of the tower was magnificent. Down the tower was a museum telling the history of WWI. On the way out I got to hear the Beautiful ringing of the tower's bells. We drove back to nieuwpoort and went to a local restaurant serving the best of belgian fries and beer. With the 25€ voucher I had gotten from the new year's party, I went to buy some souvenirs from the store. We drove back to Ter Duinen, I got to my room and slept for the rest of the day.

19.1.2018 - Patien Room of the Future

I woke up early, Mrs. Remans picked me up. We drove for an hour to poperinge, a town south of Nieuwpoort. We met up with the rest of the students. They ranged form first to third year students, although they were all over 18, as are all nursing students in belgium. It was nice and cool outside, or so I thought, untill I realized everyone was staring at me for not wearing a coat. We went inside PROF. It’s an international think tank developing methonds and tools for future care. They design concept rooms with breakthrough technologies to accomodate elderly people in the future, make desings for hospital rooms, nursing homes and more, with the goal of confirming with the future needs and standards of care. We had an hour’s lecture about the subject, which raised some thoughts. They spoke about the eight keywords that need to be fufilled in all aspects of future care: Awareness, Comfort, Safety, Privacy, Loneliness, Non-stigmatizing, Intergenerationality and flexibility. These keywords resonated with me, and I personally think that they can be incorporated in everyday work, finding solutions to problems in patients’ and clients’ everyday lives. The tour that followed was very well planned and it demonstrated the different concepts they have developed. I very much enjoyed the visit and would have stayed longer to ask some questions but my ride was leaving, and so, I had to settle for what I had already learned.


For more information about the PROF project see http://www.prof-projects.com/

14-16.1.2018 – Night shifts

I had two days off to switch my sleeping schedule. I was almost ready for the night shifts. I woke up late in the afternoon, took a shower, ate, took some pictures and finally went to work. The only missing ingredient now was caffeine. It is a strange feeling walking into the office and seeing everyone else leaving. I settled down onto an office chair and started sipping my first cup of the night. The early evening was busy. I helped people calling for help getting into bed and prepared a tray of medication for the next day. The night went by quietly, we took turns answering calls. At six o’clock I went with the nurse to take blood samples. There were three patients with blood tests scheduled. The first one had very bad circulation in the extremities and even the nurse had trouble finding a vein. He settled for taking a sample from the wrist, right above the thumb. I managed to take samples from the other two patients without any problems, which surprised me since I had tried it only once before – at school. I got some feedback about the technique, which I had for some reason completely forgotten, and corrected myself on the next try. The next night was quite similar. I got to do two more blood tests. Palpating with a bandage on my finger was a little tedious, but I managed well. I had one and a half days off after the two night shifts, which I spent mostly sleeping and then on Wednesday I headed to an evening shift.

 

3.1.2018 - The first day at work

I woke up around 8 o'clock, prepared some breakfast and got ready to leave. It was a short walk, only about 20 minutes or so, despite having some difficulty finding the place. Luckily I had a map on my phone.

I got to the workplace shortly before ten. I entered the lobby and waited. After a while the manager, Jorgan, came and introduced himself. We talked a little bit and he introduced me to the head nurse Valerie. She showed me around the premises, gave me my work clothes and went over some details. I got dressed in my new uniform and headed to her office. I got my new work schedule, met some of the coworkers and I was ready to start working.

The first day what's more of an introductory day and so, I followed some of the nurses and observed their work. The work day went by quite fast. After my shift ended I went to eat with the rest of the workers and I got some food to take with me to the hotel. I also got a bicycle I could use for the duration of my stay. In the evening I went out for a stroll and took some pictures.

2.1.2018 - Finally arriving

I woke up, took a shower and went down for breakfast. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Got my stuff and checked out. I was pointed in the direction of the train station. And so, the second stage of my journey to Nieuwpoort started. When I got to the station I discovered that the only ticket machine wasn't working. Eventually, after explaining the problem to the conductor, I was able to buy a ticket from the train.

Now I was set... I was on the right train, I knew where I needed to change trains and what train to take. Though it was a bit difficult to navigate when the two languages displayed were Dutch and French. I made it to the second train and everything seemed ok. That's untill I realised that I needed to send a message to Johan so he could come and pick me up (I was going to a station 45 km away from Nieuwpoort). Now remember, I couldn't buy the prepaid card on the day before... I tried roaming, SMS, some random wifi and more but nothing worked. That's when I started asking people walking by in the train to borrow their phone. On the fourth try I was lucky, since the previous ones either didn't have a phone or were tourists... The woman who lent me their phone, as I later heard from Johan, was Dutch, so the call must have cost them quite a lot...

I got to the final station and followed the instructions Johan gave me. Managed to message him after connecting to the wifi of some tour bus.

After a while he came and picked me up. We drove to Nieuwpoort and laughed for half the trip at my misfortune. We went to quickly look at my workplace, and came to the Floreal hotel where I would be staying for a week. The check-in was only at four o'clock, so we sat down in the restaurant and went over some information regarding the work.

After coffee, I went to buy a prepaid card. I went to the beach to take some photos... Apparently swimming in the ocean is somehow crazy.. I mean it was almost 7°C, that is very nice and warm... But no.. the Belgians won't allow it.

I went to eat some pancakes and waited to get the key. The rest of the evening I unpacked and rested.

1.1.2018 - The first day of the trip

The day started with packing. Well I should say the night, since I started packing around 1:00am... I ate a hasty breakfast, showered and left for the airport.

You know how they say that you should come to the airport at least two hours before departure? Well, I did... And I had to wait one hour and fifty minutes at the gate, because I got through the baggage drop and security in less than ten minutes... That's finnish efficiency for you. And so, I did what any normal person would do, and spent the next hour in a bar, because I couldn't find a Starbucks.

The flight was slightly delayed, and took a bit longer because of strong headwinds. It was a smaller airplane... Small enough that I couldn't stand straight in the lavatory. The only thing we got for free was a glass of blueberry juice, which would have been nicer had it not only been half full. I spent the flight like I do most other times... I listened to music, wrote for a little while and slept for the majority of the flight, paying back a portion of my ever growing sleep debt..

After the plane landed and I got my suitcase, I followed the instructions I got, and went to the bus terminal to grab a shuttle to the hotel. The only thing I remembered (I was very tired) was that my hotel is the NH Brussels airport hotel. I had just missed the first one, so I had to wait twenty minutes for the next one. And so, I got on the shuttle to NovHotel Brussels airport. I got to the reception, told them I had a reservation and showed them my booking confirmation. At that point I was told I was in the wrong hotel... NovHotel, NH... That's where the two letters come from, right? And then I saw the sign... It said Novotel... No H in sight... Apparently I can't read...

And so, I had to take the shuttle back to the airport (at least it was free) and I looked for the correct shuttle stop, the driver showed me where it was. I found it, looked at the schedule and waited for it to come. After a while I started wondering why it didn't show up. I went to check the time tables again and that's when I saw the red note st the side of the info panel: "Due to the holiday season the shuttle service to the NH brussels airport hotel is not in use. Please call the hotel at (followed by a long Belgian phone number) and we will arrange transport for you"... I hadn't bought a Belgian prepaid SIM yet, so I tried calling with my finnish number, to no avail... I went back to the shuttle driver and tried to ask for help. He only spoke french. Luckily, a driver for another company was there and he spoke english. I explained the situation to him and asked if he could call the hotel to ask what to do. I was instructed to go back to the airport, and wait near the info desk for a taxi driver holding my name. While waiting there, I walked around and found the only store in the whole airport that sells prepaid SIM cards... It had closed fifteen minutes earlier.

I had waited for about twenty five minutes when I overheard an american couple asking a cab driver if he was waiting for someone going to the NH hotel...I had asked him the same question a bit earlier, to which he replied no, but that I should wait here... I kept waiting. After a while a conversation sparked between us, based in our common misfortune. I had been there for almost forty minutes waiting for the driver to show up... We decided to just share a cab to the hotel. I finally got to the hotel, two and a half hours after I got out of the terminal... At least the hotel paid back the cab ride. Got to my room, settled in and went to eat. Got back, finished writing this entry and calling it a day. And oh boy, what a day it has been.