For the second-straight year, a group of four nursing students from China spent about a month at UNMC. The students from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTUSM) arrived in Omaha on April 13 and left on May 12.
While on campus, the students attended numerous lectures, seminars and courses including UNMC’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree exchange in client centered psychiatric mental health nursing and community health nursing.
The visit was part of a partnership between UNMC and SJTUSM that was spearheaded by Sheila Ryan, Ph.D., UNMC College of Nursing professor; Charlotte Peck Lienemann & Alumni Distinguished Chair and director of international nursing education programs.
“It was a pleasure to continue our successful student exchange opportunities with the Chinese students,” Dr. Ryan said. “They really have to deal with a lot when they come here, from language barriers and strange food to a completely different health care system. It can be overwhelming and yet being around them was such a joy.”
As part of the partnership with SJTUSM, UNMC will send four nursing students to China this fall. Four UNMC nursing students spent time in China last fall.
The Chinese students who visited UNMC this year were Lu Chen, Yadan Chen, Chao Zhang and Chi Zhang.
Chao Zhang, who went by the name “Mickey” while at UNMC, said she was impressed by how the academic environment in the United States manages to be relaxed while not losing touch with the seriousness of the subject matter.
“Students could eat and drink during class and ask questions if they wanted and sometimes teachers even brought food and drinks themselves,” Zhang said. “But that did not mean there was no discipline in class. No students made noise when teachers were giving lectures or their classmates were giving presentations. I was really interested how they found the balance between easiness and seriousness and I really envied that they could have both of them.”
She also was struck by the compassion she witnessed in the U.S. health care system.
“I found that not only the facilities were much more advanced and computer-based than China, but services were more humanity-based,” Zhang said. “For example, families were allowed to visit patients 24-hours-a-day and there were facilities specially designed for the families. If a patient died, there were sets of things designed for comforting families, like blankets, cassettes and other items.”
The students also enjoyed interacting with Americans in non-academic environments and also enjoyed a bit of Nebraska culture.
“One of my greatest experiences was on Dr. Ryan’s farm,” Zhang said. “We spent the whole afternoon there, playing on the trampoline with her little boys, walking barefoot in the mud, picking asparagus, having authentic American food and playing softball. It was so much fun.”