I would encourage every nursing student to apply for this scholarship

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have undertaken clinical placement in Australia as part of an exchange programme between Trinity and the University of Sydney. It was an amazing experience to be able to see firsthand how the healthcare system works in Australia, how nurses are trained there and of course to see the whole other side of the world.

Aoibhin and I set off on the 11^th January, on our adventure down under. After a few days of jet lag, we had days of orientation both in the University of Sydney and in the Royal North Shore public hospital, where we would be going for our placement.  In the hospital, we did placement on a ward that care for cardiology and CCU patients. We were supported by a clinical placement facilitator and the nurse educator on the ward. The staff nurses seemed much less under pressure and therefore there was more time for preceptors to let students practice medication rounds, patient notes, ECGs, removing catheters, wound dressings and other new skills within our scope of practice.

It was also a great learning opportunity to observe many emergency situations and the response on the ward as well as by the rapid response team. Each week, with our clinical facilitator, we met with other Australian students who were on placement and each student discussed a particular patient they had cared for during the week. We got to visit other wards such as ICU, burns unit, oncology, mental health and the emergency department (surprisingly there were no patients on trolleys!). Our shifts were 07:00 to 15:30 each day. In the afternoons and at the weekend there was so much to see and do in Sydney between beaches, parks, the Opera House, the Zoo, shopping… we could have stayed longer!

For me the highlights were our weekend in Melbourne and snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns. We had a few weeks after placement to travel before flying back to Ireland. After exploring some of Australia, I ended up in the Philippines for a couple of weeks with a voluntary organisation, and there I got to see another side of healthcare.

I would encourage every nursing student to apply for this scholarship. Being a student nurse can be tough and it’s nice to focus on the positive experiences and opportunities it can offer us. There is a lot to learn from how things are done in other countries and hopefully in the future that will help us to advocate for changes here in Ireland.

I could not encourage student nurses enough to apply to this scholarship as I can guarantee they will learn so much and have the time of their life.

Myself and Joy were on a cardiac ward in the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. We worked Monday to Friday from 7-15:30. The nurses on our ward were very kind and welcoming and involved us in everything they were doing. I felt really included and involved in what the nurses were doing, and they were more than happy to explain and go through everything with me. I found it very interesting and insightful seeing how the healthcare system works in Australia and how it differs from Ireland. Myself and Joy had an orientation day in the University of Sydney and in the Royal North Shore Hospital which made us feel really welcome!

Myself and Joy were learning and experiencing so much everyday on the cardiac ward. It was extremely interesting; we would take turns going into CCU. We experienced many emergency situations and we learned so much from them! Our preceptor Karina would visit us twice a day to ensure we were getting on okay, and we were learning. Every Friday myself and Joy would join with the University of Sydney students and have a debrief of how our week was and we would share what we have learned. In doing this, all the students in the room listening would learn too. We were also shown around the hospital and visited the burns unit, the mental health building, ICU and the emergency department.

After placement I had roughly 3 weeks to travel. In this time, I flew to Byron Bay and travelled up the east coast of Australia on the greyhound bus. I stopped off at Noosa, rainbow beach and went to Fraser Island and camped there, Airlie beach which was beautiful and went on a boat to see the beautiful Whitsundays and ended my trip in Cairns and saw the Daintree rainforest! Myself and Joy took a trip to Melbourne one of the weekends while in Sydney and had the most fun!

I would recommend this summer exchange programme for anyone with a strong interest in community nursing and to those who wish to develop people skills that can be used outside the hospital setting

I was thrilled to travel to the University of Hong Kong to participate in the School of Nursing & Midwifery’s international summer exchange program 2024. 

The programme explored the WHO’s sustainable development goal 3: Promoting Health and Wellbeing in the Community. Through windshield surveys, community assessment, analysis and working with different people I have expanded my community outreach, collaborative problem-solving, teamwork, communication, and health & wellness skills. 

It was an amazing opportunity to share information about the Irish healthcare system and to learn about healthcare systems and cultures, not just in Hong Kong but also in East Asia and some other parts of the world.

I would recommend anyone to step out of their comfort zone and give it a try; you won’t regret it. 

I am a third-year midwifery student. I had the honour of been chosen to attend the summer exchange programme in Hong Kong University. I enjoyed every minute of my experience in Hong Kong. I felt so welcome from start to finish by the staff and students. We got to visit a private hospital, a nursing home and a local community centre where we did workshops with local children. I learned about different health care systems from fellow students from all over Asia, as well as Australia and Spain. I made great friends and loved experiencing Hong Kong culture.

This summer 17 students from the School of Nursing & Midwifery travelled to Uganda to undertake placements facilitated by Nurture Africa, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that runs a summer volunteer placement programme for health sciences, allied health sciences and education students. Read more about the students' experience and the training and research they undertook.