Attending Class

Monday marked the beginning of my work life in Uganda. I met Faith, Grace, and Elizabeth, the three full time Ugandan nursing instructors, on Monday morning to discuss my role this first semester. Mostly I will be working with Faith and Grace who both teach in their 'Direct Entry' program (which is the equivalent to the Bachelor's of Science in Nursing [BSN] program in the states).

This week I will shadow Faith as she teaches Pharmacology, Dimensional Analysis, Research, and Informatics/Technology. Already I have watched Faith teach a couple classes, and I have to say she is a very good instructor! I was so impressed at how she interacted and explained things to the students. Everything she taught she paired with a relevant example or explanation. Faith took her time explaining, stopping to ask if students understood the direction she was taking them. It was just wonderful to be able to learn from a seasoned instructor.

Attending classes, though, also made me realize the lack of resources available to students. In Faith's Dimensional Analysis course she combines two class groups, so she has about 60 students all together. Unlike in the US, students do not always have the access or ability to buy the books needed for class. Often there will be nursing textbooks available for checkout or review in the library. For these 60 some Dimensional Analysis students, however, only 6 textbooks are available to them. Which means that all their information about the class needs to come from the lecture. Then, to do the course work found in the book, they have to get together in groups and checkout the textbooks in the library. Since Dimensional Analysis deals with calculating correctly the IV medication drip rate and the amount of other medication patients are getting, this is rather an important class. Even more so because there are not usually IV pumps here to help calculate the correct rate. This situation just makes me appreciate how much of a privilege it is to be able to buy and own a textbook! You just do not think about how wonderful owning even one book can be. It also makes me appreciate Karen and her resources. Since her husband is coming tomorrow, they were able to get a few more books into his checked bags to help with this shortage. Though it won't fully meet their need, it will certainly help.

I will continue to attend classes with Faith this week, then next week go to Grace's classes. Grace teaches clinical as well, so I am sure I will have more to reflect on after that clinical shadowing experience.