Collaborative institute - high quality nursing training school

With the motto "learning goes hand in hand with practice", right from the second semester of the first academic year, Nursing students of Dong Nai Medical College had the opportunity to get acquainted with the work of a real nurse at medical facilities in the province.

Nurses from the Artificial Kidney Department, Thong Nhat General Hospital instruct students from Dong Nai Medical College to perform some professional techniques. Photo: H.DUNG

Close cooperation in training between schools and hospitals brings many benefits to both sides, especially students.

Useful internship

Currently doing her second internship at the Artificial Kidney Department of Thong Nhat General Hospital, Ms. Hoang Vu Thuy Trang, a final year nursing student, said that the things she learned from the hospital's nurses were very useful.

Responding to the message of International Nursing Day 2023 of the World Nursing Federation, the Vietnam Nursing Association has taken the theme "We Nurses - Our Future" to attract the attention of national and world leaders about the mission and role of nursing in the current period.

“The department is always full of patients. The nurses in the department work non-stop. In addition to being assigned to measure blood pressure for patients, we are instructed by the nurses on how to connect the lines for blood filtration, priming fluids, monitoring patients and many other tasks. These are all difficult techniques because they require high accuracy. Therefore, every time the nurses in the department work, I try to observe to learn, and if I don't understand something, I ask for guidance" - Ms. Trang shared.

During this internship, Trang and her friends also had a 3-week internship at the Respiratory Department, Dong Nai Children's Hospital; 3 weeks at the Orthopedic Department, Dong Nai General Hospital.

Ms. Luong Thi Kim Cuc, Head Nurse of the Artificial Kidney Department at Thong Nhat General Hospital, said that the entire department currently has 39 nurses, 3 nurses short of the norm. Currently, the nursing work is somewhat overloaded.

According to Ms. Cuc, because it is a special department, nurses in the department must be proficient in their work and perform precise operations to ensure the health and safety of patients. For new nurses or nurses transferred from other departments who are not familiar with the job, they must be retrained from the beginning, which is very time-consuming and affects the progress of work in the department. "Therefore, we have proposed that Dong Nai Medical College let students do an internship at the Artificial Kidney Department to get acquainted with the work in the department. When they graduate, if they work in the department, they will not be surprised. After 2 months of probation, if the students meet the requirements, the department will make a proposal to sign a work contract" - Ms. Cuc said.

Wide open opportunities for nursing

Dr. Nguyen Hong Quang, Principal of Dong Nai Medical College, shared that according to the training program, the school's students will study 40-50% theory, the rest is practice at the hospital. Before going to practice, students will do pre-clinical training for 4-8 weeks at the school. Lecturers will guide related content such as proposing specific situations in the hospital for students to handle. In particular, students should pay attention to communication skills with patients, patients' families, and handling serious cases and terminal patients.

Nursing students at Dong Nai Medical College practice on a model at school. Photo: H.DUNG

Over the years, hospitals in the province, especially large hospitals, have always created the best conditions for students to do internships. Students who do internships at hospitals have received salaries. Many hospitals and clinics have also placed orders to support training costs for students on the condition that students commit to working at their units after graduation. Most nursing students have jobs right after graduation, and can do the job without needing retraining.

Not only do nursing students have many job options in the country, they also have many job opportunities abroad. Up to now, about 20 students from Dong Nai Medical College have participated in the labor market in Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany. They work mainly at elderly care centers in these countries with high salaries.

MSc. Huynh Tu Anh, Vice President of the Vietnam Nursing Association, President of the Provincial Nursing Association, emphasized that nurses and midwives currently account for 2/3 of the medical workforce in the province (the national rate is 50%). Through the Covid-19 pandemic, the important role of the nursing team has been further affirmed. Nurses have overcome the risks of the epidemic, devoted themselves to the front lines, coordinated and supported doctors in carrying out a series of activities such as: screening patients, organizing isolation, controlling infections, monitoring, caring for and being a spiritual support for Covid-19 patients.

However, according to Master Huynh Tu Anh, a current issue of concern is the shortage of nursing staff in hospitals. In addition, the policy of treatment and attraction of nursing staff is not high while the work pressure is high, leading to the situation of nurses quitting their jobs, leaving their jobs, and few people studying nursing.

Recently, a number of income support policies for nurses in the province and the whole country have been implemented. However, these policies are only implemented for a certain period of time. There is a great need for longer-term nursing support policies, from the training stage to when nurses work at medical facilities. Thereby, contributing to improving the quantity and quality of the nursing staff in the province, towards patient satisfaction.

Hanh Dung

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