Life in Italy

Ciao tutti!

So I haven't wrote in a long time, because I've been very occupied with my practice and on the weekends I want to do stuff that doesn't include sitting behind the computer. I'm going to tell you about my practice that is ending tomorrow.

As I said earlier I'm practicing in the cardiology intensive care department(UTIC as Italians call it). The collective in that department is amazing. All the nurses are very young, most of them are male, which at first was very unusual for me. The doctors were very happy when I first arrived, because they couldn't wait to start practicing English over a long time. By the way, all the doctors speak almost perfect English and they are always asking me to go with them, and then they are explaining different procedures to me etc etc.

I have had 3 different tutors in this department, who all speak English. Lucky for me they weren't the typical Italians who say something like "if you are in Italy, you HAVE TO speak Italian" because it isn't very easy to find English speaking people here. But in the hospital it is easier. Also I understand Italian quite well at this point, so even if they give me orders in Italian I still understand. I absolutely adore my tutors, they have been so super sweet and nice to me, I will definitely miss them!

(I've also had 4 patients over 70 years old, who spoke English to me, now that's something amazing!)

Nurses in that department work in 3 shifts-from 7-14, 14-21 and 21-7. The work is very intense, so in one shift there are at least 4 nurses working, and more than 10 patients. They nurses don't have any breaks here, they don't eat anything while they are working. Washing of the patients and changing of the diapers is done by the nurses. They do everything here! And since there are a lot of old people here in Italy, there are a lot of patients over 90 years old, so it's quite hard to work with them.

The hospital is huge!I have to take a photo one day...The first week I got lost every single morning before arriving to my department. All the workers in the hospital are wearing specific uniforms. For example UTIC department nurses are all wearing blue shirt and white trousers, all students must wear blue blouse and blue trousers, that were given to us from the hospital. I also have my own locker, there is a big changing room for students that is filled with lockers, very convenient.

The Italian nursing school has very strict rules about the practice. It's not good if we do over 8h a day, but I had to because otherwise I wouldn't complete my hours that are needed for my school in Estonia. The shief nurse comes to the department every day to check if we are dressed right and not wearing a T-shirt under our uniform that isn't white; that we are not sitting; that we are not eating or looking at our mobile phone etc. etc.

So this is a brief overview about my hospital life. Now I have to go because I'm working in the afternoon shift. When there will be a bad weather day I will write again about my life outside the hospital and also add some pictures. But until then...I wish you all the best and stay safe!

Maarja, from Rimini, Italy