Past few months have shown what life in Belgium can be at its best; a country full of old and beautiful cities, friendly people twisted with great sense of humor and of course amazing tradition dishes. However, exchange period here has offered a deeper overview of a local culture since I’ve been working in two different hospitals as a nurse student. This experience has given a huge amount of learning moments, great memories and also required time for self-reflection.
The city where I’ve been staying is called Brugge. The city is located in West Flanders, near the coast of the North Sea. It’s described as a “Venice of North Europe” and it’s totally true; the city is surrounded by canals and rivers. In the middle of the city you can’t experience quit moments as the mass of people and belfries are making a noisy and lively atmosphere all the time. My purpose of staying here is to complete two internships in local hospitals. First five weeks I’ve been in day-surgical ward and other five weeks will be in psychiatric ward. As already mentioned, these two departments are totally different and offer different aspects of nursing work. It has been nice to notice, how open minded and welcoming local people have been and also their attitude of willingness to learn also some things from Finnish’ culture.
Working in hospitals is quite similar compered to working habits in Finland. Of course, small differences can be founded, for example aseptic habits are less valued in Belgium’s hospitals. In other hand, students are achieving more freedom to do things in ward by their own and they’re expected to do so. In my opinion, theoretically knowledge of illnesses and human anatomy for example are more profound here than in Finland. In summary of these points, it’s quite difficult to say which culture or working habits are better or worse than others.
At the end, a few words about geography. As Belgium is located in the heart of Europe, distances to other cities or even other countries are small. It has been nice to notice how easy it is to travel, for example to Rotterdam or Amsterdam by train. Also Paris in France or Luxemburg are popular destinations to travel from here. Tickets for public transport are also price friendly for students. In summary of this points and the whole period here, it’s easy to have fun and enjoy life in Belgium.
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