Ten St Albans student nurses have headed to Vietnam for work experience. 87565 Picture: CONTRIBUTED
By LAURA WAKELY
KELLIE McWilliam has always been passionate about nursing.
Now, the Victoria University student is heading to Vietnam to share those skills with the local community.
Kellie is one of 10 St Albans campus students who will volunteer in the National Paediatric Hospital in Hanoi before heading to an orphanage for the child victims of Agent Orange and spending time at a non-government organisation that gives trafficked children an education.
Co-ordinator and study tour leader Dr Sue Kristy said the tour was no holiday, with students pushed physically, academically and emotionally.
But Dr Kristy said the tasks would only improve the ability of the young nurses to work in the challenging world of medicine.
She said it would also give those students who would end up working in the West an introduction to Vietnamese culture, a prominent part of the western suburbs.
“I’ve always been interested in the medical side of things and the opportunity to help other people,” Kellie said.
“I’m confident in the skills I’ve learnt during the course… to put those skills into practice in a completely different environment.”
She said the experience was an amazing opportunity to learn.
“We’re working with a lot of things we don’t see here every day,” Kellie said.
“A lot of kids will be affected by Agent Orange.
“There’s things like hepatitis, HIV, that are big over there, even in children, because of the health care system and availability challenges.”
One of the things the students are taking with them is a big supply of gloves and alcohol swabs for the hospitals they visit – who are often short of supplies.
“It’s something we take for granted in our health care system,” she said.
“We often wish things could be better, but they could also be a lot worse.”
