Issue 2 June 2016

Department of Nursing & Midwifery

University of Limerick

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the second edition of

the International Education

Newsletter (IEN), which is

produced annually by the

Department of Nursing and

Midwifery, University of Limerick.

The aim of this newsletter is to

provide highlights of our

international students’ journeys,

success stories, events and

announcements. It is written for the

students, with the students and

about the students. It will also

provide general information and

updates regarding international

education and other

internationalisation initiatives within

the Department of Nursing and

Midwifery, to current and

prospective students, staff and

faculty members. We hope you

enjoy reading the various student

contributions and we look forward

to working with you on your

contributions in the future.

The Department of Nursing and

Midwifery acknowledges that

internationalisation and intercultural

learning enhances the quality of

learning, teaching and research

within the Department and

contributes significantly to the

overall student learning

experience. In particular the value

of providing opportunities for

students from diverse cultural and

ethnic backgrounds to learn with,

from and about one another, is

seen as an important component

for developing cultural awareness

and sensitivity. The nursing

classroom is a microcosm of the

clinical environment, where

professionals from diverse cultures

bring with them a wealth of

different experiences and skills.

A lot has happened regarding

international education and

internationalisation initiatives within

the Department of Nursing and

Midwifery, since the publication of

our last newsletter. In particular,

the following news items which will

feature in this edition, may be of

interest to you: graduation of our

second cohort of international

students of their MSc Nursing

Studies award, the development of

a new 3 week summer school and

details of a joint publication with a

past student from Brazil, on the

Science without Borders

programme.

Contributions for the next IEN

newsletter (June 2017) are

currently being considered. If you

have a story to tell, an

announcement or news update,

please email your ideas and

contributions to

kathleen.markey@ul.ie by 1st

December 2016. We look forward

to receiving your ideas and working

with you on your stories and

contributions.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Conferring Ceremony .................... 2

Welcome Message ......................... 2

Summer School ............................ 3

Student contributions.................... 4

Student contributions.................... 5

How to contribute ......................... 6

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST

Graduation Ceremony Jan 2015

Summer School

Department of Nursing and Mid-

wifery at NAFSA conference in 2015

Student Contributions

Contact us

International Education Newsletter (IEN)

The conferring ceremony 2016 was a very exciting and proud day for the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, the graduating students and

their family and friends. Congratulations and well done.

Well done and a huge congratulations to our second cohort of International students

who all successfully graduated with an MSc Nursing Studies award on the 19th

January 2016. The conferring ceremony was held in the Foundation building,

University of Limerick, followed by a celebratory reception hosted by the

Department of Nursing and Midwifery in the University’s Pavilion. This was a very

exciting and proud day for the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, the graduating

students and their family and friends.

Many thanks to Tara O’ Brien from O’ Brien Associates (http://www.obeduc.com/

Programmes), faculty and staff from the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, our

new 2015 cohort of students , our graduating students and their family and friends,

for coming to mark this very memorable day. Congratulations and well done.

GRADUATION CELEBRATORY RECEPTION

The Department of Nursing and Midwifery hosted a celebratory reception in the

University’s Pavilion, following graduation for the 11 graduating international

students, their family and friends. A wonderful evening was had by all, where the

students, their family and friends, O’Brien Associates and University of Limerick

faculty and staff all celebrated the students successful achievements.

At the celebratory reception Dr Pauline O Reilly, Head of Department of Nursing and

Midwifery, Kathleen Markey, Course Director for International Studies and Tara O’

Brien, of O’ Brien Associates also congratulated the graduates and joined in the

celebrations.

CONFERRING CEREMONY 2016 WELCOME MESSAGE:

The Department of Nursing

a n d M i d w i f e r y p r i d e

themselves in of fer ing

outstanding student support

and excellent learning and

teaching resources. The

academic, social, personal and

cultural benefits of studying in

another country are enormous.

While living away from home

and studying in another

country can be challenging, it

can also offer you a unique

opportunity to meet new

friends and develop new ways

of learning and thinking.

All those involved in the

delivery of the programmes

you are studying on, are

extremely committed to them.

We look forward to working

with you to generate a

supportive and beneficial

learning environment.

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A three week summer school entitled Developing self as a healthcare practitioner, is a 6 credit module developed in consultation with the International Education Division (IED) and hosted by the Department of Nursing and Midwifery. This summer school ran for the first time in June 2016. It interweaves a Celtic spiritual dimension to healthcare, exploring the psychosocial, cultural and spiritual elements in developing personal and professional practice. 4 Nursing and 1 Occupational Therapy student from five different Universities in the US registered on this summer school. Developing emotional intelligence offers a foundation towards transforming self and caring practice. The sessions were broadly structured around spirituality, self-care and mindfulness, complementary therapies, beliefs and values in developing and transforming self and practice. A site visit to an older person residential setting was organised and provided an opportunity for

students to engage with residents and practitioners. Learning strategies were underpinned by guided reflection aiming to foster a creative, engaged, connected learning environment. Students were encouraged to keep a reflective diary and submitted a portfolio reflecting on their learning journey. This summer school forms part of a suite of international summer schools coordinated by the International Education Division (IED). Students reside on campus and share social, cultural and field trip activities with students on other summer school programmes coordinated by IED. We thank the students of 2016 intake for their contributions and sharing their journey with us. We look forward to welcoming out 2017 intake onto this summer school in June 2017.

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SUMMER

SCHOOL

DEVELOPING

SELF AS A

HEALTHCARE

PRACTITIONER

The BSc nursing

studies

programme ran

for the first time

in 2015

Twelve students

commenced this one

year Programme in

September 2015. Students valued the personal and professional

learning opportunities this programme afforded to them.

A REFLECTIVE ACCOUNT BY: BOWAN GUO

My personal reflections—what is it like for a Chinese student to study at the University of Limerick

I am Bowen Guo, an MSc Nursing Studies student from Beijing. I initially felt alone and I felt it was hard to understand my colleagues because of their different accents when speaking English. Studying in a fresh culture and different beliefs helped me to adapt and develop. Although I sometimes felt homesick and helpless, I found talking to my colleagues helped as they had similar feelings. We hugged and encouraged each other, then I felt released from my feelings and engaged actively to study with them. Now, we have established a good friendship and we often share our feelings and study together. I am very proud of myself to have overcome this problem within such a short time. It was the best decision I have ever made to study here.

I would like to share some of my studying experiences and share with you what helped me succeed. The most significant tip is reading in advance before the lecture. Usually, I prefer to print out the reading materials from MOODLE and highlight the emphasis that is really helpful to discuss and exchange my thoughts in the class. I found writing assignments in English challenging. Initially, there were many mistakes, however, after several drafts and modifications you will make significant progress. Be patient with this process. It will come. Some international students feel shy to speak and communicate with each other, in my experience of working with a Finland and Estonia girl to prepare an oral presentation, the most effective way I learned from this is to express your thoughts and ideas when you study with a student from a different culture. It is an amazing learning experience.

I hope the sharing of my experiences are helpful for you. All lecturers and sessions here are perfect,, they give you hope and encouragement. You can get everything you want at the University of Limerick, I hope you have a good journey here and enjoy it as much as I have.

LEARNING TO REFERENCE USING CITE IT RIGHT BY:

KUNCHOK DOLMA

Referencing is one of the most essential learning skills required to develop early on in your programme of studies. It is essential to acknowledge your work and the work of others, ensuring they are referenced appropriately. Every reference must have adequate information to enable the assessor to find the source. This is one of the most challenging aspects of academic writing that I personally experienced. However, we were introduced very early on to the University of Limericks reference guide—cite it right. It is a thin, blue book which costs only 4 Euros with only 50 pages but very informative. It is based on the Harvard referencing style. It provides rules for in-text citing, when and how to quote, and rules for referencing for journals, books, magazine, web links, newspaper and lecture notes to name a few. I personally feel it is indispensable to have it at masters’ level because good referencing is essential to support and prove your work is valid and that you can demonstrate breath and depth of reading around your topic. I am reading it like a “Bible” and I carry it with me wherever I go. I am really thankful to our lecturers for introducing this beautiful guide to us and I recommend every student to buy it and use it continuously.

4

“Here we are pictured below during our dedicated writing

space time, which has been really beneficial.”

STUDENT CONTRIBUTIONS

SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS: Congratulations to the BSc and MSc Nursing studies students on receiving their scholarship award. Below is

a photo of the scholarship awards ceremony with Professor Alison Perry (Dean of Faculty of Education and

Health Sciences, UL)

CONGRADULATIONS AND WELL DONE TO ANNA KARINA

MARTINS DE OLIVEIRA, A BRAZILIAN STUDY ABROAD

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT AND HER LECTURER DYMPNA

TUOHY FOR THEIR RECENT JOINT PUBLICATION

Martins de Oliveira, A. and Tuohy, D. (2015). “Communication and Nursing: A Study Abroad Student’s Reflections”, British Journal

of Nursing, 24(21), 1080-1084.

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Photograph of students on the

BSc Nursing Studies and MSc

Nursing Studies participating in

the St. Patricks Day parade at

Limerick on 17th March with the

University of Limericks’ English

Language Centre.

JOINING IN THE CELEBRATIONS OF ST PATRICK’S DAY:

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE AND SUBSCRIBE

TO IEN:

Contribute to the next IEN newsletter due to be com-

pleted in June 2017, by submitting issues of interest,

announcements, events, forums, societies or success

stories, however long or short, to

kathleen.markey@ul.ie before 1st December 2016.

The newsletter will be circulated via email. To sub-

scribe to the IEN newsletter, please email a request to

kathleen.markey@ul.ie to be included on the distribu-

tion and database of contacts.

Like our Facebook page for news updates:

https://www.facebook.com/nandmul

Follow our Twitter page: @NursingMid_Ul

Visit our website for more information on the pro-

grammes available to students and for news updates

within the Department.

http://www.ul.ie/nm/course/international-0

Faculty and Staff from UL at

NAFSA Conference —May 2015