Projects
|
FAQ
|
Announcements
#From focusing on nursing knowledge to caring with empathy #Nonverbal communication and taking blood pressure #A unique medical volunteering experience in Vietnam
Hello! I’m Lee Seohyun, and I’m about to start my third year in nursing school. As a nursing student, I wanted to see and experience firsthand how the care we learn about in textbooks is used in real settings, so I joined a medical volunteer program. My goal was not just to volunteer. I wanted to learn about my own weaknesses, experience different patients and medical settings, and grow through this experience as a nursing student.
Honestly, I was quite worried because it was my first time traveling abroad without my parents. Before leaving, I looked up a lot of information about medical volunteering in Vietnam on websites like blogs and YouTube, and packed what I needed. I took part with three friends from my university, and during the project I also met people who had come from different countries to volunteer.
Our day was set up so that we volunteered in the morning, returned to our lodging for lunch, and then went out to volunteer again in the afternoon. The staff always put our safety first and looked after us. We also had more free time than I expected, so we could enjoy ourselves outside of volunteering.
What I remember most is helping measure patients’ blood pressure for the first time. It was very hard even to explain that I was going to check their blood pressure because we did not speak the same language. I remember using gestures and other nonverbal ways to help the patients relax before taking their blood pressure.
This taught me that even when providing basic care, it is important to understand and share a patient’s worries and communicate with them. By volunteering in a setting different from the one back home, I learned how to provide care that fits different situations. I also learned a lot about communicating with patients. Before taking part, I had no experience in a real hospital, so I thought I would need to rely mostly on what I had learned in class. Afterward, I realized that hospitals have many more kinds of patients than I had expected, and that it is very important to respect and understand them.
I really enjoyed this different kind of experience, which was unlike the volunteer work I had done before. After the volunteering was over, I went to Mui Ne and took a desert tour. It was really fun, and the photos turned out great. I recommend it.
The Gap Year staff will guide you kindly and well, so try not to feel too nervous and just enjoy the experience. MJ! Thank you so much for always being kind and fun to be around!
Capturing the growth journeys
of our participants.
Home
Take a step out of your comfort zone.
Challenge yourself for your own sake.
Feel complete freedom.
Be happy.
