DICKINSON N.D.
Russian nursing students and educators hope to learn more about campus courses and patient care during a visit to North Dakota.
The Russian delegation consists of Krasnoyarsk State Medical Academy professors, students and the chief nurse of the area’s Regional Clinical Hospital.
Krasnoyarsk is east of Moscow in the center of Siberia. Two Dickinson State University nursing faculty members visited the region last year.
“The initial plans we have in mind, it’s to learn better how the system of providing care to patients works,” said Dr. Yury Pats, dean of the nursing faculty in Krasnoyarsk.
Pats, who spoke through a translator, said the delegation also wants to learn about campus education.
Like the U.S., Russia has found it a challenge to attract people to the nursing profession, officials say.
“Physicians there have too much to do; it’s hard to focus on their medical care,” said Dr. Mary Anne Marsh, who chairs Dickinson State’s nursing department. “It’s interesting because that’s how health care evolved in the U.S., too.”
That evolution led to more roles for nurses, she said.
Natalya Fomina, chief nurse at the Regional Clinical Hospital, said she came to learn more about nurses’ responsibilities.
“I would like to find out, which is of major concern and interest to nurses, is to see ways to organize care, the system of care, to see how professional development works after students get their degree,” Fomina said through an interpreter.
Fomina came on behalf of the regional hospital and its the chief administrator, Dr. Boris Machtakov. The hospital serves the entire Krasnoyarsk region, which is about the size of the U.S. and has a population of 3 million.
The group also plans to visit hospitals and long-term care facilities in Dickinson and in Bismarck. The visit is to last about a week.
Pats said the delegation wants to tour long-term care facilities because Russia does not have such services for its elderly population.
“They just stay in hospitals,” Pats said. “The problem with that is those types of patients occupy beds that are for people with emergencies.”
Information from: The Dickinson Press, https://www.thedickinsonpress.com/
–Associated Press
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
