Dancing, Working, and Culture Shock

By Jannessah Harper

Chicago is a melting pot for all people: Christian and Jewish, Hispanic and African American, young and old. One of my reasons for participating in the Chicago Semester program was to experience a new culture. Holland, MI is a lovely town, but it is a place where I did not get to taste the diversity that inhabits the city of Chicago.

As part of our nursing course while attending Chicago Semester, the five other nursing students and I were encouraged to participate in a health service activity. The opportunity arose for us to take part in a “Go Red” campaign put on by the Phi Kappa Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. The “Go Red” campaign is a national movement to fight against heart disease for women.

For the event, the other nursing students, our nursing instructor, and I traveled to the south side of Chicago to a local school. In this community, many of the families and women are burdened from stress, long work hours, and a lack of appropriate healthcare. I arrived at the school slightly intimidated and completely unaware of what it was we were entering into. All I knew was to bring my stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, and was told there would be line dancing. Being an Oklahoma native, the only kind of line dancing I have encountered involved cowboy boots, country music, and way too much denim. This was not what I found as I entered the gymnasium of the school. The room was filled with African-American women dancing, laughing, and greeting each person. There was a sense of community and love that was inescapable.

 One of the best identifying factors for an individual being at risk for heart disease is a high blood pressure. We had tables set up inside the gymnasium for the women to come and have their blood pressure taken by one of the nursing students. Information on ways to reduce blood pressure and a sheet for recording blood pressures were given to each person that came. Personally, prior to this experience I believed that this type of screening only helps to inform people on the importance of health management rather than actually having an immediate effect in an individual’s health. For one woman, the screening provided at the “Pink Goes Red” event identified an abnormally high blood pressure that would need further medical attention. The Chicago Semester nursing instructor provided more information to the woman about the risks of having such a high blood pressure along with clinics that offered free medical attention since she did not have insurance. I began to realize after the event, that even the smallest health screening could make a difference. It just takes a little bit of extra attention to an individual to realize a difference can be made.

 I am seeing new sides to this city I get to temporarily call home. I’m learning that to embrace this time in Chicago requires risk, passion for adventure, and the willingness to be attentive to the individual. 

Orientation and the Start of Long Nights

by Julie Cioffi

As Christmas vacation was ending, I began to anticipate the long-awaited semester away from Hope College in Chicago. Originally from Naperville, IL, a Chicago suburb, I was excited to finally experience the city and everything that city living entails. The other nursing students and I were placed in an apartment in the Pilsen neighborhood, which is close to the University of Illinois Hospital where I will be interning on the night shift in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. 

Orientation week started off with a group dinner at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria, where we were introduced to the various professors of The Chicago Semester, and were able to meet the others students in the program. It was all beginning! The week of orientation was filled with new experiences for me. For one, public transportation. At Hope College, everything is in walking distance, and I have barely used the public transportation system in Chicago. Figuring out the 'L' train and bus system was challenging at first, but quickly became familiar.

In Pilsen, we were placed in an apartment building for students called La Casa Student Housing. The seven other girls who I live with and I decided on some fun events while we had the time during orientation week. Tuesday night, four of us decided to see The Phantom of The Opera at the Cadillac Palace Theater, which was phenomenal. Thursday night, five of the nursing students and I went to Adler After Dark, at the Adler Planetarium where we saw shows on space that were breath taking, and also an improv comedy group. That weekend, the La Casa girls spent the afternoon in the National Museum of Mexican Art, which is located a block from out apartment. It was exciting to see so many different parts of city.

Something that I will cherish about Chicago, isn't that there is a Starbucks on every corner, but that there are different personalities of the Chicago neighborhoods. As a vegetarian and someone who loves coffee and cooking, I truly enjoyed finding new vegetarian/vegan restaurants as well as local coffee shops. Some would call me a 'foodie'. My favorite restaurant so far is Karyn's on Green, in the West Loop Neighborhood.

As mentioned previously, my internship is in the Neonatal ICU at University of Illinois Chicago Hospital, on the night shift. The other five nursing students are on the day shift, so this experience is quite a bit different for me. While they are working during the day, I will be sleeping, and working at night. My first few shifts were definitely an adjustment. It wasn't too bad the first night, everything was so new and my preceptor and I kept busy. But, the sleeping during the day and napping will be the greatest balancing act when working the night shift. I am very excited to spend the next twelve weeks in the neonatal ICU. My preceptor is wonderful and a great teacher thus far. The babies in the NICU are primarily premature infants, and they are tiny and adorable. It's amazing how something so small can bring such joy. I feel so blessed to be a part of the team in the NICU and am ready for what God has to teach me this semester in Chicago.

Volunteering with the AIDS Foundation of Chicago

As the other three nursing students and I start our fourth week of internship, we are beginning to get the hang of the routine and the city. Between the four of us, we are doing internships on the pediatric unit, two different medical-surgical units, and the emergency department at University of Illinois-Chicago Medical Center. We have quickly adjusted to the life of getting up at 5 am in order to get ready and catch the 6 o’clock Red Line train. We are getting used to working 8 and 12 hour days multiple times a week. And most importantly we are learning what it is truly like to be a nurse. Another focus that the four of us will have this semester is our service project with The AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

The mission of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is “to lead the fight against HIV/AIDS and improve the lives of people affected by the epidemic.” AFC has created a wide variety of projects, events, and fundraisers to help them achieve their mission including runs, dance events, and passing out safe-sex kits at a variety of festivals and events around the city. These next few months the Chicago Semester nursing students will be meeting on the last Tuesday of every month to help AFC pack the safe sex packets that they hand out. The last Tuesday in January was our first time attending the “Safe-Sex Kit and Movie Night” event and the four of us were a bit unsure of what to expect. Once we arrived at the offices, we learned that we would be spending the next few hours watching and discussing movies about social issues while packing the safe-sex kits. Shortly after we got there other volunteers continued to join us until we had a group of about 12 people. To start, the coordinator of the event told us a bit about why we were making the kits and how they pass out thousands of these kits every year, especially during the events in the city during the summer months. As we watched and discussed If These Walls Could Talk and If These Walls Could Talk 2, the 12 of us ended up making over 1,000 kits of condoms, lubricant, and a flyer. In addition to helping out AFC, we were able to talk with the other young adults from Chicago that we otherwise would have never met. It was interesting to hear their stories and their passion for service and the HIV/AIDS community.

As future nurses, this semester in Chicago is a great opportunity for us to learn about the health disparities in such a large city and educate ourselves about how we can help better the health of those around us. We have all gotten the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of people and cultures in our internship experiences and have learned how education and prevention plays a major role in the health of an individual. Participating in projects that are outside of a hospital setting is a great way for us to stay involved with community health and decreasing health disparities.

A Reflection on Giving Food to Homeless People

I rolled out of bed in slow motion not wanting to get up and go out into the cold… I did not want to have to spend my day off packaging food and walking the street to find homeless people. It wasn’t the homeless people that bothered me… it was my own selfishness that was getting in the way. I was thinking to myself… “I get up every day to go help people at the hospital, can’t I enjoy a couple days off now and then?” Ugh! But at the same time I thought to myself… “I am in a warm apartment, eating good food, and watching TV while thousands of PEOPLE are out in the cold, hungry!” I had mixed feelings, but the dread of having to go out seemed to consume me more than the guilt… a serious problem! Ironic too, since I decided to dedicate my life to caring for people and since normally I feel guilty when I see the homeless on the streets.

When I walked into the CS office, my mood started to turn. We packed up the snack bags in a mere 10 minutes and there we sat chit-chatting away for the next half hour. It was great! It helped put me in better spirits so that I gave with desire and not out of “just doing it to fulfill a requirement.” As we walked out of the building, we were immediately confronted with our first homeless person, but he was passed by because we were suppose to meet up with Trinity students to distribute food. That still bothers me! WHY? There was no reason that we could not have given to those first few people we passed by! But thank God for those people who are willing to step up and take action into their own hands. One of the CS students started passing out bags. Soon others began to follow. We rely on societal norms and peer influence way too much sometimes. We all need to be that person that will step outside the boundaries sometimes!

Photo by  Keith Harris

We split into small groups and roamed the streets seeking out the homeless. It was actually very enjoyable despite the negative feelings I had had earlier! Our group was fairly successful! We passed out quite a few bags! We had persons refuse the snacks, thank us for the snacks, and even ask for extras. I think that is what touched my heart the most… the mother who had a child and asked for a snack for her son. What do you say to that?  A couple blocks later, we walked around a corner where a man was sitting with a cup of change… everyone passed him by. They honestly NEVER saw him. Not ignored him, but did not see him. We have become way too use to homelessness that we have tuned them out! It starts out as intentionally zoning them out, but we get so “good” at it that we don’t even realize that we are doing it any more. Sick! Just sick! But I think that most of us can attest to doing this! Later, we had a more light-hearted experience with a panhandler who played an April fool’s joke on us. We all laughed. Look! They are people too. Feelings. Emotions. Thoughts. Of course we all know that but we don’t all let our hearts believe that. Sad!

I hope that I don’t let those negative feelings that inflicted me that morning ever persuade me to turn a blind eye to the harsh realities of the world. I need to tune in to the problem of homelessness! Become aware. Not just say, “Yeah there are homeless people. How sad!” But actually let that sadness become personal. I pray for God to move my heart to help those in need ALWAYS. I need to work at it! Pray about it! And let my heart hurt with those who hurt. <Sigh!> Not fun but necessary. I have a lot of thinking, praying, and actions to take. But just as importantly, society has a lot of thinking, praying, and action taking to do! Until we join together to make a difference, homelessness will continue to increase one PERSON at a time!


~ Written by Chelsey Wentzel

You Live and You Learn

As my last week in Chicago swiftly approaches I am forced to think about all that has brought me to and through my experiences here in this great city. I think back to my freshman year when I sat with my new nursing advisor to devise my plan of study for the next four years. I can still remember answering with alacrity “Yes of course, I’d love to go,” when asked if I’d be interested in completing an internship in Chicago during my final semester of college. I was warned that such an internship would require a much higher degree of autonomy, responsibility, and maturity. I had not assumed any nursing skills in my education at this point and the prospect of practicing with a greater degree of autonomy was both inspiring but also daunting. Still, I told myself that it would be a challenge worthwhile. The accretion of nursing knowledge I gained during my educational career at Hope was no doubt rich and comprehensive. However, at the conclusion of every clinical rotation I continued to evaluate myself as lacking confidence in my skills and as a professional nurse. Thus, increasing my confidence as a nurse was among my top goals as I began my internship rotation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. 

I must admit, in the beginning of my practice I often assumed “tech-like” duties. I managed the care of solely one patient and focused on learning more about the institutional policies, procedures, and tasks. Fourteen weeks later, I now manage a patient load of 4-5 patients, assuming almost all nursing duties such as assessments, documentation, IV placement, catheter insertions, blood draws etc. Every shift I am able to comfortably and confidently walk into a patient’s room and introduce myself. I participate in all aspects of their care and have greatly improved my ability to prioritize patient needs. I must say that this internship experience has truly facilitated my transition from student nurse to professional nurse. Not only do I look forward to joining the work force in a few months but I am confident that no matter what hospital I begin my practice in, I will be able to positively contribute to the interdisciplinary health care team.

Aside from improving my confidence as a professional my time in Chicago has also impacted my personal development. Living in Chicago has prepared me for my next step in life- living and working alone. As I look forward to establishing my place in the workforce I no longer feel as heavily reliant on my parents. I developed not only a sense of autonomy in clinical practice but also in my personal life. Through my values and vocations course I learned that “my life is my greatest artwork.” With my experiences and future opportunities I intend to make it a beautiful one.

~Grace Olamijulo

TWO WEEKS LEFT!

So our semester in the city is coming to a close, and so is being a college student! This semester has been one full of learning, transitions, and change, none of which I am very good at, but here I am! I’m very very thankful for the semester and the fact that it provided a little bit of an easier transition into “real life.” Living in the city this semester was quite the change from college. It’s meant navigating city transportation on my own, paying rent, setting up my own cable and internet, and checking my mail everyday. It’s meant getting up early on a regular basis and packing a lunch everyday for work. I’ve found that working (almost) full time is way more exhausting than I thought, and finding time for friends, exercise, and relaxation is definitely a challenge. However, I’m getting more used to all of this, and I’m finally starting to adjust. Having this semester to kind of bridge the gap between college and “real life” has been exactly what I needed to have a fun semester that also put me one step closer to graduation!

Living in the city has been such a fun experience! Using public transportation is great because you can get anywhere! There’s also tons to do, plenty of places to try new food, and lots of interesting and new experiences! One of the things I’ve really been loving recently with a little warmer weather is being so close to the lake! It’s a great place to walk or run, and hopefully these next few weeks will bring warmer weather and a chance to actually experience the beach!

My internship has also been quite a learning experience! I work on the pediatrics floor at UIC hospital. The staff there has been great. Everyone is interesting and nice, and they’ve done a great job of making me feel welcome. It’s taken some time to get used to the different patient population and working in a very busy high stress job. I’ve faced a lot of difficult learning situations-my floors sees a lot of abuse, poverty, cancer patients, and a variety of other chronic conditions. However, this means I get to work with a lot of the same patients over and over, and have really been able to form relationships with them. Working with different types of patients with a variety of different conditions has stretched me and forced me to do a lot of growing and a lot of studying, but I’ve loved every second of it! It’s taught me so many lessons about how to be a better nurse and how to be a better person. I’ve loved getting to know my patients and my coworkers, and feeling like I’m making a difference in people’s lives.

With only two weeks left, I can say that I’ve loved this city experience, and that it’s really prepared me to become a college graduate! It’s still crazy to think that these four years of my life are about to come to a close, but being here has made me so much more confident as a nurse and as an independent person!

~Elizabeth Meyer

Hello all!  Time is really starting to fly by in the city! I cannot believe we only have five more weeks here. Moving to the city was a big adjustment for me as I have lived in rural West Michigan all my life, but I now feel quite at home in the windy city.  Now that the warmer weather is here things have really started to brighten up. The spring break shoppers have arrived in full force and the number of joggers on the running trail has significantly increased.

My internship is at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on a heart failure floor. So far, it has been a really great experience and I have learned a lot. I am so grateful for the chance to have an extended internship, as it gives us the opportunity to feel more comfortable and become increasingly independent.

Aside from internship we have been able to enjoy many other aspects of the city as well. Lauren has been keeping us nursing students busy with a different restaurant each week after class, which gives us all a chance to catch up on each other’s internships and experiences. This past week we went to an Indian restaurant. The food was extremely spicy but great!

Recently, we had the chance to see a Chicago Bulls game at the United Center. It was a lot of fun, especially since I had never been to a professional basketball game before. It also helped that they won!

Part of our experience here includes community service and a couple of us got to work in a greenhouse this past week. It was great to experience something new and totally different from what we normally do on a day-to-day basis and see how it can positively affect a community.

Chicago Semester has been great and I am thankful that I had this opportunity to live and learn in a new environment.

-Sara 

Midpoint already!

I can’t believe that it’s midpoint already; the semester is flying by! I feel like I’ve done so much during the last seven weeks and, at the same time, I feel like there are still so many things I want to do.

Living in the city has been an amazing experience. I am originally from the Chicago suburbs, so I’m glad to be back in the middle of things. There is always something to do in Chicago and I never find myself getting bored. I’m living in the Gold Coast, which is an area known for its shops and restaurants. I share a one-bedroom apartment with two other girls. It’s super tiny, but what we lack in space, we make up for with our amazing location. I love being so close to everything; I can even walk to work!

I am doing my internship in Labor and Delivery at Prentice Women’s Hospital, which is affiliated with Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

I absolutely love my placement! All of the nurses on my floor are really smart and very helpful. I have had the opportunity to practice so many of the skills I learned in the lab back at Hope and I am really proud of the progress I’ve made. Each and every day is a new learning experience and I have seen so much in just a few weeks. I feel confident managing all aspects of patient care and I am well on my way to becoming an independent nurse. In fact, I like it so much, I’m hoping to continue working on my floor when I graduate.

Each week the nursing students meet for class and we cover important topics to study for the NCLEX. Although I’m still nervous about taking the test, I know that I am going to be very well prepared. After class, we all go out to dinner together. It’s something that I really look forward to because all of us nursing students get to hang out and catch up. This week we went to a diner called The White Palace Grill. It’s a good old-fashioned diner and was even featured on the Food Network program Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I had a delicious hamburger and chocolate milkshake.

Participating in Chicago Semester is one of the best decisions I made about my college experience. Living, learning and working in Chicago has given me a perspective on the world that Holland never could and I have learned a lot about my future career and about myself.

- Caitlin

Nursing in the City

I can't believe we have been here 5 weeks already! The craziest thing is that I haven't done ANY clothing shopping since being here. Living here has been an adjustment, but really fun. People don't smile as much as in Holland, Michigan, and everyone wears black in the winter (I sometimes feel like a cupcake in my colorful winter gear). The housing is much smaller and taller than at Hope, but the view is nice and there is less space to clean. I love not having a car and worrying about cleaning the snow off of, especially after the blizzard of '11. The public transportation is easy to use and navigate, and it makes me feel more like a local.

Living in the Gold Coast is great because Lake Michigan is so close, and the running trail along the shore is a beautiful view. Going two blocks from Canterbury Court Apartments in any direction gives a slightly different atmosphere. South to Rush street offers many upscale restaurants, clothing stores, and bars. North offers a dog park and high-rise condos, East is the lake, and West the neighborhood of Old town with many affordable restaurants. Speaking of restaurants, I have been trying to experience the diversity of eateries Chicago has to offer by searching out unique restaurants, which I visit with other Nursing students on a weekly basis. Last week I had goat in peanut soup-sounds weird but tastes spicy and delicious.

Bolat African Cuisine with the Chicago Semester Student Nurses!
(I'm the one with the green scarf.)

There is much more diversity here in the Chicago than in Western Michigan, and I love this! I am interning at University of Illinois Medical Center, and I work with staff and patients from many different cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. I am working in the pediatric ICU which has many challenges, but I am learning a lot. It is a transition from taking all of the material I have learned in my nursing classes and actually applying it to real patients, families, and how to best care for them. Working in an ICU means having to be prepared for taking care of any critically ill child with any type of sickness. This requires a strong basis of medical knowledge but also fast thinking to anticipate the needs of the patient and the preparedness for emergent medical situations. Children have a strong resolve to get well but their critical state can change on a dime.

From the variety of restaurants, internship experiences, new friends, learning independence and a clearer direction of where God is calling me vocation and locationally, I am loving this experience in Chicago!

~Lauren Dice