Newsletter July 2013
Dear colleagues, clients and friends,
It’s time for the second newsletter of this year and we would like to inform you about all that is happening in the English for Nurses’ world.
May I just say at this point – please take 2-3 minutes and accompany us on our journey. If you think it can’t get more exciting -think again, of course it can! Enjoy the read!
April 2013:
This month has been so eventful that it is almost impossible to write down everything concisely. Of course, we are very pleased about that . – But please read it for yourself!
It is the first time that we will have taught our 3 different courses in one month:
– English for Nurses in Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg, Bad Oeynhausen
– English for Midwives in Hamburg
– English for Emergency and Catastrophe nursing in Vienna.
All courses are taught with a lot of energy, fun and enthusiasm (as well as countless biscuits and chocolate).
In Bad Oeynhausen we discuss the idea of a course for intensive care and plan to present it in 2014. The first brainstorming sessions are to be held in Bristol about this exciting project.
The Wilhelmshaven newspaper’ writes an article about the student exchange in Manchester, where we have been actively involved. A photo shoot takes place and we are very happy that, for the first time, we are in a German newspaper!
Our proposal for the conference in Zurich ENDA is sent with trepidation. We hope that the scientific committee will accept our idea for a poster presentation – we expect the decision in June.
We also meet the head of the Social Service of the Red Cross Hospital in Bremen to discuss the content of our talk at the conference in November. We will be the guest speaker and will have the chance to speak about the National Health System in the UK.
Furthermore, we have the chance to meet the nursing director of the German Army Forces Hospital in Westerstede. We also talk about the plans for a new course for intensive and theatre care. If it becomes a collaboration, 80-90 soldiers will be preparing for international service.
Here in Bristol, our network is very busy with the preparations for our Spanish colleagues. Meetings and discussions with coffee and cake (and chocolate!) take place. A workshop also happens at OISE language school in Bristol.
Our Facebook page is taking shape and has come to life – thanks to Sarah (our lecturer in emergency medicine). Nice one, Sarah.
… and that is the complete summary for this month! We are on tour for 16 days – in Germany and Austria and extend our network, which is getting bigger and bigger.
May 2013:
The German Federation of Midwives contact us. We speak about the possibility of helping with an online program and being booked for several workshops in 2014.
We meet a member of the Bremen Pflegerat to discuss the project,German for Nurses. A potential agenda is set up. The German Nursing Council (DBfK) contact us on this issue and express interest in jointly tackling this project with us.
We meet the new Director of Nursing of St. Francis Hospital in Berlin, as well as the new deputy. We are delighted that this hospital, which is under new management, will continue to support us.
The Bergmannstrost clinics in Halle will be re-taught English for Nurses. We have the opportunity to visit the burns unit of this clinic, which is very impressive!
We discuss a new program for 2014 with the Albertine Academy in Hamburg. The idea of a module week for 2014 is discussed. Our 6 courses are divided over 3-4 days and nurses have the opportunity to select the modules themselves. We are very excited about this project and send our plans to Hamburg.
The Sisterhood of the Red Cross’ in Wiesbaden support us in our work, so we have a chance to extend our work to the south of Germany. It makes us very happy and we look forward to a great working relationship. This is the fifth sorority, which gives us a great chance to further our work.
Here in England, we meet the education manager of a large university hospital in Swindon. Our work as an Overseas nurses network is discussed lively. We hope that we can actively support the clinic with their international nurses. We also meet our partners OISE – the language school to discuss future projects. Thanks to Jon (principals), there will be further collaboration.
June 2013:
The midwives are taught in Berlin in English for Midwives. Additionally, there are other courses planned in Berlin, which makes us very happy indeed.
We slowly begin to plan for the ENDA conference in Zurich in October / November. There is debate within our group about what kind of information we would like to handover. Our poster idea has been accepted and we are OVER THE MOON.
When we saw the reply in our INBOX the email was opened with sweaty palms and a heart-rate of 100!
We are also planning a hospital-independent workshop in Zurich, which will take place on 29.10.2013. We have the full support of the home management of Zurich’s homes. This pleases us immensely.
The agenda for German for Nurses is now final. The Goethe Institute is informed about our project. We hope that it will become an effective collaboration.
Here in Bristol our meeting with coffee and cake is taking place. This time colleagues from Slovenia, Spain, Germany, UK and Turkey attend. There is a lot of talk, discussion and. of course, a lot of laughs!
… and that is our world – very colourful, exciting and thrilling. As you all know, we are all still active in nursing. The good work on the ward is still an important part of our work life. Our British colleagues support us immensely in our work and without the help of our English peers we would probably not be where we are now.
Last but not least – it’s become a little tradition that we express our ‘special thanks’ for various new projects.
We say thanks to Sabine Raab of the Mobility Agency living and working in Hamburg, Clive Warns and Sue Yates of the University West of England. We look forward mightily to the great project in November, when the 8 teachers of the nursing schools will come from Hamburg to Bristol. It will be a great week!
… and now a very last but not least – Thank you for your time and your interest in pursuing our work.
Please also visit us on our website: https://englishfornurses.org/or visit us on Facebook … (there are great pictures and comments from us!)
Greetings from Bristol / UK,
Sabine Torgler
Stefanie Otto
Sarah Davies
Silke Westphal
Jana Möller
Magda Coll Calvera
Cari Hernandez
… and Chewbacca – the dog ☺
