María Gimeno, Chaima Baghach and Sara Simón all love everything to with nursing and they know that, to be the best that they can be, learning is the key, both with regard to theory and practice. So convinced are they of this that, in addition to the compulsory and voluntary training they undertake at the University’s Advanced Simulation Centre and in their placements at healthcare institutions, they have decided to go a step further and set up a nursing club. They want both to add to student life on the three CEU UCH campuses and improve their own and the fellow students’ nursing skills. It’s even open to professional nurses who want to keep on developing their skills and knowledge.
‘We want to improve our skills so that we can get even better and more confident in our abilities during our placements and later when we are in employment’
María Gimeno, a Nursing undergraduate at the CEU Cardenal Herrera University.
The nursing club is called Go Nursing, and it was set up in December. It will continue its activities this semester with activities from experts and staff from the Fisiomedic and CEISAL training centres which prepare nurses for the examinations for professional practice. “What we want are activities related to the different specialties, things that we can’t really explore in much depth during the degree itself, but which we need to know about in order to bemore confident in our abilities during our placements and later when we are in employment,” says María.
‘In nursing it’s really important to have a general understanding of how each specialty works’
Sara Simón, a Nursing undergraduate at the CEU Cardenal Herrera University in Castellón.
For Sara, “in nursing it’s really important to have a general understanding of how each specialty works and it’s difficult to get during the degree itself, despite all the things we look at and all the practical training we do.”
But the activities of this new student club goes far beyond contributing to student life and improving student skills – it’s also involved in a range of health education initiatives.
With Nursing lecturer Raquel González acting as mentor, these trainee nurses are planning a number of different educational activities in schools and gyms across the province of Castellón. The first ones up are a workshop on healthy eating and another two on CPR and what to do when someone has low levels of blood sugar. “We mustn’t forget that nursing isn’t just about providing care to the sick and the elderly, which is what everyone thinks of first. It also involves educating people about health, managing resources and also carrying out research,” says Chaima.
‘Nursing isn’t just about providing care to the sick and the elderly, which is what everyone thinks of first. It also involves educating people about health, managing resources and also carrying out research.’
Chaima Baghach, a Nursing undergraduate at the CEU Cardenal Herrera University in Castellón.
In fact, with regard to research, the Go Nursing club will take part in its first research activity on 28th February. It will participate in the Píxel conference alongside lecturers and nursing professionals and the organizers will form part of the judges’ panel for poster presentations on rare diseases given by students.
Warmly welcomed
The three Nursing students agree that one of the key objectives for the club is to raise awareness of the profession and to give it the status it deserves in all areas. “We think that it’s important that people know that nurses take care of people in lots of different ways: it’s not just about giving injections and taking care of cuts and bruises. It’s a very wide-ranging and varied profession,” says María.
The Nursing lecturers at the CEU UCH campus in Castellón have warmly welcomed this initiative and are supporting the club organizers in their goals. “In the end, we weren’t surprised about how ambitious the project was once we saw the students who were behind it,” says Isabel Almodóvar. “We think that this will provide some very valuable learning experiences, not only for students but also for active nurses, as these activities represent alternative lifelong learning options which could be of interest for them, with all the events and expert talks that are lined up. It’s win-win for everyone with the Go Nursing club.”
This intriguing student club – a first for CEU’s campus in Castellón and for the whole University – already has around 80 student members, but the organizers still aim to attract many more. As they pointed out, it is open to all Nursing students on the Valencia and Elche campuses too.
