My name is Megha Gurung. I am from Nepal. My native language is Nepali. I completed a diploma program in nursing in my own country. I spent 2.5 years working as a scrub nurse in a hospital after finishing my education. I’ve always desired to pursue my nursing bachelor’s degree overseas. I was advised to study in Finland by one of my friends. And I did some research on Finland’s educational system. Finland ranks as the happiest and safest country in the world, and it provides among the best educational systems, according to my research. I chose to continue my education in Finland. I applied to Satakunta University of Applied Science, and fortunately, SAMK extended an offer to me.
In March 2022, I traveled to Finland. Starting the course was difficult at first since I was unfamiliar with Moodle. It takes a month to become adept at using Moodle. I noticed while studying that the educational system in this country differs from ours. In Finland, a course lasts for one semester, whereas in my home country, a course lasts for a full year. In my country, we take our exams on paper, but here, the exam is conducted on a computer. For a single course exam are taken three times here, but in my country, final exams are only taken once. I’ve previously studied nursing, so I can learn or get acquainted with the material easily. I have also done clinical practice in acute care hospitals and senior homes in Finland. While I’m practicing in Finland and working as a nurse in my home country, the day shift is six hours long and the night shift is twelve hours long. However, here, the day shift is eight hours long and the night shift is ten hours long. In my home country, the nurse-to-patient ratio is 2:20; a single nurse handles or is responsible for doing medication, dressing, admission, discharge, and medication ordering simultaneously. However, in Finland, a single nurse tends to at least 4 patients, with task distribution. A medication nurse looks after medicine, while a primary care nurse looks after basic patient care. While the workload is not as heavy as it would be in my native country. The rule about working that I liked the most was that there were two or three times breaks. It enables the employee to recover and rejuvenate so they can work without being fatigued. In my home country we receive monthly salary but here in Finland they are paid on an hourly basis.
For me, language is the only thing that is challenging. As far as I’m aware, finnish is one of the hardest languages in existence. I’ve been living in Finland for almost two years now. Speaking and understanding finnish continues to be difficult for me. As an international student with a background in nursing, I’m constantly looking for part-time work in home care. Sadly, work experience as a nurse is not valued here unless we understand the language. Working in hospital or elderly care center requires fluency in Finnish. I’m trying to learn Finnish, but it’s challenging. I am scheduled to graduate in a year. It occasionally worries me what would happen if my language skills do not match those of a finnish even after graduation.