Impress local community with quality of care
Joshua Chaplin/Brenton Stacey
Public relations editorial intern/Public relations officer
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
Sonja Frischknecht (fourth from left) and these final-year nursing students served at Atoifi Adventist Hospital on Malaita for two weeks. The Avondale College lecturer will use the experience as the basis for a master’s thesis about the effectiveness of clinical learning experiences for undergraduate nurses in developing countries. Credit: Loring Kwon.
Seven mission-minded Avondale College nursing students have returned with their lecturer from serving at a Seventh-day Adventist hospital in the Solomon Islands.
Sonja Frischknecht and the final-year students spent two weeks at Atoifi Adventist Hospital on Malaita. Sonja taught at the nursing school and with the students taught primary health care to members of the community and worked in the hospital. The purpose of the trip: to serve as a clinical learning experience in a developing country and as an introduction to medical-focused mission.
“They were committed,” says Sonja of the students, who covered almost all of their own expenses—the trip, unlike those offered by other faculties at Avondale, is not covered by FEE-HELP or HECS.
According to Sonja, members of the local community appreciated the quality of the care offered by the students. She says they spoke particularly of the extra time the students spent with the patients, learning the local dialect and visiting after hours. The more autonomous nature of nursing at Atoifi helped the students grow in their self-confidence, critical thinking skills and ability to adapt under challenging circumstances, says Sonja.
Fiona Watkins administers polio drops to a child. Members of the local community appreciated the quality of the care—particularly the extra time spent with patients—offered by the students. Credit: Loring Kwon.
A partnership between Atoifi’s School of Nursing and Avondale’s Faculty of Nursing and Health will see college staff members and students regularly visiting the hospital. The exchange of information will help those from both entities. “We’re in awe of the ability of the staff and students at Atoifi to do so much with so little,” says Sonja. “They’ve taught us to be more resourceful.”
Sonja will now write a thesis for a master’s about the effectiveness of clinical learning experiences for undergraduate nurses in developing countries. Sonja hopes the degree may enable other nursing students to complete mission trips as part of their study.
According to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific, Atoifi is one of only five hospitals in the Solomons. It serves a population of 80,000 on Malaita, caring for people living in small, remote villages with no modern amenities. The School of Nursing prepares graduates at diploma level to work in clinics and hospitals across the country.