1. A South Pacific primary health care experience for 3rd year Bachelor of Nursing students UniSA International Study Tour The Cook Islands, April th South Pacific Nurses Forum 2016 Honiara, Solomon Islands

2. Presented by Lucy Osborn
Contributions from the BN students who travelled to the Cook Islands for the Primary Health Care nursing placement
Lucy Osborn
Jessica Weber
Rebecca Direen
Joseph Denton
Tayla West
Kathleen Sherlock
Chloe Trewartha
Stephanie Hull
Hannah Liddell
Sarah Hill

3. Special thank you
This program was made possible by funding from the Australian Government New Colombo Plan and the University of South Australia, as well as the generosity and support of the Cook Islands School of Nursing (students and staff) and the staff at the Cook Islands Ministry of Health
In particular we would like to thank:
All the staff at the University of South Australia who made this trip possible
Elizabeth Iro, Secretary of Health
Ngakiri Teaea, Chief Nurse
Mary McManus, Principal of the Cook Islands School of Nursing
The Cook Islands nursing students and the Public Health Nurses
Everyone in The Cook Islands who made us feel so at home
Cook Islands 3rd year Nursing Students:
Toa Pole
Rosa Purea
June Punua
Mariea Kimi
Puna Tauraa
Ake Teiotu
Florence Mataio

4. The Cook Islands Study Tour - April 2016
International Primary Health Care experience
10 nursing students and nursing lecturer
Two weeks
On the Island of Rarotonga
Cook Islands 3rd year nursing students, Head of School and tutors
Cultural experience

5. Application process The scholarships
To be eligible we had to be - Australian citizens - min GPA years of age
We completed an application including a 250 word personal statement explaining how participating in the study tour would enhance our nursing education and career goals
10 students were selected following a shortlisting and interview process
Kathleen Sherlock, 24, Northern Metro, South Australia
The scholarships
We received $4000 each in the form of two scholarships/grants
2016 New Colombo Plan Student Mobility Scholarship $3000
University of South Australia Mobility Grant $1000
The scholarships and grants were incredibly helpful in assisting students to participate in the study tour
Hannah Liddell, 21, Adelaide Hills, South Australia

6. The study tour enabled us to…
gain an international primary health care experience
experience a different health system, culture and people
broaden our understanding of the health care system in the Cook Islands
form lifelong friendships with the second and third year Cook Islands nursing students who created a supportive environment for our personal and professional growth
establish and maintain friendships with the group of ten who travelled to the Cook Islands as well as teaching staff
broaden our understanding of the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to work within an international primary health care context
Chloe Trewartha, 24, Northern Metro, South Australia
The School of Nursing and Midwifery strives to provide the highest quality education to nurses and midwives throughout the range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs including research application, training and generation of new knowledge.
A priority for the School is to prepare graduates to provide excellence in the provision of health services across a range of contemporary practice settings.
The School is committed to delivering nursing and midwifery education in innovative ways that engage students through a range of learning activities in classroom, online and practice-based settings.
The School is committed to becoming an international world-class magnet School for students and staff as well as our graduates being the preferred employees of health service providers globally.

8. Collaboration, team work and friendship
Teamwork and friendships were established very early within our trip, from navigating the airports, to driving around the town attempting to locate the hospital and schools
As a rural students living outside of Adelaide I created some amazing friendships, with both the people who travelled with me and the wonderful people we met while staying in Rarotonga
Over the two weeks we adapted to life in Rarotonga and become a group of professionals, who worked together to complete rheumatic heart disease screenings for school children
We worked closely with the Cook Islands nursing students and the primary health team to undertake the Rheumatic heart disease screening including collating and presenting the findings to the Ministry of Health staff
We formed lifelong memories and friendships during this experience and feel we have positively contributed to the health of the Cook Islands community
Jessica Webber, 20, Whyalla, South Australia

10. Rheumatic Heart Disease Screening Program
Assisted with the Rheumatic Heart Disease Screening Program undertaken at the primary and secondary schools.
Our role in the multidisciplinary team:
Registering students, collecting their information and taking basic height, weight recordings
Assist the public health nurses with the set up and flow of the days as well as explaining to the children, parents and teachers what rheumatic fever is, why and how we are screening for rheumatic heart disease
Assisting sonographers with the body position of the children
Opportunity to:
Support and build therapeutic relationships with the children during the screening process
Work as part of a multidisciplinary team to problem solve in changing situations
Tayla West, 22, Barossa Valley, South Australia

11. Experiences Grand Round Primary Health focused system
Importance of health promotion
Working with public health and school nurses
Undertaking community, school and home visits
Working with visiting surgeons, obstetrician and eye specialist team in the hospital and clinics
Sterilization and reuse of equipment
GP clinics and nursing triage in the hospital ED
Visits to the ministry of agriculture to learn about the ecosystem and its significance for the health of the island & community
Grand Round
All health care staff attended
Presentations by different health professionals from the hospital and primary health service
Statistics, showing improvements and trends
Interesting cases presented in detail
Stephanie Hull, 21, Cummins, South Australia

12. Clinical Experiences
Variety of experiences across community health and hospital services.
Emergency room
Pre school worming
Triage
Cholesterol testing
Gynaecology & Antenatal Clinics
Guest speakers
Eye clinic
Ambulance service
Post natal visits
Diabetes clinic
Home care & wound care
Grand Round

14. Working with the CI Ministry of Health
Collaboration - working alongside multidisciplinary staff from the Cook Islands, Australia and New Zealand facilitated sharing of knowledge, ideas and experiences
Learnt the importance of health promotion and accurately recording and collating screening data for the children who were part of the screening program
Identification of RHD risk factors and children who required further screening and cardiac investigations
Learnt to input and collate health data – using excel data base
Collation of screening data, in collaboration with the public health/school nurses for presentations at the Ministry of Health and at each school
The presentations included demographic data by school, gender, age, ethnicity and family history and provided summary trends of screening results including weight, height and BMIs. Adelaide, SA.

15. Health Promotion Activity
Rheumatic Heart Disease radio broadcast presented by Joe Denton (std UniSA) and Toa Poe (std CI)
We researched RF and RHD and developed a health promotion educational broadcast that was aired by radio across all of the Cook Islands
Information included an overview of RF and RHD including symptoms, environmental and lifestyle risk factors and who to contact to seek advice or treatment
We presented it in English and Maori
3-4 minute broadcast
Joe Denton, 21 - Adelaide, South Australia

16. International relationships
The study tour to the Cook Islands was a unique and eye-opening experience
It emphasised the importance of international relations in health care through the opportunity to observe and take part in the health care system of another country, within the pacific region.
The experience highlighted similarities and differences in the healthcare systems and made us realise that we often take the convenience and access of our health services for granted
We learnt the importance of strong communication skills and nurturing relationships within the health care team and with the clients, families and communities in which we will live and work
Building positive international relationships allow for collaboration in addressing global health problems and also supporting our international colleagues in local initiatives
The opportunity to take part in the community initiatives, that we as nursing students experienced in the Cook Islands, is something that we will all remember throughout our careers. It was a successful and highly rewarding experience
We hope that the positive relationships developed over the short study tour will continue to develop and grow
Rebecca Direen, 22, Hobart, Tasmania

18. Cultural activities The Umu, The hike- cross island Church
Visiting the Ministry of Agriculture
Visiting the Taro fields
Local markets and restaurants
Singing and dancing
Whale and wildlife centre

20. How this experience shaped and developed us…
Participating in the CI Study Tour broadened our horizons and developed us as nurses by providing us with:
An opportunity to develop our clinical and personal skills, knowledge and practice and gain an international perspective of nursing in another country
The ability to experience a different culture and further develop our communication skills working within a different
The opportunity to form new relationships, amongst the students, with members of the health care team and the wider community.
A deepened understanding and appreciation of differing cultural, spriritual and religious beliefs was formed which has further developed us to strive to provide holistic and culturally appropriate nursing care.
Working in a diverse team of health care professionals, a paediatric cardiologist, sonographers, GP’s, acute care nurses, primary health care nurses, public health staff, academics, the department of health staff and students assisted us to develop strong skills in partnership and team work and gave us a lifelong experience and sense of what nursing in an international context incorporates
It was a privilege to learn about and to experience the Cook Island culture and hospitality and this offered many learning opportunities for us
Sarah Hill 21 – Central Adelaide, South Australia