Marymount University 2020
Wow, what an experience! I went to Kathmandu, Nepal for two weeks and I wish I could’ve stayed longer!
I’m from the US so an international experience was not required for graduation, but I wanted to gain a global perspective of nursing and decided to travel to Nepal.
I started the process only a couple of months before I left the States and it was such a smooth process – the Work the World team were absolutely amazing!
I decided on Nepal because I’d never traveled to Asia before and I knew that I would learn so much from the culture and people. Plus, the country is absolutely beautiful.
The journey to Nepal was a bit rough, with many delays and over 30 hours of flights, train rides, and car rides. But it was so worth it! When I arrived at Kathmandu airport I gathered my luggage and someone from the team was already there to greet me and drive me to the Work the World house.
When I arrived at the house it was a Sunday and most of the other students were still away on their weekend trip, so I met with the other students who had also arrived that day and headed to bed so that I was ready for the adventures of the next day.
The following day we went into town to get our money exchanged and pick up local SIM cards. We visited the Garden of Dreams and explored some of the city.
All of the nurses, doctors, and leaders were so sweet and welcoming
On Tuesday we visited the hospital and the unit we would be placed on. I was in the PICU and pediatric OR. All of the nurses, doctors, and leaders were so sweet and welcoming; the afternoon tea was the best.
The rest of the week went by too quickly…
Over the weekend a group of us decided to visit Pokhara. We left Friday morning and took the bus. It was about a 5-6 hour drive.
That night we checked into our hotel and hung out by the pool overlooking the valley. We stayed on the mountain for this night because in the morning we wanted to see the sunrise.
The next day we went paragliding, rafting, and explored the city and restaurants!
The next day we shopped some more and hiked to the World Peace Pagoda. I highly recommend everything we did in Pokhara!
Once we returned to the house I began preparing for my last week in the hospital. This week I would be observing pediatric surgeries.
There were around ten ORs and one was designated to pediatric surgeries.
This was an experience like no other and it confirmed my desire to become a pediatric OR nurse!
During the week I observed surgeries like undescended testes, ostomies and my favorite, an ovarian cyst! This was the last surgery I observed in Nepal and the surgeon allowed me to scrub in and assist. This was an experience like no other and it confirmed my desire to become a pediatric OR nurse!
During the evenings in the city, I would highly recommend going out to the clubs, walking around Thamel (there are some amazing yoga studios if you’re a fan!), and exploring the local area around the house too (there’s a really good European bakery on the way to the hospital).
If you are contemplating whether or not to go on an international internship, do it! This was such an unforgettable experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life!
