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An Inside Look at Life on Chamberlain’s Houston Campus

March 02, 2018 by Molly Mattison

Chamberlain student Roma Patel recently took over our Instagram account for a day to share her experiences with time management, her strengths and challenges during nursing school, and her reflections on the Global Health Education Program trip to Haiti. Check out her photos below!

A little about me: My name is Roma Patel and I am a 3-Year Bachelor of Science in Nursing student at Chamberlain University in Houston. I am currently in Critical Care and I am set to graduate in August. I love staying involved in the organizations at my school such as Student Government, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, and the National Student Nurses Association. I also work as a home health aide and as a peer tutor on campus. Follow my journey on Instagram at @romattoo.

Why I want to become a nurse: I want to become a nurse because of the impact I will be able to make in people's lives. Nurses have a unique position of helping people through hard times in their lives and in their health. During my nursing school career, I have been impacted and motivated by so many of my patients. I cannot wait to become a nurse and do it every day!

My favorite experience at Chamberlain has been: My favorite experience has been going on the Global Health Education Program trip to Haiti during my Community course. I was able to learn so much about health care, nursing, and about myself during my time there. I am so grateful for the opportunity and I hope that I can go on more medial missions in the future.

This January, I was privileged to go on the Global Health trip to Haiti with peers from various campuses. During our two week trip, we saw over 800 patients that we helped through education, yearly physicals, and clinical services. This is a trip that I will always remember and I hope to go on many more missions in the future!

Having a strong support system is very important during nursing school. There are great days in nursing school but there are days when you really need someone to be there for you. For me, my family is my greatest support system.

During our days in Haiti, we opened mobile clinics for the communities we visited. One of the most important skills I learned during this trip was how to be creative with the resources we had and the resources in the community. We didn't always have what we needed to help our patients so we had to be resourceful and creative. Such as using contact solution to irrigate a burn and honey and gauze as wound dressing.

Clinical days are our longest days but they are always my favorite. Getting out of the textbook and into practice helps solidify the material for me. Clinical days are always a great time to ask questions. I always ask about how the nurse likes working at the hospital and how their NCLEX and job-hunting experiences went.

During my medical mission to Haiti, we spent many days doing school physicals for children. The people, especially the children, have so much hope and work incredibly hard. I learned so much about myself and about the world during this trip.

Looking back at my nursing school career, I love seeing how much I've grown. I started nursing school when I was 18, without much medical experience. I am excited about how much I have learned about the health care field and about myself, and I cannot wait to see what these next few months have to offer!

Health care in developing countries is incredibly different than the health care provided in the United States. The services and the resources for health care aren't available for everyone to use. Even the mentality of using resources is not the same as ours. Many patients will delay seeking help because of the costs. This is why our services through the Global Health program are so important.

In nursing school, time management is everything. When I started school, it was really important for me to find a job that would allow me to study. During my second year, I started as a peer tutor in our campus CAS, and as a home health aide during the night shift. These two jobs have been great for nursing school and gave me the time to study and be successful in school. You just have to find what works for you!