After a whirlwind week in North Dakota, a delegation from Russia is a little older and a little wiser.
The delegation is comprised of Krasnoyarsk State Medical Academy professors, academy students and the chief nurse at the Regional Clinical Hospital. They came to Dickinson State University and North Dakota with a mission to learn ways of providing better care, as well as learn new methods of teaching nurses.
As the group prepares to leave, Dr. Yury Pats, dean of the nursing faculty at the Krasnoyarsk academy, said the visit would help to further develop a relationship between DSU and the Krasnoyarsk institutions.
"It'll help us to understand each other better in other areas of health services and that certainly is a very enriching experience for both institutions," Pats said through an interpreter.
DSU Nursing Department Chair Dr. Mary Anne Marsh said the visit has been an eye-opening experience.
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"The more time we spend together, the greater understanding we have of one another and how we conduct our teaching of nursing and practice of nursing," Marsh said.
She said in the initial visits - a delegation came over once before and DSU nursing faculty and students visited Krasnoyarsk last year - the two institutions have only begun to scratch the surface.
Dr. Tatiana Kamaeva, a nursing faculty member and gynecologist, and Natalya Fomina, the chief nurse of the Regional Clinical Hospital, said they were most impressed with how independent nurses are in the United States.
"Through the associations, they are even lobbying the state to make sure the legislation reflects their interests as nurses," Fomina said through an interpreter. "Our government does not pay as much attention to the nurses' point of view."
Fomina recognized the independence means additional training, but ultimately said Russian clinics would like to offer nurses more autonomy.
"Although obviously there's some competition between the nurses and the physicians, they're working to provide better health care," Fomina said.
Marsh said during the group's visit, it toured a couple of long-term care facilities, because Russia doesn't offer the same level of care for its elderly.
"I was very impressed with the long-term care facilities like St. Benedict's, how it's structured," Kamaeva said through an interpreter. "I was very impressed with how they take care of the elderly and the independence of the nurses."
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Kamaeva said she was also impressed with the North Dakota Board of Nursing and that the U.S. had those sorts of associations.
Learning about learning
Students Olesya Getmanova and Alexei Neveikin said they were impressed with the equipment in the classrooms.
Getmanova celebrated her 24th birthday in Dickinson on Friday and said she also enjoyed a trip last weekend to the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
Neveikin said the interactive learning process at DSU surprised him.
"The behavior of the students is so relaxed; they can lay on the floor," Neveikin said through an interpreter.
He said schools in Russia are a lot more strict and don't allow eating or drinking in the classrooms.
"As a dean, I was pleasantly impressed with the students, the way they act in the classroom and the clear interest in what they are learning," Pats said.
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Pats said he was pleased with the organization structure in classrooms and the wide use of technology, especially that all students had access to it.
Kamaeva said she appreciated the efforts of the nursing faculty, and the university as a whole, so the delegation could have the opportunity to learn about the teaching process at medical facilities and educational institutions.
Fomina hopes more DSU faculty can visit Krasnoyarsk to learn about the hospital structure there. Pats said he would like to see further collaboration on research projects.
"The demands of today require us to move forward, and we'll try to do our best to develop and implement some of what we've seen so far and introduce new elements into teaching nurses," Pats said.
