Recipient of the Stanford International Exchange Fellowship
I currently serve as Operating Room Patient Care Manager for Orthopaedic Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. I want to express my gratitude for the generous support provided by ASIAM for my being able to travel to Bangkok, Thailand with Dr. Christopher Mow from July 1 through July 7, 2013. Dr. Mow approached me earlier in the year to invite me to visit Thailand to participate in the Stanford Orthopaedic International Exchange Program, and I said yes immediately.
During my stay in Bangkok, I visited three hospitals, Siriraj, Chulalongkorn, and Bangkok Hospital. At each hospital I was warmly welcomed, toured in the operating rooms, and gave a presentation to the nursing staff. My presentations focused on the advancement and recognition of perioperative nursing as a specialty. I was invited by the Thai Perioperative Nursing Association (TPNA) to speak at their annual conference July 7. On Saturday, the 6th, I was a guest of the TPNA, and was able to get to know many of the committee members. The following day, I gave my presentation, “Maximizing Patient Safety and Cost Effectiveness in the OR: The Challenge for the Future,” to a very large group of Thai perioperative nurses.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak and collaborate with these excellent nurses, and to be able to represent my hospital, profession, and country. While I was there, I was able to see clearly that as healthcare professionals, we all speak the same language, with excellent patient care the primary goal. We fell easily into conversation regarding our practice, and noted how similar our methods of patient care are. I have since made many new professional acquaintances, and going forward plan to share and exchange knowledge and concepts pertinent to elevating our perioperative nursing specialty. It is also my hope that some of my colleagues in Thailand might be able to visit Stanford so that we can show them the same gracious hospitality I was afforded in their country.