Lodi Memorial nurse has chance to visit foreign hospitals

The plane touched down in St. Petersburg, Russia at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 27. It was 60 degrees and sunny outside. As nervous chatter filled the air, Millie Brown could feel the excitement.

"We were so tired, but it was exciting," she said.

Brown, a charge nurse in the surgery department at Lodi Memorial Hospital, along with 49 other nurses from the U.S. were invited to visit Russia and Poland as part of the People to People Citizen Ambassador Programs in late September.

Brown received her invitation in February from the Association of Operating Room Nurses.

"I was excited. I felt so privileged," she said.

"It was by her reputation that she was chosen," said Carol Farron, spokeswoman for Lodi Memorial Hospital.

The main focus of the 10-day trip, which ran from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5, was to exchange ideas with professionals at some of their institutions, said Brown. The group of 50 visited the Nursing Education Institute of the St. Petersburg Pavlov State Medical University, Leningradsky Oblast Regional Hospital, Poland Ministry of Health and the Main Chamber of the nurses and midwives.

The Children's Health Institute is the largest pediatric hospital in Poland and serves approximately 23,000 children annually. (Courtesy photo)

"When we were sharing with foreign nurses, we tried to mingle with different people and talk about work," said Brown.

In the evenings, the group would go to dinner and then attend concerts or shows such as "Swan Lake" and a Chopin piano concert. Other points of interest during the trip included the Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Spilled Blood and the Hermitage Museum.

While visiting the Nursing Educational Institute of the St. Petersburg Pavlov State Medical University, Brown said the technology appeared to be really old. Due to a nursing shortage, there were only one scrub nurse and one circulator nurse to cover several rooms.

On the second day, the group visited the Leningradsky Oblast Regional Hospital, which is considered the largest regional hospital in Russia. The hospital, which just celebrated its 70th anniversary, is a 1,000 bed facility that cares for acute and seriously ill patients. Seventy-five percent of its patients were surgical patients, which Brown said she found interesting.

Brown found that the hospitals in Russia were very clean and the lobbies reminded her of hotels. The rooms were occupied by four patients at a time. The length of stay in a hospital for procedures such as removing tonsils or adenoids is five days.

Farron added that the length of stay here is only three or four hours.

What is the People to People Citizen Ambassador Programs?

Provides foreign educational travel experiences for professionals in selected avocations.

Through seminars, humanitarian efforts and cultural activities, participants connect with their professional counterparts overseas.
Source: Millie Brown

The patient-to-nurse ratio in Russia during the night, Brown said, is one nurse to 40 patients. And during the day, there are three or four nurses per 40 patients. In contrast, the patient ratio at Lodi Memorial is one nurse to four patients, 24 hours-aday.

On the sixth day of the trip, the group went to Warsaw, Poland, where they visited the medical hospital and the children's hospital.

The atmosphere at the medical hospital, Brown said, didn't appear to be quite as sanitary as it is here. The nurses' hats were not on completely and their hair was hanging out. Also, their masks, she said, were not fully on.

"Here, they are required to clean the surgical room, and staff must dress a certain way," said Farron. "You would never be able to clean a surgical site with a ponytail hanging down."

The children's hospital had a classroom on each floor and the age groups were divided and separated onto each floor. Brown felt it was the most fascinating part of the trip.

"The way the doctors took time to talk to us, you could tell they are dedicated," she said.

Nursing students in Poland earn bachelor's degrees and then can earn a master's degree from one of 11 universities. The biggest difference in the education is that the government pays for 100 percent of the degree.

"That would be what I'd be envious of," she said.

She felt that one of the best things about the trip was the camaraderie she felt with the other nurses.

"I came back with a feeling of graciousness. It was just 50 women talking shop with no frustrations," she said.

Brown started her nursing career in Washington and then came to California. She has been involved with the Association for Operating Room Nurses since 1971. Through her involvement, she taught in the hospital and also helped to set up chapters.

"When I left Washington for California I thought I would retire," she said.

Since then, she has been a certified nurse in the operating room at Lodi Memorial Hospital for almost 20 years.

"It is a really rigorous certification," said Farron. "She is the creme de la creme."

At Lodi Memorial Hospital, Brown served as a circulatory nurse, meaning she serves as a patient advocate for the physical and verbal needs of the patient. Her job was to make sure the patients were warm and in the correct position. She also worked in quality management and in the surgical care improvement program, where she monitored the preand post-operative items that measure the quality of care for patients. She also helped to build the computerized nursing system. Currently, she is a charge nurse and is responsible for preparing patients for surgery.

Brown said she enjoyed the trip enough that she would go again, but currently has no plans to go in the future.

"For me, once out of my lifetime is special," she said.

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