Ontario students gained real world experience over the weekend
photo by joana draghici
News Reporter
Humber nursing students held a strong voice against other Ontario colleges and universities in a simulated World Health Organization conference on Saturday.
“This conference promotes networking, advocacy, and encourages nursing students to find a voice,” said organizer Jennifer Yoon, a senior policy analyst for the Ministry of Health.
The conference attracts students interested in discussing global issues, with each representing and following
a chosen country’s structure and debate procedures of the real WHO.
“It is a chance for student nurses to share ideas with one another and to look at the broad picture of international problems,” said senior nursing officer, Maj. Steven Pirie from the Canadian Forces Medical Services School at Base Borden, a guest speaker at the conference.
Pirie represented the Security Council and announced a mock emergency alert on the last day of the conference, saying there was a fungal outbreak threatening the survival of crops in North Korea.
The students drafted and proposed resolutions, debating with other countries to find a solution.
“I just started the second year-entry program at Humber and thought this would be a good way to jump in, network, and learn about healthcare,” said first-time participant Vanessa Currie, who represented the United Kingdom.
McMaster nursing student, Louise Tedold, who immigrated from Uganda in 2003, said she was at the conference because it gave her an outlook on how nursing is related to leadership.
“This conference teaches you that you have a voice – if you can back it up, you can use it,” Tedold said. “It looks good to show you are an active member of the organization that governs the profession.”
Sponsored by names like the Canadian Red Cross, Centre for Research in Nursing Education, Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario and McCain, model-WHO is becoming a networking vehicle for nursing students.
“I want to do something that is on the frontlines as a nurse, seeing what it’s like to work in a hospital with patients directly,” said Currie. “This conference teaches that nursing can be even more than that.”