Internship in Turku

Paula Kreuzer vietti Turussa hoitotieteen laitoksella syksyn 2022 suorittaen opintoihinsa liittyvän työharjoittelun.

As part of my studies, I was looking for an internship in Finland in the health sector. I was very interested in how the work in a research group works and how the healthcare system works in Finland in general. I have applied to the research group of the Empowering Patient Education in the Nursing Department of the University of Turku. I was so happy when I got the feedback that I can come for 8 weeks between September and October.

I was given a very warm welcome, first through correspondence when I was still in Germany and later when I physically arrived. I was totally happy about it and felt very warmly welcome. At the same time, I was still a bit nervous until the start of the internship, whether everything would go well and whether something else would come up. However, nothing came in between. I was also very lucky that my boyfriend is doing a year abroad here in Turku and we went on a road trip together through Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Finland. When we came here we first enjoyed the beautiful nature and the long sunsets. The internship started the next day and I was warmly welcomed in the reception hall by Saija from the Department of Nursing Science. She showed me everything and gave me a lovely introduction to everything to do with the department. I was very enthusiastic about how well everything was thought through and I felt very warmly welcomed. Saija also gave me a little present at the first day. It was typical finish chocolate, a rice cake and some licorice candy. It was so sweet of her. When I tried the rice cake I thought hmm interesting it doesn`t taste bad. But I wasn`t fully into it yet. But now after a time staying here I eat those rice cakes almost every day and I love them. I probably will miss them a lot, when I am going back home.

Everyone in the department was very nice, I was introduced to everyone right away and everyone was very interested in me and my mission here. Everyone had asked me beforehand whether I already spoke finish or whether the Finns could also speak English. I didn’t know that beforehand, but I was really lucky because everyone in the department spoke a lot of English to me. I thought that was great and it was also a nice exercise for me to find my way back into the English language. At the same time, I also had the chance to look at various institutions, such as the children’s ward and a prevention project in schools. I was always asked if I was interested in these things and would like to take part, and everything was very nicely organized for me. I was even asked if I would like to take two university courses at the University of Turku. There was the EPE course (Empowering Patient Education) and the ELENE course (Empowering Learning Environments in Nursing Education). These were both absolutely amazing courses and I was so excited to have the opportunity to take both of these courses.

A bit later in the internship period we started researching for a scientific article on the subject of Nursing Management and Leadership. I found and still find it super exciting to be part of this process and to work together on this project. I can warmly recommend Turku to anyone who would like to come to Finland. It’s so nice there and the people are very warm and friendly. I felt super cared for.

Paula Kreuzer

Bachelor student of Public Health

Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany