Thompson makes most of The Alaska Experience

Megan Thompson, daughter of Bob and Lori Thompson, spent her spring break, March 8th-18th in Alaska as part of “The Alaska Experience.” The Alaska Experience is a capstone, elective, or community health nursing option for traditional undergraduate nursing students at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN. 

This experience explores the role of the nurse in culturally diverse communities, rural, and remote locations. Through this course, the student nurse has the opportunity to work alongside school nurses, public health nurses, as well as nurses in hospitals and clinics that serve rural, vulnerable, or underserved populations in Alaska. 

During their time in Alaska, the students also have opportunities to participate in cultural awareness workshops, tours of critical access hospitals, the Southcentral Foundation clinic, and the Alaska Native Medical Center. 

In just one more month, Megan will graduate from The College of St. Scholastica with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Every major has something that closes it out; in this case, The Alaska Experience was Megan’s final clinical rotation.

Each student was asked to recap some of the venture in an online blog. The following excerpts and highlights were taken from Megan’s blog, which can be found in its entirety, at thealaskaexperience.weebly.com/megan-t

Friday, March 9, 2018 - Anchorage, AK

After arriving late on Thursday night, we had a full day of tours and presentations planned for Friday at multiple areas at Southcentral Foundation and at the Alaska Native Heritage Center.

During the presentation we learned that Southcentral Foundation is a healthcare organization that provides free healthcare to Alaska Native and American Indian people who live in Anchorage and outside villages that are within the Anchorage service unit. This organization is federally based but is owned by the Native people. Also on the campus, and jointly owned, was the Native Medical Center, which is a hospital that serves the entire Alaska Native and American Indian populations. While on tours, this campus was truly incredible and filled with beauty….with windows looking out towards the mountains and had traditional artwork displays on every floor. 

Authentic Alaskan food is served for the patients, such as seal meat or reindeer stew. By trying to incorporate history and things common to the different villages, it hopefully allows patients to feel more comfortable while in the hospital or in Anchorage. This is important because for many people traveling from the villages, this may be their first time in Anchorage and the cars and tall buildings may result in a culture shock and increased stress.

We also had a presentation in the Traditional Healing Center of Southcentral Foundation. Here there is a large focus on healing touch, especially when focusing on chronic pain, and the use of healing through stories, which focuses on counseling and behavior health. I think the most interesting part of this presentation is how well the traditional healing center and the primary care clinic worked together to integrate care instead of fighting against their different viewpoints. Both departments truly recognized the role that each other played and I think this was great to see because often the differences between traditional medicine and hospital based medicine cause strong disagreements. 

Saturday, March 10, 2018 – Tekeetna, AK

Today was an excursion day to Tekeetna, AK, for a dog sled tour. As we drove in, we were greeted by many Alaskan huskies. As they got the harnesses out, the dogs became so excited; it was easy to tell how much they loved to run. Two of us students and one musher went out on each sled and went through the field, some trees, and around a loop that they had groomed so the snow was not too deep. The view was spectacular and we were able to look out to the mountains on this warm sunny day. Our musher explained that sometimes when the sky was completely clear you could see Denali (Mt. McKinley) but this day it was too cloudy for it to be visible.

The dogs all belonged to Dallas Seavey, four-time Iditarod winner. The last thing we saw on our tour was his Iditarod trophies, which were displayed in the shed. The dogs that they used to run the tours were dogs that Dallas had previously raced and won with and who had started to retire as well as younger ones who were just learning from the older ones. 

After this experience, we drove up the road a little ways to Talkeetna, which is a small touristy town. Today was our last full day together as a large group as some students will start heading to other sites after our day at Seward tomorrow. I will be heading to Iguigig early Monday morning for my first bit of Alaska capstone experiences.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018 - Iguigig, AK

Yesterday we traveled to Iguigig, AK, which is a small Yupik village. We took two small planes out to the village, which is the only way to get to the village, as they are not on the Alaska road system. Upon arrival we had one clinic appointment and spent the rest of the day visiting with those in the village and walking around the village. This village is very self-sufficient. In the summer they have green houses that they have created to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. 

Today we also went on a home visit to an elder and we did a well child exam on a two-year old from the village. 

The village has gotten a grant to teach the Yupik language to the village and have started doing beginner classes with the adults and the school children as well as starting immersion classes with the younger kids. We went to one of the Yupik immersion classes this morning, which consisted of an elder and teacher who were speaking in strictly Yupik and four kids, who were about two years old, who would say some words and short songs in Yupik. 

Lastly, today we did health presentations at the school. To the high schoolers (9 children altogether) we taught about drinking/Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and healthy living/Diabetes. With the elementary kids (7 children altogether) we taught about healthy living/Diabetes and did a hand washing activity. 

Thursday, March 15, 2018 - Anchorage AK (Southcentral Foundation)

Today I spent the day at Southcentral Foundation in a primary care clinic. While here, I worked with a registered nurse in the role of a case manager and got to see their integrated care team first hand. My time at Southcentral was interesting and I think the biggest thing I learned was how important care coordination is for patients because it usually results in more effective care and prevention. 

As far as the rest of my trip, tomorrow I will be spending the day at the high school Alaska State Basketball tournament tabling and providing information about the harmful effects of tobacco. Then Saturday, we will have most of the day for exploration and are planning to go to Alyeska for snowshoeing and cross country skiing before we begin our departure back to Minnesota with our flight leaving at 1:30 Sunday morning. 

Up next

Megan has completed her capstone hours at Essentia Health in the Intermediate Care Unit in Duluth. She is preparing for her Senior Nursing Pinning Ceremony on May 11th. She will be graduating with Summa Cum Laude honors on May 12th. This summer, she will be studying to take her NCLEX (Boards) and applying for jobs in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.