Story and photos by Jennifer Scales
Columbia VA Health Care System Public Affairs
Nurse Practitioner (NP) and Physician Assistant (PA) students from The Netherlands were again greeted this year by comparable mentors of the Columbia VA Health Care System (CVAHCS) during the week of March 25.
For some of the physician assistants and nurse practitioners, coming to America was their first-time visit. As Inge de Croos, an NP from Heereugoward said, “This is just so good…a very sweet visit.” Croos will be honing her skills toward working as a nurse practitioner in a nursing home when she returns to The Netherlands.
Mentoring Croos in the Columbia VA Health Care System Community Living Center was Nurse Practitioner Stella Okeke. “This is good exposure for the students to get their training here, as this is one of the best facilities they could learn from,” Okeke said.
Ready to continue as an NP in pediatric neurology on her return to Amsterdam, Caroloa McDonald stated she felt so ‘welcome in all aspects’ at Dorn. Her mentor, a hospitalist nurse practitioner in medicine at CVAHCS, Linda Baker, had done mentoring to Dutch students in the past. “This is my second time and I would love to be a host in the future. I also love the exchange of ideas, as some are similar, and we offer suggestions for improvements on both sides,” Baker said.
Another student from Amsterdam is taking her PA skills to a more multidisciplinary approach in medicine. Irene Van Arum reflected on the common things that she found between here and the Netherlands staff. “It’s nice to see how the Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants are integrated,” Arum said. Her mentor, Nurse Practitioner Angela Darby, has welcomed and taken under her wing Dutch students for over eight years. “It’s always a joy to compare and watch as their roles have evolved between the two careers there in The Netherlands,” Darby said.
For Randy Wallace, Nurse Practitioner for the Pain Clinic in CVAHCS, this was a first-time mentoring experience for him to the European students. “This is very interesting in learning the difference in our Nurse Practitioner schools and the wide variety of services,” Wallace said. Montfoort native Angela Langerak, and a nurse practitioner in neurology who was paired with Wallace, was just as interested. “This is great and overwhelming in some areas, but I have come away with a great impression,” Langerak said.
Hoorn native Jet Neeft is taking her skills as a PA to work in an intensive care unit. “Everyone here has been so kind. The autonomy between the nurse practitioners and physician assistants is very organized,” Neeft said. Caroline Birchmore, Nurse Practitioner in the Emergency Department, and mentor to Neeft, has been a preceptor for University of South Carolina students. “The nurse practitioner role is expanding and becoming more accepted as an integral part of the medical field,” Birchmore said. “I charted these waters 27 years ago and it’s exciting to see this group charting new waters also.”
As the visit drew to an end, they spent one of their last days with CVAHCS’s Nurse Practitioner Dee Minor, who shared her experiences and adventures from her career.
“As the culture of medicine has changed, so have nurse practitioners,” Minor said.
Karen Scott, Associate Nurse Executive for Medicine, also gave the group some advice as the yearly visit was ending. “Be proactive and take some risks. Even though you are still evolving, you can still adopt a common value we have here known as servant leadership,” Scott said. “You also have to continue to believe in yourself.”