Thursday 19 November 2015. CSH Surrey hosted a Japanese nursing student for a day in practice with the school nurses in the 0-19 team. Yoshiko Hinoma, from Tokyo Metropolitan University, is a 4th year nursing student who will qualify in March 2016. Yoshiko has a particular interest in inter-professional education and wanted to see how community services in the UK differ from those in Japan.
On the day of Yoshiko’s visit the team went to three different schools to administer the new nasal flu vaccine to years 1 and 2. The vaccine, which has been previously available to children via their GP, is in its first year of a national rollout.
Kat Sealey, school nurse, says: "This was a great opportunity to compare new national innovations with similar provision in Japan. Yoshiko explained that Japan does not have a national flu campaign, although a vaccine is available at the GP surgery."
Yoshiko’s visit was arranged by Kingston and St George’s University of London as part of an ongoing exchange programme that has been in operation for 10 years. The vision of this programme is to improve evidence-based practice in both countries and to allow Japan to explore the way that the UK has developed and expanded nursing practice.