The Seventh U.S.-Russian Nursing Conference Cruise: One Participant's Perspective

Participating in the seventh U.S.- Russian Nursing Conference Cruise was a unique opportunity for American nurses to interact with nurses from Russia, South Africa, and Australia. In addition to the conference sessions, visiting a hospital and a hospice provided insight into health care in Russia. The announcement caught my eye. Two weeks in Russia, traveling on a riverboat from St. Petersburg to Moscow with conference sessions most days, sounded like an ideal opportunity to learn more about nursing in Russia. With some trepidation, my colleague and I decided to go, and immediately thought about what we had to offer. We submitted abstracts related to my research on the socialization of men into nursing, the grant-supported work that our nursing division has been doing on improving quality and safety in nursing education, and our accelerated second degree program. All of our abstracts were favorably received after revisions. The conference encompassed three formats: poster presentations, focused discussion groups, and podium presentations. The 30 participants included nurses from South Africa, Australia, Russia, and the United States. The U.S. nurses came from Kentucky, Texas, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Washington, Georgia, Louisiana, and Alabama, and included practicing nurses as well as academics. All sessions were bilingual, with excellent medical translators who were able to translate not only the words but also the concepts and nuances of nursing. One of the most interesting sessions was presented by Dorothy Otto, a professor from the University of Texas, on substance abuse in the nursing profession. As we discussed the problem of nurses who divert controlled substances, it became clear that this idea was strange to the Russian nurses in the session. They were asked about pain management and how nurses in Russia handled opioid medications. They told us that when a patient needs pain medicine, the nurse calls a central office and the nurse from there, accompanied by a security guard, brings the injection. What about patient-controlled analgesia? They had heard of it (and the translator was also familiar with it from a visit to the United States), but said that they would not use it because it wouldn't work there. Patients just could not be given control over their pain medication. On our visit to a hospital in Novgorod we spoke with hard-working nurses who routinely worked 24 -hour shifts. They said that if it was quiet during the night they could take a little rest on the couch near the nurses' station. We asked to see a patient's chart. There was no computerization and we were shown a few pieces of paper. There were no chart racks at the nurses' station, and none of the activity of physicians talking to nurses, visitors asking questions, and consultations with therapists that we are accustomed to even in small community hospitals. Patients had small cot-like beds, five or six to a room, so close together that they could easily touch each other. Privacy was nonexistent. Other highlights of the conference included a talk by the president of the Russian Nurses Association, which was formed in 1992 after the breakup of the Soviet Union. …