Having previously completed a Bachelor of Nursing in China, Mia was originally only planning on being in New Zealand for a year on a working holiday visa. She travelled around the country, having chosen New Zealand as her OE destination after seeing pictures on the internet and thinking it was an incredibly beautiful country.
Her year in New Zealand inspired her to come back to study and she decided to do a Bachelor of Nursing in New Zealand so she could be confident in New Zealand’s practices, as well as taking the chance to improve her English.
Prior to moving to Invercargill to begin studying at SIT, Mia had only briefly passed through on her travels to Stewart Island. She enjoys the lifestyle here as she prefers a quieter way of life, outside of the big cities and the living costs in Invercargill are very affordable.
Mia came to SIT on the suggestion of a friend, as they had recommended the Bachelor of Nursing programme. Her experience studying here was quite different to studying in China. She prefers the way nurses are trained at SIT saying, “In China, you just follow the doctor’s instructions and aren’t required to do much in the way of critical thinking”. In New Zealand, a lot more practical training is given and it is more hands on, which she enjoys.
“SIT provided a very supportive environment in which to study. Every month the international students had a one on one meeting with the tutors to make sure we were getting on ok and to see if there was anything else they could do to support us better.”
Mia is now working at Peace Haven Village Rest Home. The manager at one of her placements gave her a glowing recommendation which helped her to gain the position. Mia’s work routine now includes taking care of elderly patients, creating nursing care plans, informing the care workers how to provide appropriate care to the residents and providing quality life care for end of life patients.
Her future plans include applying for New Zealand residency and at some stage going on to complete post graduate study.