I am delighted and grateful to #Saastamoisen_Säätiö sr – Saastamoinen Foundation for 
the funding which facilitated my researcher exchange to #Deakin_University in Victoria, #Melbourne, #Australia for five weeks in October-November 2022.
My visiting destination was the Institute of Health Transformation and the Centre for Quality and Patient Safety research (QPS). 
The visit preparations started before Covid-19 pandemic. I came across with Deakin Professor Julie Considine and Professor Judy Currey while they were lecturing in Finland. We had a chat on a coffee break and I found out that they were colleagues of Professor Elizabeth Manias who I was already previously keen to meet one day; We have a common study focus of “medication related communication”. Julie and Judy kindly advised me how to apply for an exchange period into Deakin Uni and they conveyed my message to Professor Manias. This distant dream finally came true after two years’ delay due to the pandemic. Thus, it was worth writing down this “unlikely dream” to my original study plan in the first place!
My principal hosts during the visit were experienced patient safety researchers Professor Elizabeth Manias and Professor Tracey Bucknall. The exchange collaboration included co-authorship of one scientific article with the professors and Professor Vehviläinen-Julkunen and Associate Professor Härkänen from UEF.
Elizabeth and Tracey kindly organized an interesting program for the exchange period. I had an amazing opportunity to network with several highly skilled patient safety and communication researchers. QPS has over 80 researchers plus doctoral students, who deliver around 250 scientific articles per year (QPS annual report, 2021). I managed to arrange personal meetings with many researchers, but also enjoyed several collective researchers’ events with a variety of researchers. For example, Associate Professor Debra Kerr has been studying if communication training for nurses should be standardized (Kerr, Martin, Furber, Winterburn, Milnes, Nielsen and Strachan, 2022).
I was offered to attend LUMA institute’s “Shared decision-making methods” training, which continues now via Zoom.
I participated in a 4-days researcher conference of SoNM (School of Nursing and Midwifery) where there were over 40 scientific presentations by PhD- and Master’s students, Doctors, and Professors. I had the privilege to present my own doctoral study also at the conference, which was a great learning experience in a friendly atmosphere.
The SoNM conference included training about systematic literature review by Professor Brigid Gillespie from Griffith University and NVivo workshop by Professor Linda Sweet from Deakin University. The discussions about research with several academic colleagues helped me to map post doc research ideas and possibilities for future collaboration between the Departments of Nursing Science in Deakin and UEF. I was able to initiate patient-safety-researcher networks to universities in AU, but also to Danmark, Iran, Ethiopia, and Mexico. In addition, the Deakin networking helped me to find potential collaboration links to Netherlands and Canada.
Professor Julie Concidine, Chair In Nursing Eastern Health and Director of research unit, kindly arranged an interesting visit to Box Hill Hospital for a Danish doctoral exchange student Helen and me. We met members of Julie’s research group and visited a couple of units and discussed with their directors and staff regarding medication management practices, digital solutions, staff retention challenges and solutions during pandemic times. The challenges have been similar type to Finland and Denmark. 
However, the differences in solutions seemed to be the higher compensations to nurses taking care of Covid patients, free meals during the working shift plus offers of free continuing professional development courses in higher education. This is meaningful, as AU nurses need to gain a certain number of training credits per certain period of time to keep their nursing license effective.
In Melbourne, according to my understanding, many of the professors are mainly working as directors of the research units within hospitals or hospital districts and having a smaller percentage of contract in UNI than in hospital – contrary to Finland, where we have the opposite proportions of working hours for professors, or professors work full time in UNI. In Melbourne the research units are interprofessional and they are often responding straight to the local clinical evidence needs. Thus, remarkable part of the scientific research is aiming to give answers straight to clinicians.
The research results improve front line clinical work by giving evidence base for decision making for local managers and directors – They are studying for example “How effective it is to use ultrasound cannulation method compared to traditional cannulation?”(Schoch, Bennett, Currey, Smith, Orellana and Hutchinson, 2022) or “How effective is nurses’ training intervention for recognizing and reporting patients’ deterioration in their organization?” (Bucknall, Considine, Harvey, Graham, Rycroft-Malone,Mitchell, Saultry, Watts, Mohebbi, Bohingamu Mudiyanselage, Lotfaliany and Hutchinson, 2022) or “How interprofessional and intraprofessional communication occures when managing older patients’ medications during care transitions” (Manias, Bucknall, Woodward-Kron, Hughes, Jorm, Ozavci and Joseph, 2021) or “How do the family members perceived ICU care and communication during the pandemic” (Digby, Manias, Haines, Orosz, Ihle and Bucknall, 2022).
And which were the key take home messages from my exchange?
Nursing research is highly respected, well-funded, effectively led and collaborated in Melbourne, Australia, and it concentrates strongly on intervention and effectiveness research. One of the main aims is to translate research results into practice. The research areas are discussed openly, results shared, awarded, and celebrated actively and projects developed in wide researcher and clinician collaboration. Diverse level students, Post Docs and professors have common local conferences, where they can network and learn from each other as a researcher community.
People in Australia are truly kind and helpful. Infrastructure is very modern but green aspects are taken into consideration even around skyscrapers. Air B & B accommodation within a family was a pragmatic and cost-efficient solution but also a great way to get to know local culture, warm-hearted people, lovely garden, wild and pet animals and beautiful houses in family housing areas!
The Deakin visit was full of amazing new experiences and contacts. I can warmly recommend exchange periods to Melbourne, and to encourage different level researchers and students to build exchange dreams – the dreams might come true!
Best Regards,
Tiina
Tiina Syyrilä, Doctoral researcher, University Teacher, MSc, RN
Department of Nursing Science, UEF
Kahdeksas kansainvälinen hoitotyön koulutus 
riittämättömänä, tuoden esiin, että tulosten julkaisu ei enää ole riittävää, vaan tänä päivänä entistä enemmän tulee kiinnittää huomiota tulosten implementointiin ja ennen kaikkea niiden vaikutuksiin. Väitettään hän perusteli muun muassa Yhdistyneessä Kuningaskunnassa toteutetulla Research Excellence Framework (REF) evaluoinnilla, jonka tulokset ovat mahdollistaneen lähes 2 miljardin punnan vuosittaisen allokoinnin maiden yliopistoille. McKennan mukaan on kohtuullista, että hallitukset odottavat näyttöä tutkimusten vaikutuksista, jotka on toteutettu julkisilla varoilla tai niiden tuella. Hän peräänkuuluttikin yliopistoilta tapaustutkimuksia, joissa tarkastelun kohteena on aiemman tutkimustiedon vaikutukset. McKenna oli tarkastellut konferenssiin lähetettyjä satoja abstrakteja ja totesi, että vain 20:ssa tutkimuksen vaikuttavuus oli selkeästi osoitettu.
Osallistuin 1.9.2022 etäyhteyksin henkilökunnan esittelytilaisuuteen uusille opiskelijoille. Oli hienoa nähdä niin monia innostuneita tulevaisuuden hoitotieteen kehittäjiä ja yhteiskunnallisia vaikuttajia. Itselläni tuosta tilanteesta ei ole vielä kovinkaan pitkä aika, sillä valmistuin vuonna 2019 terveystieteiden opettajaksi. Omat ajatukseni maisteriopintojen aikaan tulevaisuuden työstäni olivat melko putkinäköisiä keskittyen ammattiopiston tai ammattikorkeakoulun opettajan työhön. Valmistumiseni kynnyksellä sain työtarjouksen hoitotieteen laitokselta projektitutkijan tehtävään, ja nopeasti jo työn alkuvaiheessa aloin suunnitella terveystieteiden jatko-opintoja. Olen ollut enemmän kuin tyytyväinen päätökseeni ja uravalintaani.
I’m Salvatore Gigantino, an Exchange Erasmus student from Italy who spent 4 months at the Department of Nursing Science, University of Eastern Finland in 2021. My experience in Finland, even though so short and I’d have liked to spend more time, was phenomenal: I met a lot of other Erasmus students like me coming from a lot of parts of the world and we shared each other a lot of study’s moments and fun times. I really appreciated that the University with its associations has offered numerous chances to participate in a lot of events: the visit to Koli National Park, the trip to Lapland, the disco parties and more. All of that has enhanced and made this experience so global and complete. 
Studying was satisfying because it was always possible confrontations among us as students during the lessons or to make assignments- I had some group assignments so sharing with others was essential- and also, not less important, the confrontations with the teachers. I found kind and friendly people every time who not only have made my staying here easier but also more interesting and more stimulating. I learned a lot through them and also, learned more about myself. 
I considered myself very lucky until now, but my fortune was more because I was capable to admire the boreal aurora three times and it was spectacular, I saw three different types of aurora in different places but seeing this event left me every time breathless just like the first time. It was my dream to be able to see it and its realization in front of my eyes was awesome, I didn’t believe to make it.
Salvatore Gigantone, 
Blogin kirjoittaja: Elisabeth Kokko, TtM opiskelija, 
Meneillään olevat terveydenhuollon ja kliinisen hoidon toimintaympäristön muutokset sekä pula osaavasta hoitohenkilöstöstä haastavat uudistamaan johtamista koko organisaation tasolla, myös hoitotyön johtamista. Lisäksi Covid-19 pandemia on asettanut suuria haasteita niin hoitohenkilökunnalle kuin hoitotyön johtajille. Keskusteluun ovat nousseet kriisijohtaminen, ja poikkeusoloihin varautuminen, sekä henkilöstön työssä jaksamisen tukeminen ja huomioiminen työpaineiden alla. Rakenneuudistusten lisäksi myös johtamiskulttuuri on muutoksen edessä. Keskustelukulttuuri ja vuorovaikutus kuuluvat osana moderniin johtamiseen. Tyypillisesti suomalaisen johtamisen piirteisiin ei ole kuulunut keskustelun ylläpitäminen, eli että asioista puhutaan avoimesti ja että kysymyksiin haetaan useita erilaisia näkökulmia ja ratkaisuja.
I made my Registered Nurse degree in Helsinki City Nursing School. I remember walking Lääkärinkatu to Laakso Hospital (school located there) and thinking, that one day I will study nursing science. I started my nursing career in Helsinki University Hospital, specialized in surgical care and working in coronary surgical ward and ICU in Meilahti. It was great time and I really liked work as a RN, but soon nursing science and health management studies brought me in Kuopio. Nurse manager position and different development duties in Kuopio University Hospital prepared me to my next step, university career. After different phases in UEF I am a professor in Preventive Nursing Science. I also have been working as a vice head of department several years and now I started as a head of department.
My previous work experience in university includes many aspects, research in international and national groups and networks and teaching. International research and collaboration are very close to me and must be for every researcher. I have been very privileged to have several visiting researcher periods at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, which has been important for my career and even personally, creating new friendships. I also like to highlight some other collaborators, Kansas University, USA and Medical University of Warsaw, Poland and collegues in Italy and Uganda. I am also a member of 
As a head of department my goals are to strengthen and support research activities based on our strategy, teaching and take care of good spirit of department. New and innovative research ideas are warmly welcome. Excellent research is a good basic for high quality teaching. Our skillful staff is already doing all this, but always we can be better.
There is life outside work. I love summer and activities of it. Gardens at home and summerhouse make me busy, it is relaxing to see how the new experiments grow up and old species give the big harvest.
Sonkajärvi, which I am very proud of, I learnt early to bake special crepes (in Finnish muurinpohjalettu). They are my specialty; our staff and many international visitors have enjoyed them. Sitting more than an hour in smokesauna by summerhouse is something I really miss in winter. Summer is also time to meet family members, friends and organize crepe parties with neighbors and group of old collegues from the hospital.
One special hobby, following NHL hockey, I found when I visited first time in Pittsburgh 2009. It is very clear: I am a Penguins fan!
More than 40 years Nursing Science in Kuopio, first in Finland, motivates all of us to continue and renovate our research, teaching and visibility. Last words to you, who are considering to study Nursing Science in Kuopio, it will be a good choice. 
Best regards, Tarja Kvist
Terhi Saaranen: 
In my free time I enjoy sports in a different form. Especially skiing is relaxing in the winter My children (my son 18 years old and my daughter 10 years old) also enjoy sports in various forms and our whole family can often be skiing or other sports on the weekends.
