On Wednesday Mrs Miller took six of us out to Whitireia for the morning to learn all about Nursing. We met the tutors and saw all the facilities at the Porirua Campus. They have the classroom set up like a real hospital with beds and all the equipment. There are mannequins of adults and children that students can interact with to learn how to diagnose illness and practice how to care for them. You could listen to their heart and talk to them and the mannequins gave you feedback.

We put on virtual reality goggles and saw a skeleton with different parts highlighted by the tutor.

We put an orange lotion on our hands and looked at them under a UV light to see the germs. We washed our hands and checked again. We could see if we had been successful in washing all the germs off. We took each other's blood pressure and got to listen to each other's heart.

We found out about the kinds of skills and interests you need to make a good nurse and also the school subjects that are useful to study. We discussed the changing role of the nurse. At Whitireia you can study a 3 year degree in Nursing, Maori or Pasifika Nursing and Enrolled Nursing which takes less time.

I enjoyed the talk and all the activities we got to take part in.