• Thirteen second-year nursing students from Charles Sturt to travel to Cambodia to provide health care and education
• Students will also visit Phnom Penh to distribute 120 kits with reusable sanitary products to girls

Nursing students from Charles Sturt University (Charles Sturt) will provide education and screening for chronic diseases while learning international practices in Cambodia for two weeks.

Thirteen students from Charles Sturt in Wagga Wagga, Albury-Wodonga and Bathurst and studying online will travel to Cambodia on Sunday 3 November to work in rural communities providing screening and assessment for chronic diseases.

Students will then travel to Phnom Penh for the last day of their trip, where they will distribute 120 kits with reusable sanitary items to girls.

Lecturer with the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health in Wagga Wagga Mrs Amanda Moses said students will do more than learn about medical practices in lower socioeconomic countries.

The international placement is expected to give students a real-world understanding of the struggles of international medical systems by experiencing “grassroots primary health care”.

“It’s a cultural awakening,” Mrs Moses said.

“They are watching people practice with limited resources and they get a whole new appreciation for what we have here. It gets them thinking in different ways about health care.”

Students will provide education on diabetes, hypertension and living a healthy lifestyle.

Mrs Moses said students will develop critical thinking skills and cultural sensitivity, two crucial elements to providing quality health care.

Charles Sturt nursing students are given the opportunity to participate in international placements in their second and third years in a variety of countries including Cambodia, India and the Philippines.

“There are not many universities that offer this to their students,” Mrs Moses said.

Second-year Bachelor of Nursing student Miss Chloe Campbell helped Mrs Moses and fellow students to raise $1,500 to purchase the 120 kits of reusable sanitary products.

Other students sought donations of toothbrushes, toothpaste, medical equipment, toys and colouring books to give out at schools.

“I really want the experience of seeing another culture’s take on nursing to get a bit of perspective to see what happens when countries don’t have enough funds,” Miss Campbell said.

Miss Campbell is considering enrolling in the Joint Program in Medicine in Orange at the end of next year.

She said the problem-solving skills she expects to learn in Cambodia will assist how she enters the workforce as a nurse or doctor in years to come.

Charles Sturt partnered with Projects Abroad for this trip, which was aided by funding from the New Colombo Plan Mobility Program.

The Bachelor of Nursing will be offered for the first time at Charles Sturt in Port Macquarie for the first time from January 2020.