Qatar deserves the best

DOHA, Qatar—The title of this entry is the Qatar government slogan, posted liberally throughout the capital city of Doha. I have been here since 17 January, part of a journey that took me through Finland. This time, I recorded a series of podcasts that describe my trip in audio form, but don’t be too critical—I’m only learning.

Land of ice and snow

It seemed strange to be leaving the United Kingdom and heading to Turku in Finland, knowing that, ultimately, after returning briefly to London, I would be in Doha, Qatar. However, that was my itinerary. I left the UK in fairly cold conditions to arrive in a winter wonderland at Helsinki. The short flight to Turku, in the south of Finland, took me to a similar scene. I was told that the conditions were “unusual,” but I could not ascertain if they were unusually cold or unusually warm. Whatever the case, snow had been followed by rain, which was followed by a freeze, and Turku was like a massive ice rink. Walking anywhere was extremely dangerous, so I had to forget about running. Usually, I walk from my hotel to the the University of Turku, but this time, I was grateful for the transport there and back.

While in Turku, I delivered two sessions on psychometric methods to the Finnish Postgraduate Student School. I also had dinner and caught up on Scandinavian and European nursing issues with Helena Lieno-Kilpi, PhD, RN, professor and head of the Department at Nursing Science at the university, and Riita Suhonen, PhD, RN, also a professor in that department.

Qatar

This was my first visit to Qatar. The trip started at 4 a.m. in Finland (2 a.m. UK time) as I had to catch a very early flight from Turku to Helsinki before heading to London and then on to Qatar. This was my first experience with Qatar Airways and their new “Dreamliner,” plane, made by Boeing. There was hardly any noise on board, and the air-conditioning was good. If you are lucky enough to fly business class, there is a lounge at the rear where you can relax, as if being in business class is not sufficiently relaxing. I made no use of the lounge, as I slept for most of the flight.

Downtown Doha

I arrived in Doha at midnight, and my hotel—the Grand Hyatt—provided a limousine, complete with wireless, free Internet. Running was difficult in Doha, due to lack of pavements, but I found a path along the private beach and ran “reps” to get Qatar on my Garmin GPS webpage.

I was here, at the invitation of Richard Gray, PhD, RN, and Annie Topping, PhD, RN, to deliver sessions to staff members of the Hamad Medical Corporation on writing for publication. Annie and I “go back” exactly 30 years, to when I was a student nurse in London and she was the head nurse in the ward where I was doing management assessment.

Yours Truly with workshop participants at
Hamad Medical Corporation.

While in Qatar, I also gave sessions on writing for publication at a workshop sponsored by the British Council aimed at collaborative research proposals between the UK and Qatar, and also at the University of Calgary in Qatar. My visit concluded with a reception at the British Embassy that was hosted by His Excellency Nicholas Hopton and attended by British Council staff working in the region.

I arrived at the embassy compound without any form of identification. During the week, I had carried my passport with me at all times. I have been to embassies in the United Kingdom, United States, and Ireland, so I know “the drill.” The day may have been saved by Annie Topping, who suggested that they Google me! I don’t know if they did but, following a long time with colleagues on one side of the compound fence and me on the other, I was allowed in.

I am returning to Hull for one week, for supervisions and other meetings, before a three-week absence that will take me to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Italy. Naturally, you will read all about it.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.

From the land of the midnight sun

TURKU, Finland—The flight from Helsinki to Turku barely gets in the air before it lands in Turku. This very short flight takes you from the capital of Finland to the mouth of the river Aura on the nation’s southwest coast. Turku boasts a fine university, the University of Turku, which houses the Department of Nursing Science and an array of nursing scholars of truly stellar reputation in Europe and beyond, including Helena Leino-Kilpi, PhD, RN, Sanna Salanterä, PhD, RN, and Riitta Suhonen, PhD, RN. It is remarkable to find such talent in so small a department.

I, together with Ian Norman, PhD, RN, FEANS, my rival in editing and friend in research and scholarship, have been teaching writing-for-publication classes to Finnish postgraduate students—not all from Turku and not all in nursing. Norman is professor and associate dean of the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery at King’s College, London, and editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Nursing Studies. Over the years, I have researched, written, and published with him and have learned a great deal about acquiring research funding and managing research projects. The classes were challenging. These are some of the best research students in Scandinavia, and they questioned nearly every point we made. As usual, I came away realising that my ideas and my PowerPoints need further revision.

Compared with England and Ireland—I visited Ireland on the way here—the weather in Turku is superb. The British Isles are mostly shrouded in mist and still experiencing very cold weather despite the time of year, but Turku was 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) with bright sunshine that only receded for about three hours after midnight. This is, almost, the “land of the midnight sun.” I managed two runs along the Aura River, still navigable well into the town of Turku, where some splendid tall ships and lots of boats moored along the banks are used as bars and restaurants. Wednesday night in Turku is Harley-Davidson night, and I think that nearly 1,000 of them were parked along the river last night, with their riders—average age easily more than 60—admiring each other’s bikes.

Work continues wherever I am. When classes ended this morning, I spent the rest of the day in my hotel room in close contact via Skype and email with Parveen Ali, PhD, PG Cert (HE) RN, RM, my good colleague at Hull. She and I, together with our expert in orthopaedic nursing, Julie Santy-Tomlinson, MSc, RGN, RNT, were awarded a small amount of money by the Royal College of Nursing (of the United Kingdom) Society of Orthopaedic and Trauma Nursing to conduct a systematic review of acute lower limb compartment syndrome (ALCS). The work will inform a consensus conference of the society convened to produce nursing guidelines for detection and management of ALCS. The report is due to be submitted by 5 p.m. today. I think we made it.

The rest of the year is shaping up. I will be in Bahrain before the end of the month. Then, after a relatively quiet two months, August will find me in Taiwan and Australia. In October, I head, in quick succession, to Hong Kong and mainland China, returning to the United Kingdom between those trips to teach at my university. The China visit leads directly—after the longest Cathay Pacific flight of 18 hours—to Washington, D.C. for the annual meeting of the American Academy of Nursing. Next month, we should hear who the new fellows are, and I am hoping the list contains at least two international fellows who are well known to me. You will be the first to know.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.