Harm Reduction in Amsterdam

Final year Nursing Students who have completed (or due to complete) NURX3003 Managing Complexity in Nursing are eligible to participate on this opportunity. There is a maximum of 20 places available, with a minimum of 15 participants required for this opportunity to take place. Students are recommended to check the eligibility criteria before applying.

The Netherlands are key players in public health prevention programmes, especially those relating to sexual health care, HIV, and drug use. Dutch intervention strategies are based on a public health harm-reduction model rather than a criminal activity perspective, which has translated into better health outcomes for its citizens. This visit will provide an opportunity for nursing students to learn more about different public health promotion perspectives and to compare and contrast UK and Dutch health care policies, especially in relation to sex work and drug use.

The range of proposed visits will explore topics such as anatomy and physiology, in the BodyWorlds exhibition students will have the opportunity to explore the impact of our choices on our physical body. The quest for love and happiness dominates our lives, but what defines whether we are happy or not? And what is the effect of happiness on our body? BODY WORLDS: The Happiness Project explores these questions throughout the seven levels of the exhibition where students can examine the human body dissected and displayed.

Another visit is to the City Drug Consumption rooms where students can tour the facility with a guide and explore how Dutch service users are supported to engage in harm reduction and the safer, supervised consumption of street drugs. Complexity will be explored including the co-morbidity of drug, alcohol and mental illness as well as HIV and other Blood Borne Viruses.

Students will also attend the Prostitute Information Centre where they will receive a talk from a Dutch sex worker who will discuss her reasons for choosing sex work, and how she manages her physical and mental wellbeing and the impact her work has on others, in particular those who may not have access to sex and intimacy. History and Societal attitudes will be explored following this in the Musuem of Prostitution which is nearby.

Learning Objectives

Participating in a DMU Global opportunity can help you develop knowledge, skills and competencies that enhance your studies. The objectives of this trip to Amsterdam are:

There will be opportunities to meet and discuss the trip amongst the groups that it will be open to, to discuss and outline the trip. There will also be photographs and feedback presented from previous trips to outline the expectations and prepare the students for the learning.

Cultural Activities

While in Amsterdam, students will have the opportunity to visit a wide range of cultural activities in their free time. Possible visits could include the NEMO Science Museum, Anne Frank House, the National Holocaust Museum, and the Museum Vrolik Academic Medical center.

Travel to the Netherlands is permitted according to the travel rules for England as listed on UK Government website. Further guidance can be found on the FCDO webpage for the Netherlands.

All students that are offered a place on this DMU Global opportunity will receive further COVID-19 advice and guidance by email and in pre-departure briefing sessions. More details and COVID-19 Travel Information can be found here.