During Spring Term 2025, Dr. Petr Ruda and Dr. Michael Thomas led a group of 13 BYU nursing students to Czechia as part of the Global & Population Health Nursing Clinical Practicum. The goal was to learn nursing from a different cultural perspective, working with professionals and engaging with patients and students, all while sharing the divine light of Christ.
The students spent the mornings in the clinical setting, where they were mentored by professionals. Students observed how they carry out their procedures and took note of small differences, and similarities, between what they knew from the U.S. and what Czech healthcare prioritized.
Why go through the effort to watch a Czech nurse at work?
Simple. It’s about increasing what Dr. Ruda calls “the global mindset.” Learning about healthcare across the world gives students skills they wouldn’t otherwise develop, and he says it impacts “the way students adapt to a new setting,” whether it be a new clinic, new team member, or even a new home.
Eliza Allen, who is going into her fifth semester of nursing school, explained the type of clinical work the group did each day. Though legal restrictions prohibited them from participating in excessive hands-on care, they observed professionals in their element and made connections with patients and staff in other ways.
She remarked that, while there were differences between healthcare in the U.S. and Czechia, she “expected it to be more different.” She did notice small deviations, like having more open windows in Czech hospitals and expecting patients to shower themselves. These differences helped her realize that there’s not just one correct way to care for patients.
“I was motivated to think outside of the box. There’s lots of different ways to do medicine or small things that can be changed,” Eliza reflected. “We should never get ‘set in our ways.’”
Aside from clinical learning, interacting with Czech people gave students an even more important realization: bridges can be built between anyone at any time. Eliza said that she wasn’t sure how their group would bond with people they met due to language and cultural barriers, but they overcame these obstacles through love and determination.
During Eliza’s time in Czechia, she met many Ukrainian refugees including a doctor who now practices in Czechia. Eliza previously served a mission in Ukraine for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was able to use her experience to make incredible connections with them. She was in the right place at the right time to share light with people in a time of need.
Students and faculty also made a special effort to let the light they carried with them shine throughout the practicum experience. While the language barrier between English and Czech limited students’ communication in some ways, they went the extra mile to show patients they cared in nonverbal ways.
Dr. Ruda recalls one moment in particular when students were assisting an older patient who used two canes to walk due to a leg issue. He struggled on his way, taking slow, carefully calculated steps, and students wanted to encourage him and celebrate his effort.
They gathered on either side of the man and made an “victory tunnel” for him to pass through. This simple act demonstrated their love for him and their desire to go above and beyond.
This didn’t go unnoticed by the Czech healthcare professionals. They remarked to the professors that “there was something different about the students” and that the group “had a special light.” This, of course, wasn’t news at all to Dr. Ruda.
“Yes, [they’re] nursing students, but that doesn’t change the fact that [they] have this knowledge of the restored gospel [of Jesus Christ],” Dr. Ruda stated.
This was the eleventh year of the Czechia Global & Population Health Practicum, and Dr. Ruda intends for there to be many more. Echoing a sentiment he had heard from the students involved, Dr. Ruda said that “[this practicum] is our opportunity to show who we are and what BYU College of Nursing is about”.