AI, Anxiety, and Irish Hospitality
By: David Zheng (Nursing ’27)
GRIP: Nursing Research in Dublin, Ireland
Nervously before my first day of work, I preplanned my attire as if it were the night before a school field trip and anxiously lied down as I played out every scenario in my head. Most notably, the one where I was imagining myself pulling all-nighters because of how much work I would be assigned the very first day. I mean, I am doing research after all. Is it not notoriously known to be full 40 hour work days and typing mindlessly all day long? Boy, was I wrong.
Immediately when I arrived at the GAS Building (Trinity College Dublin’s School of Nursing and Midwifery Building, still to this day I do not know why it is called GAS), I was greeted by extremely kind staff at TCD. These same educators were in fact our PIs of our research projects. We were talking over some tea and pastries, getting to know each other more. There was then a transition about work and I very quickly found out about the work culture in Ireland and was immediately eased of my anxieties. Our PIs at TCD helped to form a warm and welcoming environment where they assured us that we would be doing work, but not to the point where we will be burnt out. In other words, we would not have to pull all-nighters, which was a relief.
Throughout the beginning weeks, I was guided by my PI and was provided background knowledge of our research topic: Nursing Education and the Implementation of Artificial Intelligence. I was assigned a module to better understand the use of Artificial Intelligence as a whole, which allowed me to succeed in the next few steps of my role in the research project. I truly enjoyed how supportive my PI was throughout this journey and truly being understanding of the fact that there was a lot that I needed to learn from my end.
My project is a scoping review, which essentially looks through various works of literature that are currently published and identifies a theme among all the works—similar to a literature review, only that the question being answered is a lot more broad. This was something that took me a while to discern, but was definitely made easier by talking it out with my PI. Throughout my research experience, I was introduced to various programs that are essential in nursing research that really helped to smooth out the process. By being able to see these different tools, it really helped me visualize that nursing research is possible and not an impossible feat.
By being a part of this research project, I am extremely excited to see what this research will do for others and how it will be implemented in other works of research literature. I am also able to apply all my newfound knowledge in the future, when I will one day be performing research in the field of nursing as well. I am beyond grateful for this experience where I am able to be taught under such esteemed professors at TCD. I am indebted to PennAbroad for offering bountiful opportunities and allowing me to be a part of this amazing experience as well.
This is only the beginning of my research experience, and I am so ecstatic to continue this journey with such a strong global foundation in hand!