A team of nursing students at Red River College are heading to China to put their skills to the test.

Next week, the team will travel to Shanghai to take part in the seventh annual International Nursing Skills Competition. More than 40 post-secondary institutions will be there. It's the first time a Manitoba school is being represented.

Second-year nursing student Elyse Griffith is one of the participating students. She says she's a little nervous but she knows it's not all about winning.

"It's just about going, and the experience is going to be really exciting."

Griffith says they've done enough practice and she thinks they're prepared.

"(At the competition) they'll prep us right before we walk into a room. They'll say, you know, 'your patient is a 78-year-old female, they'll give us some past medical history; we always have to do some sort of teaching for the family or the patient, we always have to do some sort of procedure, we always have to do some sort of positioning of the patient, and it's all within a 15 minute time frame."

The teams will also be judged on correctly assessing the situation, and being caring and therapeutic for the patient.

Griffith will be joined by Rachel Rubin, a third-year student. If either Rubin or Griffith cannot compete, second-year nursing student Chris Hofer will take their place. They've been training weekly with their instructors, Myrna Davis RN BN MEd and Sandy Alguire RN MN.

The team leaves for Shanghai on November 7th. The competition is November 11th.