There is often talk of the nursing shortage in the United States, and how they need more healthcare workers. The Affordable Care Act made this shortage even clearer: the need for nurses, nurse practitioners (NPs) and even physicians is growing as more people are insured and seek treatment.
However, we certainly don’t have the world’s worst deficit. Countless third world countries are seeking nurses desperately. Citizens don’t have access to education, and the nurses they lack the skills and education necessary to truly care for patients. They’re often required to work under doctors, who infrequently visit remote areas, leaving many patients untreated.
This is true of both Haiti and Botswana, but universities in the US are stepping up to help. And two of the primary examples could not be more different. One is what was once a struggling private college near Boston, and the other is University of Ohio.
Regis College and Haiti
In 2002, Regis College in the Boston area, was on the verge of bankruptcy. An all women’s college, its exclusivity and high tuition costs were killing it. So instead of dying, the school decided to adapt: they opened their doors to men and developed a nursing program, pretty quickly offering it online to expand the pool of students they could reach.
They also started a program to train nurses in Haiti in 2011. A second wave of students started in 2014. The school partners with the University of Haiti and the Partners in Health (PIH) organization to offer nursing experience, support, and even a new Master's Degree program. The initiative has created some amazing results: nurses have received a better education, with students traveling both ways. Students from Haiti have traveled to Boston, while Regis students have traveled to Haiti to offer first hand, on site help.
In fact, Beatrice Romela, a recent graduate of the Masters in Nursing Education and Leadership program with Regis, took over as the organization’s Chief Nursing Officer early this year. When asked about the changes she would like to see in nursing in Haiti, she responded:
“We have to start to change nursing education in Haiti. We would like all the courses in the schools of nursing to be taught by nurses, but unfortunately some classes are taught by doctors. Regis College in Boston has been working with the University of Haiti to grant the first master’s degrees in nursing. We need more professors of nursing who have master’s degrees so that we don’t need doctors teaching these classes.”
Regis is working closely with PIH to help these goals be realized, along with others. Once nearly bankrupt, the small college is making a huge difference in Haiti.
University of Ohio in Botswana
Ohio is a different story. A large public university, the University of Ohio offers an excellent nursing curriculum.
Like Regis, Ohio offers courses both online and on campus including advanced degrees like their Masters of Science in Nursing. Online students still experience things on campus, with intensives like orientation, clinical evaluating physical assessments, and certification prep.
Besides traditional and online classes for nurses, the College of Health Sciences and Professions holds an annual Global Health Case Competition, and this year Team Media for Health won. The team, made up of one communication major, two international studies majors, and one student from the college of fine arts headed to Botswana in June.
The participants in the case competition were challenged to design a multi-faceted approach to combat the increasing amount of non-communicable diseases in Botswana, and the team won by proposing a government internship program, mobile clinics and a media campaign to promote the early detection and prevention of noncommunicable diseases.
Medical and nursing students went with them, and had the opportunity to observe rare clinical cases and to see firsthand the challenges faced by Botswanan health care providers. These included cultural differences that make both preventative services and treatment challenging.
In the case of both colleges, not only are nursing students exposed to different cultures and challenges, but also forces them to look for creative treatment solutions. This provides them with skills and perspectives they will utilize in their careers.
Students are also able to make a difference in countries where nursing shortages are critical and health care systems lag far behind the United States. The experience will surely shape the students approach to both their education and their careers, helping them make a difference in their own communities.
Source: http://londonpe.dfa.gov.ph/
--------------------------------------------
Follow us on Facebook
www.thefilipinonurse.net
The filipinonurse.net is always on the lookout for interesting stories about Filipino Nurses worldwide. If you know of a Filipino nurse who should be featured here, please feel free to send us a message via our Facebook Page.
0 Comments