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A nursing student provides immunizations to a child in Barbados.
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CNHS Students Practice Public Health Nursing Globally
By Patty Snellings
Most nursing seniors in the College of Nursing and Health Science (CNHS) work
in local health departments or community clinics to fulfill the requirements of
their public health course. But for a select few, these requirements are met in
clinics and communities in Barbados, West Indies, and Managua, Nicaragua, through
annual two-week technical exchange programs. "Students return from these trips
and say, ėThis experience has changed my life forever,'" says CNHS Dean Rita Carty.
The Barbados program, a collaborative effort among George Mason, the Pan American
Health Organization, the Barbados Ministry of Health, and Barbados Community College,
began five years ago. Loretta Normile, CNHS assistant professor, paved the way
for the project and accompanies students each year. "Students work in polyclinics,
which are similar to U.S. public health departments; participate in environmental
health inspections in the community; make home visits; and work with a variety
of community agencies," she says. "They learn about the health care delivery system
and the culture in Barbados."
With an average annual family income of $7,000, Barbados is poor by American
standards but boasts a higher standard of living than many developing countries.
Students agree that this experience offers them unique opportunities. "We were
able to go behind the scenes," says Eduardo Gonzalez. "Professionally, I was able
to see and do things in Barbados that I wouldn't have been able to do in the United
States."
The opportunity to share her public health skills with the citizens of Barbados
"meant the world to me," Sarah Hilewitz says. "You learn how to put yourself in
different situations and not instill your own values."
The students credit Normile for enriching their cross-cultural exchange. "The
respect that she has established in the Barbados medical community opened doors
for us," says Gonzalez. "Her leadership as a professor and a mentor helped us
gain so much more from our experiences."
The Nicaraguan program began eight years ago but is rooted in a history that
goes back 35 years. CNHS professor Rita Ailinger, who leads the trip each year,
first saw Nicaragua as a health care volunteer aboard the hospital ship SS HOPE.
Ailinger later taught Lidya Zamora, a Nicaraguan native who came to George Mason
to earn her master's degree in nursing. Zamora, who was director of the nursing
school at the Universidad Politecnica de Nicaragua (UPOLI) for 15 years, currently
is that university's provost. UPOLI and the World Health Organization Collaborating
Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Development partner with George Mason to implement
this program.
Similar to the Barbados program, students provide health care to families
in their homes and community clinics and teach health education classes. They
also work with brigadistas - local teens who volunteer as health promoters
and educators.
Nicaragua is an impoverished, overcrowded country with unsanitary living conditions
that breed serious health issues. "I'd lived overseas for nearly 30 years before
this trip, but I was still moved by the conditions we witnessed," says CNHS student
Ann Scanlan. "It taught me to count my blessings."
Ailinger has opened other doors for Nicaraguans, too. Three years ago, she
facilitated the start of a micro-credit union, backed by a Canadian bank, to help
families establish businesses. She also launched the Nicaraguan Health Fund to
finance nursing scholarships for the brigadistas, medicine, supplies, and
surgical procedures. "The high points of every year are working with the people
and watching the student moments," Ailinger says. "It's a life-changing experience."
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