Page 8 - Healthcare News Sep/Oct 2022

HEALTHCARE EDUCATION
Learning Experiences
HE aiti Nursing Program Lets Students, Hlms College Extend Their Reach
By GEORGE O’BRIEN in Haiti, including the assassination of the country’s president, Jovenel Moise, more than a year ago.
arry Dumay says the initial talks began more than In short, very little about this initiative has been easy, but four years ago. those involved — here and in Haiti — have persevered because They involved nurse educators in Haiti and the stakes are high and need to train nurse faculty is great, said
leaders at Elms College, including Dumay, who is Dumay.
from Haiti, and they centered around how Elms, Elaborating, he noted that the original model for this program which has a strong Nursing program, might be able to partner called for in-person learning, with educators from Elms flying to with those in Haiti to continue the education of nurses in a broad Haiti once a month to lead classes.
Spearheading the Haiti Nursing Con- tinuing Education Program are Elms College officials, from left, Anne Mis- tivar, project faculty coordinator and cultural consultant; President Harry Dumay; Maryann Matrow, director of School of Nursing Operations; and Deanna Nunes, assistant clinical professor and as- sociate dean of the School of Nursing.
effort to improve health outcomes in that country through nurse- faculty development.
Through a $750,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, a partnership between Elms and the Episcopal University of Haiti School of Nursing (EUH) was created that brings together nurse faculty from across Haiti and uses a ‘train-the-trainer’ approach to instruct the faculty with leading-edge nursing skills.
To date, more than 47 nurses in two cohorts from all provinces of Haiti have gone through the program — there was an elaborate graduation ceremony in May for both groups — and a third co- hort has begun, with a fourth and perhaps more planned, thanks to a second grant from the Kellogg Foundation for $1.1 million.
That is the short, as in very short, version of a truly compelling story.
The longer version involves how all this has been accomplished during a time of global pandemic and an earthquake, a severe hurricane, and extreme political upheaval and general unrest
Those plans were eventually scrapped because of the pandemic and other factors, including safety issues, in favor of a remote- learning model that came with its own set of challenges, especially the securing of needed equipment (tablets, hotspots, and even solar chargers in case power was lost) and getting them in the hands of the students who would use it.
And these issues were compounded by other challenges, including those aforementioned natural disasters and the general upheaval in the country. Some students had to stay at their workplaces to take part in the classes because the WiFi was bet- ter there; meanwhile, class times were shifted so that students wouldn’t be traveling after dark to take them because of the increased risk to their own safety.
But, as noted, all those involved have pushed through these challenges because of the importance of this training. Indeed, most healthcare in Haiti is provided by nurses, not doctors, so the need to train nurse educators and thereby heighten the skills of
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