By Deb O’Hara–Rusckowski, R.N.
CRUDEM’s Hôpital Sacré Coeur is becoming a Center for Excellence in the area of education! How can this be just one year after the country’s worst disaster? As we know, with God, all things are possible.
Hôpital Sacré Coeur’s History of Commitment to Education
For background, five years ago after an initial assessment trip, a small group of nurses from the Lawrence Memorial/Regis College of Nursing program in Boston began biannual weeklong educational mission trips to Milot, Haiti.
While there, they would focus on an educational “theme,” such as burns, trauma, congestive heart failure, etc. The audience grew from just 4 HSC nurses at the first lecture, to over 65 nurses and doctors within a short period of time, causing the lectures to be moved to the larger auditorium space. Although challenging with the language barrier, great effort was made to be respectful as possible to our Haitian colleagues. Therefore, all lecturers were asked to translate their PowerPoint slides into French and provide these to participants in a handout format. Translators were used to assist lecturers when presenting. Of course the highlight for the attendees was receiving their “Certificates of Completion” at the end. When not lecturing, the visiting nurse educators worked alongside the HSC nurses to try to bridge theory into practice.
CRUDEM/HSC Expands its Effective Model of Education
This model proved to be so effective, that it continues today, but in an expanded, improved way. Recognizing that our Haitian nursing and medical colleagues are truly hungry for knowledge, a new CRUDEM Educational Committee was formed in September 2010, with Dr. Anthony Karabanow as its first chairperson. This committee is made up of nurses and physicians and its charge is to bring a multi-disciplinary educational team to HSC at least bi-monthly. The topics are decided in advance by HSC Medical Director, Dr. Harold Prèvil, along with Emmanuela Beliard, RN, HSC’s new Training Coordinator.
Each committee member rotates being “team leader” in finding the right expertise to make up the team.
HSC’s Medical Symposia Serve All of Haiti
The first official educational seminar was launched in January 2011 on Diabetes Mellitus. Nurses and physicians from all over the US and Haiti were guest lecturers. A banner hung across the street in front of the hospital for advertisement and announcements of the seminar were made on Haitian radio. The registration process showed the popularity of this event as people filed in from HSC, Justinian Hospital in Cap Haitian and other areas of Haiti. A level of professionalism exuded from HSC! The auditorium filled to capacity in just a short time. Participants were provided lectures, handouts, and even a hot decadent lunch. To cap off the week, a free one day Diabetic Screening clinic was offered to the community.
There were over 350 people seen which resulted in 3 immediate admissions to the hospital (one in the ICU!) and over 20% persons being referred to the Hypertension Clinic the following week. HSC had much to be proud of following its first educational seminar!
Subsequent seminars planned for this year include: Emergency Medicine/Critical Care, ACLS training, Neonatology Resuscitation, and Pediatrics. EMT training will occur over the summer with a focus on public health and the development of an emergency response system throughout the community linked to the hospital.
Two brand new, fully equipped Medical Mobile Clinics will help with an expanded community outreach and educational effort.
Post-Graduate Programs Recognized by Ministry of Health
Another new development is that Catholic Relief Services has offered to provide post-graduate educational programs, i.e. infectious disease to HSC. It sounds very similar to the seminars we have begun with the exception that their “certificates of completion” will mean something—they will hold actual credit recognized by the Ministry of Health! How fortunate for attendees. This joint collaboration with CRS has begun and we will work out details moving forward.
So, you may be wondering, what could top this? Again, only God.
The Birthing of a CRUDEM/HSC School of Nursing
Approximately three years ago in a meeting with the Archbishop of Cap Haitien, Most Rev. Louis Kebrau, made a request to Dr. Peter Kelly and CRUDEM – would they please start up a nursing school? At that point in time, that seemed like a long distant dream.
But following the earthquake of January 2010, Dr. Prèvil decided it is critical to invest in nursing. He needed more well-trained nurses. He hoped to train nurse practitioners who could augment the role of physicians at HSC. Fast forward a few months…during a meeting with the School of Nursing Dean at Northeastern University in Boston, Carole Kenner, PhD, RN, she described starting up a nurse practitioner program in South Korea and offers to help us.
HSC can use or adapt Northeastern’s curriculum to begin this new endeavor! We hope and plan for a 4 year Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing, BSN, and a 2 year Master’s of Science in Nursing, MSN, (Family Nurse Practitioner) programs.
What happens next is truly miraculous. Dr. Chalumeau, the CEO of HSC, set up a meeting with the Ministry of Health to put forth the nursing school proposal (twice—the January meeting had to be rescheduled to March because of airport closure in the Northeast due to snowstorms!) During the meeting, the Minister not only liked what he heard, but states that this nursing school will be “the model for the country of Haiti!” This will be the first nursing program in Haiti to offer a BSN and a MSN degree. We all agree that it will be kept private and will maintain all the values of our Catholic mission. A “Memorandum of Understanding,” MOU, was requested by the Minister to be submitted for signature as soon as possible. What usually takes months, sometimes even years to obtain, was accomplished by week’s end.
Northeastern University Joins in Partnership
Following the Ministry’s meeting in Milot, an effort was made to develop the new curriculum adapting it from the current Haitian National curriculum and Northeastern University School of Nursing. We learned from the nurses at HSC that none of the nurses have a BSN. The current national nursing curriculum awards them a Diploma, then after passing a national exam, they receive a License. Therefore, we realized we will need a “License Diploma Nurse to BSN program.” Thus, three programs will be part of the new CRUDEM HSC nursing school – a bridge from “LN to BSN”; a 4 year BSN; and a “MSN/Nurse Practitioner.” Recognizing the need for a permanent “on the ground person” to act as “Dean” until a Haitian nurse is qualified to take on this role, a potential American nurse has been identified and is going through the application process. It will be critical to have someone there to navigate the political landscape as this effort is launched.
HSC Will Host Haiti’s First SIM-Lab
Our plan includes building a new building to house the new school, which will include capabilities for distance, web-based learning for faculty and students, as well as a “Simulation Lab.” Sim-labs are part of all large teaching institutions in the US, as they allow true practical, hands-on education. All healthcare disciplines can utilize and benefit from this laboratory. Since this will be the first sim-lab in Haiti, many from other regions can also benefit from its use. The HSC nurses are so excited and can’t wait to obtain their transcripts and submit their applications! We plan to begin with 5-10 nurses initially, with hopes that the graduates will become future faculty.
Of course all this takes money. And, since this all came about after the capital campaign amount was established and earmarked for specific projects, funding must come from new fundraising sources. We estimate $1.5 million needed to cover initial building and sim-lab construction, books, networking, faculty and ongoing maintenance. So, if you, or anyone you know, has a heart for this life changing work and would like to donate to its cause, please send them our way! Naming rights are certainly available!
It’s often said that the best way out of poverty is education—and that’s exactly what we’re doing at CRUDEM HSC. We know God has a plan and we’re trying to be patient and trust as He leads us.
Deb O’Hara–Rusckowski, R.N. is a member of the CRUDEM board and serves on the Education & Medical Committees. Deb specializes in Critical Care/Emergency Dept. nursing. She has a BSN and a M.B.A. from Northeastern University where she also works as a clinical nursing instructor teaching advanced med/surg nursing. Deb is also an adjunct faculty member at Regis College of Nursing in Boston. She lives in Andover, MA with her husband, Steve, and their Golden Retriever Extraordinaire, Lilly.
If you would like to contribute to the nursing school, please note that request with your donation. Donations can be made online or by mail to: CRUDEM, P.O. Box 804, Ludlow, MA 01056
