Be the change you want to see in the world. ~ Ghandi

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Fundraising, a battle


This spring my church talked about a difficult topic. The topic was money. HUSH!  Don’t talk about that!  It’s like a forbidden word- it’s never a fun topic at home, you usually don’t have enough, when you do have a little extra, you worry you may lose it, basically money although you think it is, it’s just not pleasant! 

The pastor who gave the sermon about money- gave an amazing sermon- she discussed the issues people have around it, why it is difficult to talk about it, and how to support each other and the church without breaking the bank. My in-laws who NEVER attend church (only did that day because our daughter was being baptized) walked out at the end of the service, in amazement. They were moved to discussion and that’s a big deal for this family, because money is simply NOT discussed.
   
This last ONAAT meeting we had last week, we talked about money…extensively. How do we get more of it!? Who do we need to talk to? Where do we go? What do we need to learn? Fundraising has never been a word I particularly enjoy. In my opinion, it is not FUN. I mean, really, who thinks it is fun asking people for money? I definitely do not.

Well our organization depends upon it- We depend upon donations from family, friends, grants, and sales from our gift shop. If we don’t have money, we are not able to help nurses, help our community, and help people!

You might ask how do we fundraise for One Nurse At A Time?

Here they are:

 Buy our logo items  - scrub tops, sweatshirts, hats, teddy bears…etc. http://www.companycasuals.com/OneNurseAtATime/start.jsp
 Make a charitable donation http://onenurseatatime.org/donate/ways-to-give/
- Make us your charity you would like to donate to this winter http://onenurseatatime.org/donate/ways-to-give/
- Use iGive (totally easy and simple) http://www.igive.com/
- Buy one of our books  “Womankind” or “Nurses beyond Borders” $10 plus shipping- email onenurseatatime@gmail.com


These are our current methods. They make a dent and help us grow our organization. We can't thank all of you enough, with making this dent!
 
Thanks for your help. 

                                                                - ONAAT Crew



Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Tropical Storm Isaac


As Tropical Storm Isaac picks up and leaves in its path destruction and devastation, several organizations are gearing up to start assisting with repairs, and medical help.

Two teams are already packing up and sending crews from San Diego. American Red Cross has sent five disaster workers to the Gulf Coast, while San Diego’s International Relief Teams are working in San Diego preparing to be shipped out in case more hands are needed.

During disaster times such as these, at times I have found it oddly difficult to find ways (other than money) to support organizations providing disaster relief. Sometimes, it takes a lot of digging on the Internet to find little bits and pieces of needs – such as blankets, batteries, canned food or medical supplies – and where to send them.

One of the things that I would love to see on our organization’s website is the ability to post simple ways for people to help – and not always money – during times of disasters. (If you are reading this and know of a way for us to post immediate information during times of disasters- please contact us and we will be happy to post it. Email us at onenurseatatime@gmail.com )

Since Tropical Storm Isaac is our current national disaster that is catching the headlines, the easiest organization I could think of to look at was The American Red Cross. So with this in mind, I thought I would walk you through getting set up to volunteer in the American Red Cross. The first step is easy, search our website! www.onenurseatatime.org I searched our website in the Alphabetical Listing tab. I clicked on American Red Cross (General Nursing). You are directed to our page which gives general details about the organization. From here you can click on the link provided. The first page of the ARC displayed a simple way for me to help by donating. But I was interested in ways I could help physically as a nurse, so I kept looking. 

After spending 5 minutes searching on the website, I finally realized that I needed to look at my state chapter and then my county or local  chapter for detailed information. Here is the page to find your local chapter: http://www.redcross.org//find-your-local-chapter  

Reading the Volunteer tab on my local chapter’s website, I recognized that there is a process which must take place first before I just fling myself into the arms of Tropical Storm Isaac.  It appears time consuming, but I believe if you take the steps now, you can help out easily and quickly, now and in the future.

After completing an informational session, fill out an application, and do an interview, you will be contacted by the specific volunteer department – that fits your skill set – and they will help complete the training needed to be an American Red Cross Volunteer.  

Sounds like a lot of steps and hoops to jump through…but I think that if I just check one off at a time I can get it done.  So maybe for Tropical Storm Isaac I will donate money, but for the next emergent need, I can think about being deployed. J

-JUST IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T DONE IT YET-  
Here is a great emergency preparedness list of supplies that everyone should have in case of an emergency!

·         Water—one gallon per person, per day (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home)
·         Food—non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home)
·         Flashlight
·         Battery-powered or hand-crank radio (NOAA Weather Radio, if possible)
·         Extra batteries
·         First aid kit – Anatomy of a First Aid Kit
·         Medications (7-day supply) and medical items
·         Multi-purpose tool
·         Sanitation and personal hygiene items
·         Copies of personal documents (medication list and pertinent medical information, proof of address, deed/lease to home, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies)
·         Cell phone with chargers
·         Family and emergency contact information
·         Extra cash
·         Emergency blanket
·         Map(s) of the area

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Doctors Without Borders- Info Session Seattle


______________________________________

PUT YOUR IDEALS INTO PRACTICE: 
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS RECRUITMENT INFORMATION SESSION - SEATTLE

Every day, Doctors Without Borders aid workers from around the world provide assistance to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe – treating those most in need regardless of political, religious, or economic interest. Whether an emergency involves armed conflicts or epidemics, malnutrition or natural disasters, Doctors Without Borders is committed to bringing quality medical care to people caught in crisis.

On September 18 in Seattle, medical and non-medical professionals are invited to join us for a presentation to learn more about how you can join Doctors Without Borders' pool of dedicated aid workers.


You'll meet experienced Doctors Without Borders aid workers from the Seattle area and hear firsthand stories of "life in the field." Aid worker and recruiter Melissa Bieri will discuss requirements and the application process.



September 18, 2012 - 7:00PM
REI Seattle
 222 Yale Avenue N
Seattle, WA 98109


For more information and to register please visit: http://msfseattleinfosession091812.eventbrite.com/



August’s ONAAT Boarding Meeting


Another great board meeting this evening and it couldn't have been a nicer night!  The sunset was beautiful as it slowly dropped over the Olympic Mountains spilling its last sun-rays out across the sky, what a beautiful state we live in.

Since Staci has departed, it has taken me a while to get the hang of getting blog posts up on a regular basis, especially with two kids under the age of 3 and a part-time job – which seems to be more than part-time at times. So, my hope is to be a bit more regular and to give everyone an idea of what we are up too. J

Tonight we had an informal board meeting, mostly to have a face to face to meet our two newest additions to our One Nurse At A Time team. Our first addition is a fellow board member, Helen Jose. Helen Jose is a registered nurse serving her community in the southern part of Washington State. Helen comes to One Nurse At A Time with a lot of experience behind her. She has been in the nursing field since the 70’s and has tackled all sorts of nursing positions and departments. Right away, I think we all could tell that Helen will bring a lot of great experience and knowledge to the One Nurse At A Time table.

Our second addition to the ONAAT crew is Christine Van Horn. Christine is currently working for One Nurse At A Time in a paid position, our first! She is working on updating our directory, ensuring the organizations have all of the correct information posted on our site and assist ONAAT with coordination with our scholarship recipients.   Christine is currently employed at a local emergency department. She is definitely the go-to gal as she seems to have her hands in a little bit of everything – from data abstraction for Trauma and Stroke patients, filling in as the ED’s unit secretary when staff are sick, to capturing meeting minutes, creating dashboards, coordinating nurse managers and medical directors, and all while having a cheerful smile on her face.

We had a lot to discuss over dinner and drinks tonight. Most of our conversation surrounded our up and coming Jo’s Mission, marketing, goals, and discussion about our 5 year plan for One Nurse At A Time. It was good to get out, share our vision with one another and plan for future events and meetings. Here is just a little glimpse of what we were blessed with during our dinner tonight. Enjoy!


Thursday, August 23, 2012

Nursing Excellence Award


Congratulations to our very own Sue Averill, as she received an award from Nurse Week, www.nurse.com this last Friday for Volunteering and Service. 

Nurse week recognizes registered nurses who have given themselves in outstanding humanitarian or heroic ways by providing nursing care, skills and expertise in outreach to the community, either at home or abroad, to improve the lives, well-being and health care of others.

Gannett Healthcare group (who publishes Nurse.com, Nursing Spectrum, NurseWeek and others) is a nursing and healthcare communications company. Nurse.com is a great resource for nurses, as it provides local and national nursing news, job information, nursing continuing education and a large thriving nursing community.

The mission of the company is fairly simple – to enrich the professional lives of nurses and healthcare professionals, as well as celebrate their unique contributions to society.

So, each year, Nurse.com seeks nominations for Nursing Excellence Awards in six categories:
                Advancing and Leading the Profession
                Clinical Nursing, Inpatient
                Home, Community and Ambulatory Care
                Staff/Patient Management
                Education and Mentorship
                Volunteerism and Service

Nurse.com has created a great national program of recognizing extraordinary contributions nurses make to their patients, each other, and the nursing profession.


Please join in congratulating Sue in receiving this award!   So, thanks Sue! We wouldn't be here without your hard work and tremendous dedication. 

Cheers!

                 - Crew at ONAAT


Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Great Videos -- Global Health Media Project


Global Health Media Project has recently announced the arrival of ten great videos on newborn care best practices for front-line providers and healthcare workers in low-resource settings.

The first video I selected to watch was the video titled “Basic Skills”. The video was easy to watch and was demonstrated a live setting. Some of the information is very basic, but is always a nice review even if it is a skill you may perform daily. I would suggest that any nurse venturing out into the volunteering world in areas where supplies and resources are low to view these videos for helpful tips. 

One of the other great things about these videos are that they are free of charge and are available and formatted for two download options a mobile phone version (smaller file size with lower resolution) and a laptop/tablet version (medium size and resolution). Global Health Media Project newborn series videos are free of charge in low-resource settings through their Creative Commons license.

Our videos “bring to life” critical health care information for providers and populations in low-resource settings

Here are some of the topics covered in the newborn videos:
       
          BASIC SKILLS
          NEWBORN PHYSICAL EXAM
          REFERRING A SICK BABY
          INSERTING A GASTRIC TUBE
          FEEDING WITH A GASTRIC TUBE
          SETTING UP AN IV LINE
          INSERTING AN IV
          TAKING A HEEL BLOOD SAMPLE
          BREATHING PROBLEMS
          UMBILICAL INFECTIONS

What’s even better is the organization is getting ready to produce 25 additional newborn care videos, and a Spanish voice-over is planned in the next few months.  Additionally the media project has established two distribution partnerships, one with Health Phone in India, with videos embedded on a memory chip in a mobile phone…this gives health care workers access to visual training tools in 15 Indian languages without the need for Internet connectivity. Other programs taking advantage of this is the Perinatal Education Program in South Africa, here they will be embedding the videos into their eBooks, self-managed learning programs for nurses and midwives in southern Africa.

I invite you to check the videos out and to give feedback directly to Global Health Media Project. For more information, please check out their About tab  and click on “Terms of Use”.

The videos are easily accessible on their website at http://globalhealthmedia.org or by directly going to the videos at http://globalhealthmedia.org/newborn/videos/


Monday, August 13, 2012

Jo's Nurses

Jo’s Nurses is a medical mission for current, active nurses who have never volunteered abroad but want to begin to incorporate volunteering into their careers. A small group of nurses (6-8) will travel with One Nurse staff to rural Honduras, where they will work alongside local nurses in various areas of a hospital as well as in rural clinics. One Nurse will provide pre-trip orientation and training so nurses are comfortable and informed.
When: November 5-11, 2012
Where: Rural Honduras
Cost: One Nurse will cover all trip costs except airfare
Application: Use the application on this site and note on your form it is for Jo’s Nurses. There is no application fee for Jo’s Nurses. All applications are due by September 15, 2012. We will let you know by September 30 if you are chosen for the mission.
Requirements:
  • Current, active nurses (LPN, RN, ARNP)
  • Must be Spanish speaking (translators will not be available)
  • Attend 2-3 pre-trip meetings and information sessions (we are working on obtaining CEs for this)
  • Nurse to provide airfare round trip Seattle to Tegucigalpa (approx $500)
  • Be prepared to share educational opportunities with your local counterparts in Honduras — presentations and while working alongside
  • Nurse to update any necessary immunizations and medications
  • Nurse must have a valid passport
  • Nurse commits to at least one international mission or local volunteer work in 2013
  • Preference will be given to Swedish Medical Center employees
  • All education levels and areas of expertise are welcome to apply
  • Nurses will present their experience as a group to Swedish Nursing Grand Rounds in January 2013.

Jo’s Nurses is named after Marilyn Jo Schuyler, an early supporter of One Nurse at a Time, who set up a memorial fund to assist nurses who have never been on a mission before. She hoped the experience would ignite a passion for volunteering.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

From the President – First Mission

My first mission was with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). They are an international, independent, medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusion and natural or man-made disasters.

I really had no idea what I was getting into! I was the nurse for the project Habila, which was a remote village on the border to Chad. Habila’s population was about 6,000 prior to the war which began in 2003. When I got there in 2004, there were about 26,000 people that needed help and emergency aid. We took over an abandoned school and turned the school into a hospital which provided medical care to the people.

Habila was a trading place or a daily market to many of the nomads (Janjaweed) and farmers. However both lived in uneasy peace with each other. Women were routinely raped if they left the confines of the town to gather firewood for cooking or heat.

My mission was for 6 months. At the beginning, we started a malnutrition center, but as we cared for the population over time, nutritional statues improved. Common diseases were hepatitis and other water borne diseases like diarrhea, malaria, and trauma…all the usual problems. As the nurse, I was the hospital administrator, Human Resources, Nurse Educator, and Nurse Team Leader for our group of 3…physician, logistician and myself.

In this picture, we went out to visit the nomad camps and take them food. Karen, the woman to the right of the picture, was our Swiss logistician – here you can see that she struggled under the weight of the 60 pound bag of Unimix (80% corn / 2% soy). I however, slung the bag over my shoulder and marched along – causing peels of laughter from the men at my strength.

The nomads thanked us for our help by giving us rides on their camels. We reciprocated by giving them rides in our Toyota Land Cruiser. We also sat down together and shared a meal of goat intestine stew and Fanta Orange.


It was a great day, great memories, wonderful friends and hard work.

                               - Sue Averill, RN
                                  President, One Nurse At A Time



Seeking Nurse Educators ~ Tanzania & Uganda

Peace Corps is now accepting applications from qualified individuals interested in serving as medical or nursing educators in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda through the Peace Corps Response program.  Volunteers will serve one-year assignments teaching clinical health skills to local practitioners.  For more information, visit the website at:  http://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/media/press/2092/.  You have to be over the age of 18 and a US citizen to apply.

The application can be found here: https://sjobs.brassring.com/1033/ASP/TG/cim_home.asp?partnerid=25332&siteid=5174

Please do not email the GANM looking for information – please visit the websites above.