nursetogether.com article on Nurses for Edna

http://www.nursetogether.com/nurses-edna-african-community

In the fall of 2012, seven nurses and advanced practice nurses from different parts of the United States as well as Canada, reached out to One Nurse At A Time (One Nurse), an organization that educates, enables and empowers volunteer nurses to deliver healthcare to people in medically under-served communities around the world. Each had questions about volunteering in women’s health care. All wanted to volunteer in the global arena. Sue Averill, Co-Founder and President of One Nurse, met with the nurses and found that several of them had read the book, "Half the Sky", by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, while others had seen the PBS documentary by the same name. Because of it, they were all inspired to help improve women’s health around the world. They began to ask, "How I can make a difference – large or small? How can nurses affect a community, or address an issue, one person at a time?"

Located in the Horn of Africa, Somaliland is an unrecognized, self-declared state. Women of the country struggle to receive equal rights and healthcare services due to gender inequalities, weakened infrastructure, lack of education, poor literacy rates, and limited access to the services that do exist. The work being done by a nurse/midwife, Edna Adan, in Hegesia, Somaliland, particularly resonated with this group of nurses. The idea for Nurses for Edna was born and the group began planning a medical mission to Hargesia where these nurses would volunteer in the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital.

After retiring as a senior United Nations diplomat where she'd campaigned for women's and children's health, Edna Adan could have chosen to have a comfortable life in London or Paris or New York. That's what most people would have done, but not Edna. A comfortable, sedate, retired life was as far from her dream as imaginable. Instead, Edna cashed in her pension, sold her Mercedes and her jewelry to build a hospital in her home town of Hargesia, Somaliland. Her mission was to provide safe deliveries for women who were far too often dying in childbirth.

The region had some of the worst maternal infant mortality rates in the world. Edna wanted to change that. She asked for land in the heart of the city. The government offered her only a trash heap that had been the appointed location for executions during the recent civil war, but Edna readily accepted the land. Over the next decade, while living in the hospital as it was slowly being built, Edna watched her dream come true. The Edna Adan Maternity Hospital officially opened on March 9, 2002.

Last year, thanks to the hospital’s own doctors, and with support from visiting surgeons from the USA, Australia and UK, 1,057 babies were delivered, including 166 C-sections. In addition, over 700 major and minor operations were completed. For this great work to continue, Edna states that the Hospital’s most pressing need is for professionals to help support new doctors and nurses in training.

Nurses for Edna wrote up a proposal and submitted it to the board of One Nurse. The board voted unanimously to support the nurses organizationally, including financially. One Nurse then forwarded their proposal to Barco’s Nightingale’s Foundation, another non-profit organization that serves to advance the nursing profession and honor nurses who devote their lives to serving the community. Barco’s Nightingales Foundation agreed to sponsor four nurses for the initial Nurses for Edna medical mission, which will occur in August and September of this year. “This collaboration with Barco’s Nightingales Foundation transforms the positive impact of individual nurses multifold. Together we are able to serve as the launch pad to attend to healthcare needs of one of the most medically under-served populations in the world: the women of Somaliland,” said Sue Averill, President, One Nurse.

Edna has expressed that her greatest present need is for teaching. She has asked this medical mission team to teach courses in Basic First Aid and General Physical Assessment this year, as well as share nursing practice and skills on the hospital floors while supervising student nurses.

For their first medical mission The Nurses for Edna team plans to hold educational seminars for midwifery students at the hospital, as well as equip staff and students with critical resources including DVDs, books, writing utensils, stethoscopes, and other general nursing supplies. Collaborating with hospital founder Edna Adan, the nurses participating in the trip will identify the needs of the hospital and the women it serves, and establish goals and a plan to achieve them.

After learning about the issues women and girls face across the globe, Nurses for Edna is joining the movement to empower and uplift women and prove that everyone can make a difference. Nurses for Edna hopes to empower the community's local nurses and build a lasting relationship with the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital, as well as create a pathway for future volunteer nurses to offer their skills in Hargesia.

Those nurses participating in the first mission include:

• Wanda Chestnut, RN, DHSc, HIV/AID Specialist from Glen Dale, MD. Wanda has over 15 years of experience in HIV/AIDS work. During those years, she has focused on the HIV/AIDS population, both in the United States and Africa.
   
• Sarah David, RN, BSN, Emergency Nurse from New York City, NY. Before becoming a Travel Nurse, Sarah worked in the Emergency Department in the Bronx, NY. This challenging work atmosphere taught her to multi-task, prioritize and think critically on her feet.
   
• Kimberly Law, BSN, RN(C) Perinatal Nurse Specialist from Penticton, British Columbia. Kim is a registered nurse with certified practice in reproductive health and perinatal specialty training. In 2012, she traveled to Liverpool, UK to obtain a professional certificate in Emergency Obstetrical Care and Newborn Care as well as her Diploma in Tropical Nursing.
   
• Kerra Plesko, a certified perinatal nurse in a Maternity unit in Prince George, B.C., Canada, where she is responsible for antepartum, L&D and postpartum care.

The team will meet in Washington DC and depart from Dulles airport August 25, 2013.

“I’m hopeful that the success of Nurses for Edna will inspire other nurses to join with us, sharing their passion, skills and knowledge to benefit those most in need at home and around the globe,” said Sue Averill, President, One Nurse At A Time. “I do believe we can change the world, one nurse at a time.”

About One Nurse At A Time

One Nurse At A Time, operating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded by nurses in 2007. They are passionate about giving back to the local and global community through volunteer and humanitarian medical pursuits. Their goals are to support nurses by lowering the entry barriers to volunteer locally and globally, and to increase public awareness of the role and contribution nurses make at home and abroad. For more information, please contact Nancy Leigh Harless, Communications Liaison, at 319.372.1339, email nancy@onenurseatatime.org; or Sue Averill, President 206.527.4862

About Barco’s Nightingales Foundation

Barco’s Nightingales Foundation, operating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded by Michael and Frida Donner on behalf of Barco Uniforms. The Foundation serves to advance the nursing profession and honor nurses who devote their lives to serving the community. The Foundation is the Donner family’s way of paying tribute and saluting the many generations of nurses for their tremendous contribution in making the world a better place. Its objective is to support the vitality and courageous heart of nursing, while also dedicating itself to honoring the spirit of those women and men who choose nursing by focusing its philanthropic efforts on helping to mend the lives of children and their families.  For more information, please contact Barco’s Nightingales Foundation headquarters at 310.719.2108, follow us on Facebook or email info@barcosnightingales.org.

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Nurses for Edna - Emily Scott

One Nurse At A time and Nurses for Edna welcomes our newest volunteer nurse: Emily Scott, RN, BSN, PCCN. Emily became aware of the Nurses for Edna team on Facebook and knew immediately she wanted to become involved.  For now she is volunteering by helping to complete the “Wish List” of equipment and supplies Edna Adan has requested for the hospital in Hargeisia, and she hopes to be able to participate in a future Nurses for Edna medical mission.

Emily was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She spent four years in sunny Southern California earning her Bachelor’s degree in Peace Studies from Chapman University. While spending one summer serving at a clinic in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, she met a group of volunteer nurses and immediately realized her calling. She finished her degree and returned to Seattle to pursue nursing, hoping to combine the two fields to affect positive change in neglected areas of the world.

Since that experience in Kenya stole her heart, Emily has returned to volunteer in Africa four more 

times. While in nursing school, she organized a service trip to Kibera, the largest slum in Africa, with her fellow students. After she gained a couple of years of hospital work experience at home, Emily and her husband quit their jobs and left for East Africa to volunteer and adventure as long as their savings would hold out. She spent four months working at a maternity hospital in Tanzania, delivering babies without electricity, running water, or doctors. Since returning to Seattle in early 2013, she has been working as a labor and delivery nurse at Providence Medical Center.” I am very passionate about maternal health and, like many others, I was deeply inspired by Edna Adan after reading her story in Half the Sky, “said Emily. “I have taken 5 trips to volunteer in East Africa over the last several years, most recently spending four months at a maternity clinic in Arusha, Tanzania. It would be a dream come true for me to volunteer at Edna's hospital, but for now I want to do anything I can to support the team going in August.”

Everyone at One Nurse At A Time, especially the Nurses for Edna team wishes to extend a hearty welcome to Emily Scott. Working together we are changing the world….one nurse at a time.

One Nurse At A Time And Barco’s Nightingales Foundation Collaborate To Reduce Maternal and Infant Mortality Rates In Somaliland

One Nurse At A Time and Barco’s Nightingales Foundation announced a collaborative effort to send a team of nurses to the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in Hargeisa, Somaliland, to work with local medical staff and teach current nursing practice, techniques and standards of care.  This joint effort by One Nurse At A Time and Barco’s Nightingales Foundation is forged in the common values of integrity, commitment to the well-being of others, an innovative spirit, and a passion for inspiring to the hearts of others.

“This collaboration with Barco’s Nightingales Foundation transforms the positive impact of individual nurses multifold.  Together we are able to serve as the launch pad to attend to healthcare needs of one of the most medically under-served populations in the world:  the women of Somaliland,” said Sue Averill RN, cofounder of One Nurse At A Time.  “I’m hopeful that the success of Nurses for Edna will inspire other nurses to join with us, sharing their passion, skills and knowledge to benefit those most in need at home and around the globe.  I do believe we can change the world, One Nurse At A Time.”

Located in the Horn of Africa, Somaliland is an unrecognized, self-declared state. Women of the country struggle to receive equal rights and healthcare services due to gender inequalities, weakened infrastructure, lack of education, poor literacy rates, and limited access. These factors have impacted health services and as a result, maternal and infant mortality rates are among the highest in the world.

The Nurses for Edna hope to build a lasting relationship with the hospital, empower the nurses of the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital, and create a pathway for future nurses to volunteer with the support of One Nurse At A Time. Nurses participating in the trip include Wanda Chestnut, RN, DHSc, HIV/AID Specialist from Glen Dale, MD; Sarah David, RN, BSN, Emergency Nurse from New York City, NY; Beth Langlais RN, BSN, MN, Maternal Child Health from Seattle Washington; and Kimberly Law, BSN, RN(C) Perinatal Nurse Specialist from Penticton, British Columbia.

During the trip, the Nurses for Edna team will hold educational seminars for the midwifery students at the hospital, as well as equip staff and students with critical resources including DVDs, books, writing utensils, stethoscopes, and other general nursing supplies. Collaborating with hospital founder Edna Adan, the nurses participating on the trip will identify the needs of the hospital and the women it serves, and establish goals and a plan to achieve them.

Barco's Nightingale Scholarship Winner

One of our Barco’s Nightingale Scholarship winners Anne Daly is leaving for Kenya to start her mission trip with the organization Prevention International No Cervical Cancer (PINCC.) PINCC is a nonprofit, volunteer medical service organization whose mission is to create sustainable programs that prevent cervical cancer by educating and treating women, training medical personnel and equipping facilities in developing countries. The organization works with local community personnel to provide and inexpensive way to screen for cervical cancer, some of the countries this organization works with are Latin America, Africa and India. 

Today cervical cancer kills around 300,000 women worldwide each year, even though it is completely preventable. The process is relatively easy, it is done by visual inspection of the cervix and the use of vinegar. The vinegar allows the medical personnel to see if any changes are present that should be evaluated further. PINCC was established in 2005, by Dr. Kay Taylor, a gynecologist who during a medical mission in Honduras witnessed more women dying from cervical cancer then in her entire career. From this, Dr. Taylor and her team visited three health clinic sites where there they began to train healthcare workers in screening and treatment.

From Anne:

I am about to go to Africa for the first time - Kenya - with an organization that I really enjoy working with. It is PINCC, or, Prevention International, No Cervical Cancer. This is a NGO based out of Oakland, CA and it works to establish screening for cervical cancer (still a big problem in developing countries) in local communities by using a one-step screening process. This is important because the pap testing that we are often used to requires a lot of infrastructure and coordination - that often is not possible in these countries. 

With these trips I have the privilege of getting to know a small part of the community into which we are welcomed - in a deeper way than I would by just being a tourist. I also get to teach and interact with local health professionals and I learn so much from them. More, I sometimes think, than they might learn from me!! Being of service - wherever it might be, in any agency, community, location anywhere in the world, is profoundly gratifying for me and I am honored and privileged to be able to do this with the help of organizations that support these causes. I also feel a little less "alone" when I know I am going with the support of others - and that is extremely gratifying."

Thanks Anne! We wish you a great trip and hope to hear of your mission trip when you return.

-ONAAT CREW

Swaziland: Because One Child Matters - By Lauren Carroll

I recently traveled to Swaziland with the organization One Child Matters formally known as Mission of Mercy.  This trip was my second medical mission trip, my first being India. When I was in nursing school my dream was to travel to Africa and help the amazing people.  I was excited when those pieces started to fall into place.  In November, I spent a memorable ten days learning the Swazi culture, meeting new people and forming lasting bonds.  

A group of twenty five dedicated people came together to serve one purpose, to help the people of Swaziland. The team consisted of eight clinical examiners, two dietitians,  three pharmacy workers, and many support people.  We set up medical clinics in five different care points with the help of Children’s Cup.  In our time in Swaziland we were able to care for 1111 children and adults!

Swaziland is a very beautiful country and I enjoyed being able to spend time with the citizens of Swaziland in their element.  I loved getting to know the translators and building a rapport with them as they would even anticipate which questions we would ask the patients next!  

One moment that was both thrilling and memorable was when I realized the children were truly benefiting from having the Children’s Cup nurse visit them often.  Let me elaborate. As I said earlier I went to India on my first medical mission trip and there was a noticeable difference in the health of these children verses the children in India.  Jessie, the missionary nurse that works hands on with Children’s Cup visits these children regularly to give them checkups and medicines as needed. She is also able to refer them to which doctor they need to follow up with.  The children were still sick and we were able to give them medicines to help the symptoms but knowing they were going to get the follow up they needed even after our team left was very comforting!

Another touching memory would have to be a young child that was sitting by the fire one day as we were taking our lunch break.  It was cold in Swazi this particular day, the boy had on only shorts and a t-shirt with no shoes or even socks.  The caregivers were feeding the local children their food and gave the boy some of the extra food.  His face then lit up and he smiled from ear to ear.  Some of the team members then gave him socks, shoes, and shirts they had brought with them to the care point.  He was warm and full with a huge smile of his face! I realized that is what we are here for to show God’s love to these amazing people!

Watching these children come to the care points with no shoes or jackets walking over two hours to get food was a humbling experience for me.  It is very easy to take everything for granted in America because things are so accessible. To watch the joy that is in these children and the love they have for each other is inspiring. I have honestly learned the joy that comes from the simpleness in life.

The medical mission trip to Swaziland is part of what is building how I view life, shaping my lifestyle.  How I now view my patients is different because I have learned so much about myself as well as my purpose. I am a nurse because God has called me into that career to help others and show His amazing love no matter where I find myself.

I want to thank you, One Nurse at A Time for giving me the opportunity to go on this life changing adventure.  It was a blessing to be able to teach, learn with, and love the amazing people of Swaziland!

Mary Hogan, RN preparing to leave for Africa

Mary Hogan, RN will be traveling to Kenya with the organization, Mission of Mercy, May 4 - 13. Mission of Mercy is a child sponsorship organization helping to meet the physical and spiritual needs of children in poverty stricken areas of the world.  Through their ministry programs, children receive food, education, medical aid and hope in the name of Jesus Christ.  The purpose of the trip is to raise up and train a new group of health care workers to continue medical care for children who need it. The health care worker program was developed to fill a crucial void that is left when a medical mercy team departs. Health care workers have helped identify and treat chicken pox outbreaks, check on children who need continued care, and respond to acute needs in case of emergency.  Mary states, "I believe the impact of this mission will be exceptional and lasting. To equip leaders in this area with education and knowledge to be able to be medically able to care for children when they are left by themselves is a huge advantage to keeping children healthy."

Mary Hogan graduated with her nursing degree from Wake Technical Community College in 2003. During nursing school she worked as a nurses aide on mother-baby and post partum unit.  After graduation Mary worked on a medical teaching unit, which was a combination Medical, Renal, Urology and Surgical floor. During her 10 years in this department, Mary’s duties included taking a patient assignment, precepting new nurses and nursing students, and working as a charge nurse. In January of 2011, Mary moved to a Medical-Surgical-Oncology floor at Duke Medicine and is now a certified chemo nurse. She continues in a leadership role as preceptor and charge nurse.  With her oncology experience, she has developed an interest in end of life/hospice care. Mary is currently pursuing her Bachelors degree with the goal of obtaining a Masters degree.  With  a heart for teaching, she plans to teach nursing in the classroom and clinical setting.  Outside of work, Mary enjoys traveling, hiking, gardening, reading and spending time with family.