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.

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.