Brown Bag Forum with Student Nurses

One way One Nurse At A Time supports nurses is through community networking opportunities: speaking engagements, public events, publication of articles and by providing a discussion forum for exchange of volunteer and humanitarian nursing experiences.  

Sue Averill and Bette Coulter met with the student nurses of Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, Washington on Tuesday for a "Brown Bag Forum." They  discussed humanitarian nursing, using a story they co-authored, "Susy," as a springboard for discussion of nursing challenges in the developing world.  A huge thank you to Sue and Bette for being such inspirational role models for these fledgling nurses! 

Global Health Disparities

     Sue Averill RN, MBA and Bette Coulter, RN will address the graduate nursing class; “Disparity and Social Justice in Health Care” taught by Mabel Ezeonwu, PhD, RN at the Bothell campus of the University of Washington on Friday, February 25, 2011.

Both Sue and Bette are published authors.They have been invited to discuss their personal international nursing experiences as well as share their stories from the anthology, Nurses Beyond Borders.  Sue, Co-Founder and President of One Nurse At A Time will discuss her work in Liberia in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp; Bette will share her experience of volunteering in Luoyang, China as a part of a Surgical Cleft Palate/Lip Team. Both nurses will read and discuss a story they penned together,“Susy,” about a medical mission to Barillas, Guatemala.        

An excerpt from the story, "Susy," by Sue Averill & Bette Coulter.

"All eyes watched the fine crimson streak that followed the surgeon’s scalpel as he traced it across the woman’s swollen belly. Immediately, the Finnish nurse jumped in and said the opening he made was not big enough to pull a mouse through, let alone a baby. He hesitated and she nodded for him to continue. He carved a beautiful line. After all, the seventy five year old doctor was a plastic surgeon, not an obstetrician." 

A Piece of My Heart - Becky Elder, FNP

  One Nurse At A Time's first scholarship nurse for 2011, Becky Elder, recently returned from a medical mission in Guatemala with the organization Hearts in Motion (http://www.heartsinmotion.org/ )   Becky writes:

I knew this trip would be meaningful.  I did not know it would be a personal awakening ′as to who I was and what purpose I bring to this world.  I have lived a week in Guatemala and my life will forever be changed by those who touched my life and therefore touched my heart.  I broke off a piece of my heart and left it in Guatemala.  Someday I will return.

Have you participated in any medical missions in the past?  Is it something you'd like to do in the future?  Where have YOU left a piece of your heart?  

We look forward to hearing from you!

~Nancy