Want to save the world?

A recent and fabulous opportunity was emailed to us from Global Health Service Corps. Just reading the first line of the opening paragraph made me wish I was a brand new nurse who had dreams of saving the world. What an opportunity for anyone!  But especially those who may not have commitments or obligations at home.

They are looking for nurses and physicians to volunteer in a new program partnership with the Peace Corps and Global Health Service Corps (GHSP). The GHSP Peace Corps Volunteers will serve one year assignments as faculty members of medical and nursing schools. The program will launch in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda in July 2013.

Here are a little more details about the program:

The volunteers serving through the program will be Peace Corps Response Volunteers receiving a monthly living stipend, transportation to and from their country of service, comprehensive medical care, vacation days, and readjustment allowance. The Global Health Service Corps will dedicate funds to help finance loan repayment stipends up to 30K for eligible volunteers. WOWZERS. =D

Participants in the program will be Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) in the Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP). Volunteers will work in priority medical and nursing education systems in partner countries. In coordination with host country faculty, GHSP PCV will primarily function as academic medical or nursing educators. They will also participate in direct medical care as appropriate to effective education and mentorship.

The Peace Corps and the Global Health Service Corps will work in close collaboration with the Ministries of Health, Ministries of Education and identified educational/health institutions to increase capacity and strengthen the quality and sustainability of medical, nursing, and midwifery education and clinical practice.

If you are interested please read more about the program here Global Health Service Corps

If you are wanting to apply (lucky you) go here Application GHSP

If you would like to know more about the job go here: Job Description

Application info: Applications will be due December 1^st, 2012, and the first cohort will be named February 2013 for a July 2013 deployment.

Please email any questions or for assistance with the application process to info@ghscorps.org.

Specific qualifications for physician applicants:

• Training in one of seven core disciplines: Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Medicine/Pediatrics, General Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Psychiatry or Family Medicine
• Board eligibility or board certification in one of the above specialties
• Active license in the United States*
• Experience providing culturally sensitive and competent high quality care      

Specific qualifications for nursing applicants:

• BSN with an MPH, or an MSN, APRN, DNP, PhD and/or a CNS
• Minimum of 3 years experience in a clinical specialty
• Active license in the United States*
• Experience providing culturally sensitive and competent high quality care
• Experience in a faculty position at a nursing educational institution that involved mentoring/precepting students in a classroom/clinical setting
• Potential specialty areas include: general adult care, critical care, trauma, infectious and NCD, chronic care management, pediatrics, mental health, public/community health, midwifery, pre-natal care, family planning, emergency obstetrical care and PMTC HIV, palliative care, and nursing leadership and management

All applicants must demonstrate personal maturity and patience to work under challenging clinical circumstances. In addition, volunteers must be flexible and ready to adapt to local conditions and situations. The Peace Corps requires that all volunteers are US citizens.

*Note: Applicants will be required to meet licensing criteria and obtain appropriate clinical licenses in the host country.

We would love to know if any of you daring and adventurous nurses apply for these positions and end up part of the program faculty. Please keep us in mind and if possible send us an email!  Excited and praying for all of you who take the step!

Cheers-

ONAAT Crew

Kids...and more

Babies, toddlers, kids, and teenagers, make me cry, tired, sleepy, anxious, and wish to the high heavens that I had their energy. This week I was struck by a news story that sent me over the edge about three teenage boys hiking/climbing in the Cascades. 
  
I was traveling to work early Monday morning when I overheard NPR tell a story about these three teenage kids that were hiking/climbing in the Cascades and how two of the three boys fell off a steep cliff to their deaths. The third boy ran 5 miles down the trail to find help. 

This image was really vivid in my mind and I found myself immediately crying! Big giant crocodile tears were streaming down my face. After about 30 seconds and mascara all over the place, I thought: "jeesh girl, you better get it together you have a lecture in an hour and you don't need to look like a mess!" 

Somehow I pulled it together, continued to drive to work and proceed with my lecture. At the lunch break, I was speaking to my good friend about my early morning experience and surprisingly she shared with me her nightmares she has had about her little darling grandchild. Tears welled up her eyes as though the dreams were truths. 

For the rest of the week I pondered over these experiences, my experience and listening to my friend as she let her worries and fears escape out of her mouth and onto my ears. 

So, what on God's green earth did I decide to tell you these stories? Well, here's the reason. Have any of you ever watched the documentary that came out last year called Babies?  Here's the website and trailer: Babies Its an amazing film that follows four babies in different parts of the world. Its funny, scary and sad. But the real point to it all, I think is that in one way or another we all survive, whether our destiny is to live until we are 18 or 89. How we get there is our own journey, and it can be weird, good, and bad. 

Well, how does this tie into One Nurse At A Time? It sort of does and sort of doesn't. How it tied in for me is by recognizing that my own children and worries are very small and that someone somewhere else in this world has worries that far supersede my anxieties. 

What I can tell you is that if you feel passionate about children, helping, fixing, teaching and giving the best that you possibly can, then I would suggest you give it a try and do it outside of your cozy little home. Maybe, just maybe I am talking really to myself and telling myself to go out and care for some of these children that desperately need my help. 

Whatever this strange message is, I hope somehow it helps you in finding what your happiness, anxieties and wonders were this week. Heck, the week isn't even over yet!

Just for fun, I searched for pediatric needs on the website. Up popped Double H Ranch looks like maybe this is where I might try and spend a week this next summer. What about you?


--- ONAAT Crew

News from ONAAT

Couple of things have happened over the last week. One great, and one kind of a bummer.

Let's get the bad news out of the way first...our Jo's Mission is cancelled for this November. It is cancelled because we did not have enough nurses to make sense for us to pursue this mission. If I remember correctly, I think we had 2 nurses sign up and we would have considered it IF we had a total of 4 or 5 nurses sign up...
However, this isn't all together bad news. We are not going to just write it off the list and forget about it...Sue is going to contact her network and see if this spring we can try and get another mission going for our first time nurses. I am hopeful.
One of the bigger stumbling blocks, we discovered with the requirements for an applicant was the Spanish speaking requirement. A lot of my ED nurses said "Hey! I was going to sign up for that, but I DEFINITELY do not speak Spanish." So with that thought in mind, I think we will look at the spring for a trip and possibly without the requirement that you must speak Spanish. Please stay tuned!
Ok- one to the great news. Sue with her endless abilities to work 24/7 has signed up ONE NURSE AT A TIME with CharityChoice Gift Card. Yeah! An answer to our never-ending questions to raising money for our organization.
The CharityChoice Gift Card is a program that enables ONAAT to be offered as an option for gift-recipients to select when redeeming their CharityChoice Gift Card. Our hope is that the more people we tell about our little organization the more we have to give to our nurses helping communities across the world!

Here is a link to the Charity Choice Gift Card: CharityChoice Gift Card