CUSON, through its WHO Collaborating Center, became involved in the relief efforts in Haiti after the devastating earthquake this January
CUSON, through its WHO Collaborating Center, became involved in the relief efforts in Haiti after the devastating earthquake this January. We teamed up with the International Medical Corps, who helped coordinate our efforts, to supply nurses and nurse practitioners from our faculty and alumni. To date, 22 CUSON alumni and faculty have gone to Haiti. Since February, there has been at least one CUSON representative in Port au Prince working in the main hospital compound and in the countryside for 14-18 day commitments.
Even as the immediate response to send clinicians to Haiti is winding down – the need for continued assistance is overwhelming. The main school of nursing in Haiti was destroyed and the entire 2nd year class was killed. Columbia is committed to helping rebuild this school – not with bricks and mortar, but with our expertise in clinical education.
As part of its mission, the Global Health Center at Columbia University School of Nursing is committed to providing leadership and to leverage existing strengths within the School of Nursing in order to facilitate knowledge sharing among students and faculty of our international partners. Working with the Port au Prince School of Nursing (ENIP), the Haitian Ministry of Health (MSPP), other leading Haitian schools of nursing and several NGOs, we will measure our success in this case by the numbers of students who graduate from ENIP (our first objective is to reconvene faculty and students to finish the final semester for 80-100 senior nursing students and graduate them), the institution of the clinical rotation model in rural areas and adaption of nursing ward chiefs for clinical instruction.
We hope to learn new methods of adapting our educational system to best serve not only the nursing system in Haiti by adding to the needed nursing workforce, but ultimately the care of all Haitian patients and their families.