Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Thanks to our volunteers for Fall Semester 2010

We had an enthusiastic crew of volunteers from September to December 2010. Deirdre Evans taught Mental Health Nursing, the course she has developed, also supervised students’ practice in the National Institute for Mental Health. Val Hedstrom taught Nursing Administration while her husband Rick Dowdall assisted with various program tasks, including a careful review of our recent funding proposal. Rabiya Merani developed our volunteer survey, taught English and assisted with the never-ending marking of assignments. Stephanie Lee taught introduction to nursing and medical-surgical nursing, and also supervised students at United Hospital. Sally Sando taught maternal-child nursing and supervised students at the Centre for Woman and Child Health. Judi Morton and Alex Berland assisted by reorganizing library and nursing lab and connecting with hospitals to develop new learning opportunities. Thanks to everyone for your companionship and hard work.

Necessity breeds invention

Many skills require hands-on practice; but what to do when the necessary equipment is not available?  Volunteer instructor Stephanie Lee RN taught medical-surgical nursing at IUBAT College of Nursing in fall semester 2010. She crafted her own tracheotomy tube from cardboard so that students could learn the principles and practice nursing care of this vital device. Probably not suitable for real-life use – but an ingenious work-around for basic instruction. By the way – we are grateful for donations of out-dated or unsterile but useable hospital supplies.

 

Big thanks to our generous donors

A major sponsor of the IUBAT College of Nursing is Hartley&Marks Group. This Vancouver-based company publishes regular books as well as Paperblanks, a collection of beautiful notebooks. We are very grateful for the financial and moral support of the employees of Hartley&Marks Group. Their donations over the past three years helped sustain our guest-house for visiting faculty who come to Bangladesh. All charitable donations to the Mid-Main Bangladesh Health Project are eligible for Canadian tax-deductible receipts.

 

IUBAT BSN students' study findings in the news

The Financial Express, one of Dhaka’s leading English-language newspapers has reported the 2010 study by John Richards, Afifa Shahrin and Karen Lund with data collected by IUBAT BSN students. "Benchmarking the Nutritional Status of Women in the Tongi-Ashulia Road Slums" analyzes one aspect of the life of these marginalized people, many of them rural migrants. Working with our Canadian partner SFU and other schools of public health, the IUBAT College of Nursing will continue to study other aspects of health in this community. The story in the Financial Express is available online http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=122266&date=2011-01-08.