Immunization Day at IUBAT

Rotary Clubs world-wide sponsor child immunization programs, usually coinciding with government initiatives. IUBAT has strong connections with Rotary Club of Greater Dhaka which provided the vaccines for the national polio eradication drive held last February. Using the IUBAT campus, this annual event attracts local residents of all ages. Under the guidance of faculty member RN Shamsun Nahar, IUBAT College of Nursing students organize the event, register clients and administer vaccines. In time, we hope to develop a primary health care clinic to serve the neighbourhood shanty-dwellers.

Strengthening our partnership with United Hospital

United Hospital Limited is one of the best hospitals in Bangladesh. IUBAT Nursing students practice medical-surgical nursing on its cardiac, general medicine and neurosciences wards. Visiting faculty provide workshops for the nursing staff there. In early 2012, UHL opened its own nursing school. Karen Lund and Alex Berland toured the facility and delivered a gift of textbooks, visiting with UHL Director Education, Mme. Hanufa Ahmed (L), Vice-Principal, Major Nazneen (C) and  Principal, RN Momtaz Khanum (R). We look forward to on-going collaboration to strengthen nurse education in Bangladesh.

 

8th Year Anniversary

Eight years ago, volunteers from Mid-Main Community Health Centre in Vancouver started their collaboration with the College of Nursing at IUBAT. In February 2004, the Registrar of the Bangladesh Nursing Council (RN Hosne Ara Begum) inaugurated the nursing program as part of a function held at the IUBAT campus with a large number of senior members of the BNC present. This photo from that occasion shows IUBAT Vice-Chancellor, Dr. M. Alimullah Miyan (centre), National Professor Dr. M. R. Khan, as well as Bangladesh Health Project Director, RN Alex Berland. Eight years later we can claim 22 graduates who have been praised by national and international nurses and doctors for their excellent practice!

Upcoming volunteer opportunities

The IUBAT College of Nursing has a few opportunities for visiting faculty in 2012.

June 15 to August 15 – maternal-child nursing (classroom and clinical)

September 5 to October 15 – professional orientation

September 5 to October 15 – medical-surgical nursing (classroom and clinical).

We will post opportunities for 2013 shortly.

If you are unable to travel to Bangladesh, we have some volunteer tasks that can be completed from home using the internet.

For more information please visit the website, where you can also contact us.

On-going collaboration between IUBAT and U Vermont

Each year BScN students from University of Vermont visit IUBAT College of Nursing with their instructor Dr. Rycki Maltby. In this photo students from UVm and IUBAT work together at the Centre for Woman and Child Health, our clinical teaching partner. (In case you are wondering about the winter head gear, January can be chilly even in Bangladesh!)

Nursing students at IUBAT Convocation

Previous visiting faculty can share the pride of these students and their families.  This was the third formal Convocation for the University and the first Convocation for the College of Nursing.  Twenty-two BScN graduates had their Certificates of Graduation confirmed by the Government of Bangladesh. In the first picture, they are shown with Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof. Mahmuda Khanum and Chair, Health Sciences, Dr. Karen Lund. The other photo shows some of the graduates with IUBAT Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Alimullah Miyan as well as Chief Guest Prof Dr Gerald Reisinger, President of Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences.

 

Nursing Practice Lab opens at IUBAT

As part of on-going campus development at IUBAT, the College of Nursing now has new laboratory space. Keeping teaching materials clean and protected from insects, dust and humidity will be much easier with curtains, air-conditioning and running water in the new facility. In addition to practicing bedside care, the lab is also suitable for microbiology experiments. The university has provided modern furniture, and we are now fund-raising to replace our aging demonstration mannequins.  Your donations are always welcome. Our only program expenses in Canada are for book-keeping; there are no overhead charges. Most money raised is spent in Bangladesh to operate the volunteers’ guest-house and to pay for educational supplies and services, and a few scholarships. You can find our 2011 annual report, financial statement and a donation form on the website www.bangladeshhealthproject.com .