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Published: July 20th 2014
"People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centred.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway. People favour underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway."
-
Mother Theresa CHAI: July 7-8, 2014 When I applied to the University of Toronto, I had already researched the nursing program and discovered that there was an extra global component as part of the curriculum.
Gurukulapatashala School
We visited the all girls school to learn about the role of the school nurse.I knew that I wanted to involve global health into my nursing career and was excited by the opportunity to apply this during my education. This was, in fact, one of the leading reasons why I accepted the offer given to me by the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing in April, 2012. So, you can understand why I was ecstatic when I was accepted into the competitive elective course NUR480: Critical Perspectives in Global Health Nursing that only granted the opportunity for 9 students to travel to India this year.
As directed by our syllabus, the purpose of this course is to "facilitate understanding of global health issues, social determinants of health, and provision of health care services to marginalized communities". I like the idea of applying my nursing knowledge in a critical manner while observing and learning about Indian culture and the health care system in India. Although I have previous done medical work in Mexico and Ghana I am really excited that this program is geared specifically to nursing and will help make me into a more well-rounded nurse and Global citizen.
With the help of the Catholic Health Association of India (warmly referred to
Streets of Hyderabad
In this photo you can see Masters students Sister Veronica and Pratima as they show us around Hyderabad. as CHAI), a well established health network in India, we will be travelling to both rural and urban areas in Andhra Pradesh in order to accomplish the course goal. CHAI and its sister organizations are dispersed throughout India and carry out a multitude of medical initiatives, including supporting nursing schools, medical programs and community hospitals, and the provision and implementation of programs dedicated to improving the health of the mother and child, disabled community members, school children, those living with and/or affected by HIV/Aids, and many others. CHAI has taken us in with open arms and very generous portion sizes (I don't think I have ever eaten this much - the "Delhi Belly" is a real thing). The people working here are incredibly gracious and hospitable and are performing incredible deeds for their community. We have especially been taken in by Rosa, our clinical advisor in a sense as she has helped organize all of our activities, and Benjamin, our amazing and very patient driver.
JMJ College of Nursing: July 9-13, 2014 After CHAI headquarters in Secunderabad, our next stop on our Global Nursing tour was at a nursing college in Hyderabad. Jesus Mary Joseph College
Urban Primary Health Center
A local community health center that we visited for immunization day, antenatal day and for a population health presentation of Nursing and St. Theresa's School of Nursing celebrate global standards with a Catholic philosophy that includes love, truth and justice. Their vision identifies "a centre for excellence for nursing education geared towards preparation of creative, caring and competent nursing professionals by an expression of Christian concern for health and the wellbeing of the society." The college offers a 3 and a half year General nursing and midwifery program as well as a 4 year BSc in nursing.
Coming with the naive assumption that India would be "behind" Canada in terms of health care I am often surprised by the forwardness of their thinking here. Their nursing education and knowledge is so thorough and their attention to primary health care and public programming is exemplary. If anything, the nursing students seem more prepared at the completion of their degree than I sometimes feel. Seeing the students huddled outside with their textbooks and notebooks open until 10pm shows us a small piece of their dedication and commitment to learning. The students are trained in nutrition, sanitation, family planning (all nurses are expected to delivery infants), maternal care, immunizations, control of endemic diseases, knowledge and treatment of communicable and non-communicable diseases,
JMJ College of Nursing
The BScN students studying late into the night. treatment of illnesses, and child care, in addition to anatomy, physiology and other nursing basics. It is obvious that the college is very successful in providing curative and preventative services in the community and hospitals. In fact, I think there is a lot that we can learn from the nursing education and health care system in India.
At the college, we have been given classes on the Health care delivery system in India, health problems in India, Primary Health Care, School Health and Occupational Health by local nursing professors. Looking back over my notes, I am struck the most by the number of communicable diseases that they deal with that we don't even learn about. For instance, the students were shocked by how little we knew about leprosy - a disease that is still very prevalent in India. Even though this disease is not seen in Canada, and therefore not focused on in our education, it is interesting that we are not provided with a knowledge of the diseases that still plague our world. Again, it reminds me how much I can learn from my time in India and from the people we interact with here. However, the Indian's
Aganwadi centers
We visited some government funded Aganwadi centers which provide care and nutrition for small children as their parents work. are also interested in what we do know; so, we have had the unique opportunity to participate in a mutual exchange of information as we share our knowledge of both countries and discover what global health nursing really means.
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