Almost Speechless

Almost Speechless

A message from the Executive Director of Galen Center for Professional Development, in partnership with Whisper’s Children’s Hospital Jinja, Uganda, and Healing the Children, Kentucky.

In Jinja, Uganda, in an environment of extremely scarce resources, nurses administer potent medications to treat meningitis, hang blood for patients with malaria, and treat diarrhea, malnutrition, and deliver babies all in a day’s work.

As we rounded with doctors and nurses at Whisper’s Children’s Hospital, we learned quickly they had been waiting for us. I have never been met with such an outpouring of gratitude for education in my career.

 

Before I get ahead of myself, our journey began with a little boy named Patrick who had been suffering from an undiagnosed heart condition in his hometown of Jinja. Whisper’s Magical Children’s Hospital, the local hospital was not able to provide the necessary medical treatment. The Louisville chapter of the national nonprofit Healing the Children worked with Norton Children’s Hospital to have Patrick flown to Louisville for treatment. Unfortunately, the condition had taken its toll on Patrick’s small body and he died before surgery could be performed.

Debi McDonald the Executive Director of Healing the Children Kentucky flew Patrick’s body home to Jinja only to discover his sister also had a heart defect but was healthy enough to endure surgery. Debi brought back Gift, Patrick’s sister and her mom, but also brought the Chief Executive Officer Veronika Cejpkova and Dr. Fahad the Chief Medical Officer of Whisper’s Magical Children’s Hospital.

 

Kathy Mershon, GCPD and GCN’s chairperson of our board discussed Whisper’s needs with Veronika and without hesitation she held education was the most important need they have. Without a second thought Kathy Mershon put Veronika in touch with our team to deliver Nurse Development Resources® (NDR) to the nurses and doctors at Whisper’s. It was within two months all the nurses at Whisper’s had completed our NDR pediatric outcome driven modules and we were on our way to Uganda to learn about their work, collaborate and share knowledge about pediatric care across the globe.

Working with Debi McDonald, one of SOS’s longtime partners and Executive Director of Healing the Children Kentucky, Rebecca Dixon pulled together a coalition of advocates to send supplies and equipment to Whisper’s Magical Children’s Hospital in Patrick’s hometown.

 

 

Members of the Greater Louisville Medical Society Alliance’s mission team and Galen School of Nursing plan to make two medical mission trips to Jinja once the container arrives.

Debi McDonald (third from left) and Rebecca Dixon (center) with the SOS team after loading the container.

Debi McDonald and her daughter, Becca hand carried supplies from the U.S. Here they are unpacking with an excited and grateful Whisper’s Team.

 

 

 

Every day was packed with experiences from primary school visits, government hospital visits, USAID project visit specifically the 90/90/90 project to eliminate HIV-AIDS by 2030, shadowing at the hospital day and night shifts, community outreach, plus lively evenings discussions over dinners with Whisper’s hospital staff, doctors, and nurses.

But no matter where we went, what we saw, the recurring theme was a sincere value for education.

These bright smiling children with eager faces, who through Whisper’s, receive uniforms, paper materials, and an education welcomed us with song and a gratitude for learning that astounded us!

 

 

Our hospital shadowing shifts were enlightening, and the nurses and doctors unequivocally identified their most pressing need was to improve their resuscitation efforts. Both nurses and doctors voiced stress and a lack of confidence during codes and the team felt they needed more training and practice.

We found their resuscitation box to need an overhaul and had an energetic and interactive session to create an organized resuscitation box that had standardized equipment and supplies. The team created a checklist of necessary items, responsibilities and accountability and developed a process to ensure the box is always ready.

The maternity ward along with Susan Mahoney created two new resuscitation boxes, one for the laboring mother and one for the newborn.

 

 

Our assessment of Whisper’s needs included teaching about a tool they already had but hadn’t used. It is the Pediatric Early Warning System or PEWS, an evidence based tool that helps nurses identify if a child is deteriorating before they need resuscitation.

In pediatric patients, their heart rate, respiratory rate and behavior can tell a lot about how sick or well a child is. The PEWS works like a rapid response team would (early identification of a clinical status change). It calls for simple monitoring and timely interventions through collaboration with the doctor.

 

Whisper’s was eager to learn how this tool could reduce the number of resuscitations and continue to improve patient outcomes. They immediately set a plan to implement PEWS scoring on all pediatric emergency patients and began shift-to-shift PEWS reviews.

Again, and again we were elated to see the enthusiasm Whisper’s team had to learn and change yes, I said change. Whisper’s embraces change for the betterment of the quality care they deliver and the children they serve.

 

We wrapped up our week with a collaborative meeting with the hospital administration and Debi McDonald from Healing the Children to map out our learnings and future plans. We topped off the evening with a recognition ceremony and pizza party for all!

Ongoing efforts are to sustain continuing education training for Whisper’s nurses, doctors and staff including CPR, Anatomy & Physiology review, and professional development to the leadership team. We are eager to continue collaboration with Healing the Children to sustain ongoing support for Whisper’s Magical Children’s Hospital.

 

 

We can improve the health of children globally through education and sharing our expertise. In closing, I titled this message “Almost Speechless” because I was speechless for days upon returning to the States. I found it difficult to articulate the impact something so easy (education) can have. However, after reflecting on our experiences in Jinja, I am compelled to share. People are people everywhere. Ancora Imparo.

 

Leaving Jinja

We are feeling so humbled and lucky to have spent these days in #Jinja, #Uganda, with #WhispersMagicalChildrensHospital. We have learned so much, and treasure the time we have gotten to spend here with our wonderful new friends! These incredible #NDR Pediatric Certified Nurses, have fundamentally impacted our lives, and it was truly an opportunity and a gift to spend time there.

Interested in making a difference? Donate to Healing the Children’s Kentucky ChapterThank you for supporting and sharing in our adventure in Uganda. Watch this space for our next adventure!

Whispers + NDR

 

#WhispersMagicalChildrensHospital nurses are internationally trained by #NDR pediatric modules online, and showing off their stuff right now, hands-on. So thankful for the pleasure and opportunity to share our learning together!

Interested in making a difference? Donate to Healing the Children’s Kentucky ChapterThank you for supporting and sharing in our adventure in Uganda.

Whisper’s Magical Children’s Hospital – Jinja, Uganda

Our trip to Uganda has begun, and we could not be more thrilled about how much learning we are all doing, and the experiences we have been so lucky to be afforded here!

Our first day in Jinja, Uganda.

 

Learning so much!

Vincent and Musa, our great new friends at #Whispers.

Hotel mindmapping.

The beautiful fount of the Nile, Mahatma Ghandi, this amazing country & amazing people working together for globaloutcome driven heathcare.

Interested in making a difference? Donate to Healing the Children’s Kentucky Chapter! Thank you for supporting and sharing in our adventure. Keep your eyes on this space!

Whisper Magical Children’s Hospital

Learn about Whisper Magical Children’s Hospital in Uganda, where #NDR will be visiting badge-certified #NDR Outcome Driven Pediatrics nurses, and partnering to enhance healthcare on a global scale.

Keep your eyes on this space, as well as our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, to keep up on our journey to Uganda from February 28th-March 10th! The nation’s health is run by nurses – and so is the health of the world.

Interested in making a difference? Donate to Healing the Children’s Kentucky Chapter!

 

Follow Our Journey to Uganda!

Did you know that #NDR is headed to #Uganda? Galen Center for Professional Development, (#GCPD) will be working with Whisper, a charitable organization making a difference for children through the Whisper Magical Children’s Hospital, in Jinja, Uganda. Below, find the February Newsletter from Supplies Over Seas for more information. We will be visiting Uganda with nurses who are badge-certified in the #NDR Outcome Driven Pediatrics Competencies.

Keep your eyes on this space, as well as our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, to keep up on our journey to Uganda from February 28th-March 10th! The nation’s health is run by nurses – and so is the health of the world.

Logo

 ‌Delivering a World of Health and Hope.

Our second container shipment of the year is on its way to Uganda! Over the years, we have supplied short-term mission teams that work across the country but this month we sent our first 40′ ocean-going container to Jinja, Uganda!
The story of this container has been two years in the making. A young boy named Patrick had been suffering from an undiagnosed heart condition in his hometown of Jinja. Whisper’s Magical Children’s Hospital, the local hospital in Jinja,was not able to provide the necessary medical treatment. The Louisville chapter of the national nonprofit Healing the Children worked with Norton Children’s Hospital to have Patrick flown to Louisville for treatment. Unfortunately, the condition had taken its toll on Patrick’s small body
Photo courtesy of Whisper’s Children Hospital
and he died soon after arriving in Louisville. Rebecca Dixon, Patrick’s host mom in Louisville, vowed that no child from Jinja should suffer from a lack of medical care.
Working with Debi McDonald, one of SOS’s longtime partners and Executive Director of Louisville’s Healing the Children chapter, Rebecca pulled together a coalition of advocates to send supplies and equipment to Whisper’s Magical Children’s Hospital in Patrick’s hometown. As we loaded the container at SOS headquarters, it was a celebration and a recognition that one child’s heartbreaking story can lead to the hope of medical treatment for an entire community. Members of the Greater Louisville Medical Society Alliance’s mission team and Galen School of Nursing plan to make two medical mission trips to Jinja once the container arrives. We will be sure to update you on the stories of lifesaving treatment these supplies will bring!
SOS would like to thank Mercy Health Anderson, Baptist Health Paducah, Norton Healthcare and Hardin Memorial Hospital for donating the equipment that was included in this container.
Debi McDonald (third from left) and Rebecca Dixon (center) with the SOS team after loading the container.
Update From Mauritania

Last fall we sent out a container bound for the North African country of Mauritania. The supplies reached their final destination just before Thanksgiving and the hospital staff just sent an update to the SOS team!
The supplies and equipment are being used in a neonatal clinic inside the Centre Hospitalier National (pictured). We sent labor and delivery equipment as well as bassinets and infant warmers to ensure safe deliveries for mothers from the surrounding area. We will update you with more stories as the team on the ground puts our shipment to use!
Stories From the SOS Family

January was a busy month for the mission teams we supply around the world. In the first six weeks of 2019, we have already sent supplies 8 countries! Below are highlights from two separate teams that traveled to Honduras.

The first team we supplied is from the First United Methodist Church in Frankfort, Kentucky. During their annual trip to Honduras, the mission team saw over 1,000 patients in 10 days working in the town of Tegucigalpa! Working in the local dental clinic, the team performed routine cleanings, extractions and fillings.
One of the team members reported to us: “The mission team and the Honduran [staff] have been a fantastic group.  They have been loving to one another and most importantly, to the patients we see. [Our work] is not always an easy task without love. We can come down to Honduras or the ends of the Earth and do all sorts of good things, but without love as the basis for what we do – we might as well have stayed at home.”
Another team we supplied in Honduras was a group of doctors and nurses from Cincinnati’s TriHealth. Hand surgeon specialist Dr. Peter Stern and a team of nurses spent the week at San Felipe Hospital performing a variety of procedures.
One of the nurses on the team visited SOS before the trip to pack suitcases full of dressings, sutures and gloves. Even at an established hospital in a city center, it can still be difficult to find routine items. As our mission video states, hope can be found in something as simple as a box of surgical gloves.
SOS Volunteers
The work you read about every month cannot be accomplished without our volunteers! Every day we have amazing groups of people who give their time and energy to help us accomplish our global mission. If you, your church group, students or friends and colleagues would like to volunteer with SOS, send an email to volunteer@suppliesoverseas.org to get more information!
Thank you to Elite Home Builders
Louisville-based Elite Home Builders stopped by SOS headquarters to present a $1,000 check to support our mission! After volunteering at SOS in college Gretchen Fraze, an employee from Elite Home Builders suggested a corporate gift to support our global health initiatives. Thank you to Brad Campbell and Meghan Roppel for you donation!
Supplies Over Seas (SOS) is a Louisville, Kentucky-based nonprofit organization that meets critical health care needs in medically impoverished communities around the world by collecting and distributing surplus medical supplies and equipment.
These stories of Health & Hope can not happen without your support.

NDR Resources in Uganda

A huge shout out to Kathy Mershon, Galen College of Nursing’s Chairperson of their governing board, Susan Mahoney and Chris Howatt for extending our NDR resources to pediatric nurses and physicians in Uganda!

ANPD Convention 2018!


Galen Center for Professional Development has had another wonderful time at the #ANPD 2018 Convention! The nation’s health depends on nursing, and it is our pleasure and privilege to spend time with such innovative and driven people, working to make healthcare a business of caring.

CNE 2018

Our own Bobbi Martin at the #ANCCcne18 on a panel on Utilizing Technology in Professional Development.
 
#CNE #CNEsymposium #NDR #nursedevelopmentresources #GCPD #galencenterforprofessionaldevelopment