Wednesday 3 September 2008

Oregon hospital, African nurses benefit from exchange

From Catholic Sentinel, Portland, Oregon, United States
By Ed Langlois

At bustling Bugando Hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania, nurses need nerves of steel. They handle problems like spear wounds, a man who drank battery acid in a suicide attempt, flesh scorched by burning garbage and a lad whose throat was slit by a machete.

Now, these talented and salty healthcare pros from East Africa are getting a chance to modernize their intensive care training and know-how, thanks to a program offered 10,000 miles away at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

The city of Mwanza and surrounding villages are home to about 800,000 people. Teams from Providence St. Vincent have been going there for several years to provide services and train Tanzanian staff. In 2005, Oregon nurses Deby Reilly and Pat Perry trekked to Mwanza to teach at Bugando Hospital’s new intensive care unit.

Read full story in Catholic Sentinel.

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