Tag Archives: critical care nursing

Ten Rules to Prevent Thrashing of Doctors in Nepal

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Update October 2nd 2016 In Charikot, Dolkha district, there was an “incident.”  I do not pretend to know the details, but one pertinent feature was publishing a videotape of the doctors involved, apologizing for what happened.  Fortunately, these particular doctors … Continue reading →

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How to register for critical care training sessions in Pokhara May 2016

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

UPDATED with more specific info Wednesday May 4th and 12th ACLS training registration can be done at: Registration desk Paschimanchal Community Hospital Buspark, Prithvichowk, Pokhara – 9, Kaski, Nepal. Phone no. 061 530722 Email: pchospital2071@gmail.com Please share widely. CNEPal will … Continue reading →

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part 2: teaching critical care nursing in Low Income Countries. “Is there a problem, Officer?”

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

first – buy my second book. It’s a novel, but it will give you a realistic picture of what it’s like to be in a hospital in a Low Income Country. “Whether the events happened or not, it’s truth with … Continue reading →

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CCNEPal 2014 is counting down the days

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Quick summary I bought my ticket for the 2014 trip. I leave from USA May 24th and I arrive in KTM May 26th at 0830. The plan is to continue teaching critical care nursing skills. I have been working to … Continue reading →

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New Name for this blog will be CCNEPal 2014

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

short announcement. The name of this blog will be changed to reflect the upcoming trip to teach critical care nursing in Nepal 2014 – not the past. yesterday is gone. we won’t get it back. on to the future!

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CCNEPal plans for 2014

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

time flies It seems like I only got home to Hawaii yesterday, but will be leaving for Kathmandu tomorrow. In truth, there are seven months before summer 2014 break. In the past I start planning in November or thereabouts. There … Continue reading →

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Links about burn care in Nepal.

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Thermal Injury A friend of mine in Nepal is doing a BN nursing project on burn care in that country. For me, burn care is an indelible memory of bedside nursing on my trips there. I wrote about it in … Continue reading →

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Preliminary report of CCNEPal 2013

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Preliminary report of CCNEPal 2013 The CCNEPal 2013 summer critical care nursing project is winding down. A single one-day training event remains, then we pack up our tents. This was an extension of the 2011 summer program which trained 190 … Continue reading →

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i need help from all nepali nurses august 2013

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Thinking of the future Please help me. How can we make it so that every nurse in Nepal is comfortable with skills of emergency response? I want to know!  CCNEPal 2013   In two weeks I will get on the plane … Continue reading →

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the key to ecg for acls is – the six basic rhythms

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Onliest six rhythms Yes, Virginia, there are only six cardiac rhythms. The protocol is based on this construct. Believe and achieve! Just a quick note to accompany this YouTube link. You can practice mega-code without a fancy manikins and fancy … Continue reading →

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anatomy lab in our threeday course

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Nurses fascination with body organs Been teaching critical care skills on & off since 1980. Years ago (was it 1985? 1992?) I had this idea to include an actual anatomy lab when I do these short courses on critical care. … Continue reading →

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Measuring an ICU in nepal

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

1958 A recent article about Critical Care in Nepal asserted that the best ICU ever established in the country was one which existed in 1958. Really? Baseball in USA I wonder when I read such things. “It was better in … Continue reading →

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June 16th in Pokhara

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

the two sessions in Bharatpur are in the books now, and I had a great week there. There are too many highlights to mention, but the program was enthusiastically received. In each place I deputized members of the class to … Continue reading →

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May 31 about Advanced Life Support in Nepal

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Please share this widely, among every nurse you know. I welcome your comments. Be sure to click on the hyperlinks, I spent time putting them in and some are meant to be fun. Update – for the sessions to be held at … Continue reading →

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about fear of participating in ACLS

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Fear of ACLS My blog post yesterday was prompted by a nurse who said she was afraid of doing ACLS. She felt fear. Ahhhh… I know this fear……. we all do. I suppose more questioning is needed. We are dealing … Continue reading →

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May 19 about teamwork in critical care nursing

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

And here in Kathmandu we begin teaching this week CCNEPal 2013’s first 3-day course will begin tomorrow. Most of our courses will be open to “the general public” of nurses – I promise that there will be a registration process … Continue reading →

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Hour-by-hour description of Critical Care Response Training for Nurses

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

NOTE: we are beginning to schedule the actual sessions for the 3-days course, and the first host agency asked me to supply a detailed hour-by-hour description of the class.  I am posting it here as well so as to inform … Continue reading →

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CCNEPal 2013 – gearing up for summer 2013

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

We now have an official name for this project. Previously I have just called it Kathmandu Critical Care Nursing Education summer 2013. It will now be called CCNEPal – Critical Care Nursing Education Project Nepal which will be more “catchy” Summary: Until … Continue reading →

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The Most Interesting Man in the World?

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Indulge me in a pleasant fantasy…. Surely you have seen this TV commercial? The Stay Thirsty Grant Here is the truth: I probably am actually pretty boring, if the truth must be told.  But there is one thing I do that … Continue reading →

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Link to the Professionally-edited YouTube Video

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

please consider subscribing to my current blog, Honolulu 2011-2012 A late entry to this blog. One day a professional photojournalist came to class. She took footage of the mega-code drills, including small teams working on resuscitation protocols. She also interviewed me. She … Continue reading →

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The Secret of a Good Professional Curriculum Vitae and other fallacies

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

please consider subscribing to my current blog, Honolulu 2011-2012 Curriculum Vitae Was toying with how to describe this summer’s project in my CV, and the spectrum of descriptors extends to the horizon in both directions….. it can be anything from … Continue reading →

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Presenting the certificates, tying it up with a red ribbon

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

The Final Exam Yesterday was the final exam for the big Wednesday class, I made 75 copies of the exam but didn’t really expect everyone to attend. 73 showed up. There was load shedding when we arrived and the classroom … Continue reading →

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Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree…. I don’t particularly listen to country music, but the old chestnut from Tony Orlando and Dawn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBL2kzKg4nY has been going through my head to day, and I were in Honolulu I would … Continue reading →

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Joe puts on his matador’s hat and Suit of Lights

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

“A Man Without a Cross” Each cohort of students this summer is a book on my shelf. A handsome cover beckons to us – nice words on the back – The first line of the first page draws us in … Continue reading →

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Joe is just as pretty as he always was, and wins a beauty contest to prove it

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Time Travels back and forth The dilemma is always whether to use this as a chronology or not. Yesterday was a get-your-chores-done kind of day, picking up photocopying for my last cohort, meeting with people to plan events, grocery shopping, … Continue reading →

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The purpose of a Final Exam and other pedagogical mysteries

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

please take a look at my current blog, and consider subscribing The Party’s Over….. The Big Class finished the eighth of our weekly teaching sessions Wednesday, July 20. Sixty two nurses in attendance despite the heavy rain. The rain did … Continue reading →

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Three Cups of Tea in Kathmandu Nepal

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

please consider subscribing to my current blog Daybreak sounds of urban Nepal In the sleepy mornings of Jawalekhel, somebody about a block away meditates each day using a base drum and another instrument that chips away rhythmically with a hollow almost-Cuban … Continue reading →

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“The Wise Men Say There’s a Thousand Ways to Kneel and Kiss the Ground”

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Nancy Harless was right when she said “Joe! Stop and smell the incense!” The title of today’s blog comes from The Gathering of Spirits, a wonderful song by Carrie Newcomer, one of my favorite singer/songwriters. Birthdays and Anniversaries A year … Continue reading →

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The Light at the End of the 2011 Tunnel for Kathmandu Critical Care

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Pani 6 It’s raining as I write this, cool and delightful weather. The fridge at the Guest House was repaired while I was gone, I cooked spaghetti and meat for myself last evening. I am sharing the Guest House with … Continue reading →

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not sleeping alone in Bharatpur

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Let’s start a nursing school Okay, so one missing piece of the economic puzzle is why there are so many B Sc nursing schools being started in Nepal. There is a rush of new programs on the books in Nepal. … Continue reading →

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At Times Like These, I want My Mommy….

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

please consider subscribing to my current blog, Honolulu 2011-2012 Floating in space and time – You can think of a blog as a diary from one day to the next in which case there will be an ongoing stream of … Continue reading →

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Male Nurses in Nepal – The Topic of Which We Dare Not Speak.

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

please consider subscribing to my current blog, Honolulu 2011-2012 Caveat: In this blog I am about to divulge something I generally refuse to discuss. Nowadays the youth of today have a term they call a “rant” – meaning, a diatribe … Continue reading →

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How to Measure Health Progress (when we are all going to die)

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Getting out of the Silo Something I liked about the medical community of Mission Hospital at Tansen was the accessibility of doctors and nurses to each other, something not common in Nepal, but for that matter, not common in most … Continue reading →

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Itching for something…..

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

An Ominous Silence? Okay, so I realize I have gone a couple days without an official blog entry…. Or an email to my support group ( that would be – you). I realize that if I ever truly get sick, … Continue reading →

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A Hindu Wedding in Old Kathmandu, brass band, raksi, and mother-in-law

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Start off with some puffery: There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of foriegn medical volunteers who come here, but not very many get a newspaper article written about their project. Here is one about me. I am flattered, of course. Chuba part … Continue reading →

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Becoming a TV celebrity in Kathmandu

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

X-ing off days on the calendar. In 2007 I bought a brown leather diary in which to write every day for my first adventure to Nepal, and I filled 198 pages of it by the end of the time, single … Continue reading →

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Smart Phones rule the world

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Day Three in Bhairawa –  If you haven’t been to the YouTube channel, check it out – I uploaded a nearly-six-minute Mega-code video last evening. Go to youtube and type in “Joe Niemczura” – it’s the Joe Niemczura channel!  And … Continue reading →

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Bhairawa side-trip day two – not on the weather channel

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Rickshaw part one Didn’t actually leave the Guest House until 0700, left my A/C room and stepped out into the hazy languid mugginess that is the Terai. Immediate bath of sweat. A beautiful flutelike sound of a bird I could … Continue reading →

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Tales of the Terai, Day Two in Bhairawa Nepal

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

So they tell me it was 39 degrees here yesterday. Thank God the classroom was air conditioned, although it was being stressed by the work it was doing. I had to Google a temp converter. Yes folks, 102 and it … Continue reading →

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Dinner at Nine in the Terai

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Dinner at Nine A gentle tap on the door promptly at nine PM, and I was summoned to join the other Universal College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) Guest House residents around the formal dinner table for the meal. T-shirt and … Continue reading →

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The Pirates of Kathmandu

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

please consider subscribing to my current blog, Honolulu 20110-2012. click on the link and then click on the “sign me up” box on the right. it’s easy! Being a Tourist now and again Nice day Friday the 17th, enjoyed Swayambu … Continue reading →

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definition of a “slum”

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Further Adventures in documents Thursday I got my visa renewed. On arrival I only had the cash for a one-month visa due to my book-shipping problem, and now I am legally here til I leave Aug 2nd. The visa cost … Continue reading →

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Is ACLS ever “Warm and Fuzzy?”

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Bandhs as a fact of life Tuesday late afternoon before Wednesday’s daylong class, I was eating with a friend who casually mentioned there would be a three-day bandh. Oh no. My plans for the once-a-week class do not allow for … Continue reading →

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Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation and other public spectacles

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

In previous blogs I have teased you a few times by saying someday I would tell the tale of a particular death at Mission Hospital; now is a good time to share. Oh, I had already been teaching certain specific … Continue reading →

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The Truth About Butterflies. duuno why I did this, but – I did.

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

So I just posted the blog about yesterday’s class, this morning but feel energized right now so I am jotting down today’s while it is still fresh. As we ended the class Friday, the students had wheedled about dispensing with … Continue reading →

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The first group of little birds will now leave my nest

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

One more day and then the first cohort, fifteen BN students will be “done” with the training. These guys stuck with it, and still had some panache left at the end. Four more such groups will join them over the … Continue reading →

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A break in the teaching marathon. ABGs in KTM.

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

My six-day teaching marathon is now history. Tomorrow is a day off, then two more days in which I will wrap up the fist of my five cohorts of students. There will be other similar weeks in which I teach … Continue reading →

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Do you ever have a “Theme Song” for an event in your life?

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

I am a musical guy. For each previous trip to Nepal I have had a piece of music that somehow becomes ubiquitous – a theme song. What’s the role of music in your life? In 2007 the theme song turned … Continue reading →

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Initiation into the tribe of Critical Care Nurses starts – now…..

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Hey, check out the Joe Niemczura channel on YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/Joeniemczura Thursday I made just a small entry into the blog, a sort of tease I suppose – brief. What’s the ideal length of these posts anyway? My former clinical students … Continue reading →

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First Day of Critical Care class – the “Main Event” of this particular three-ring circus

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

I will revise this in the next day or two unless of course I just add another one altogether – – – June 1st was the first class meeting of “the main event“. I will be doing other adapted versions … Continue reading →

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Impact of Facebook. Meeting my Students

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

please consider subscribing to my current blog, Honolulu 2011-2012. when you get there, click on the little box to the right that says sign me up. Used to be: You’d have an overseas experience and return home. When you were … Continue reading →

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Bringing 115 kg of books to Kathmandu and other travails

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Arranging and re-arranging boxes of books in my office Monday the 16th of May I got to the office early and did my last minute re-arranging of items and boxes. As you know, I collect donated nursing textbooks. At one … Continue reading →

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Reprint of Interview with Joe Niemczura published in “Imprint” regarding volunteer nursing in Nepal

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Editor’s note: Joe Niemczura, RN, MS teaches nursing at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. He has also taught nursing in a rural area of the Himalayan country of Nepal. Joe was the keynote speaker at NSNA’s 2010 mid-year convention. … Continue reading →

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Twelve steps to prepare for global health nursing

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

reprinted from something I wrote for one of the publications of the American Nurses Association. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Your nursing skills are your gift to the world. Take these steps to prepare to use them in a foreign culture. More American nurses are … Continue reading →

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reprint of 2008 meningococcal meningitis episode

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Joe Niemczura, RN, MS

Looking through old emails I cam across this, and thought I would share it…. something that happened in 2008 but is fresh in memory….. it’s an email  I sent to friends at the time…. ***************************** don’t know how to start this … Continue reading →

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