Nurses – volunteer in Nepal -how to use your skills!

There ought to be a way to use your skills.

I hear about nurses who came here to learn about health care in a Low Income Country, and who mainly used their time to hand out toothbrushes in villages while on a trek. On the one hand, it’s okay, because they are still learning the way that people live and hopefully having a positive experience that whets their curiosity. On the other hand, the acute care system of Nepal is undergoing tremendous change right now and expertise is needed.  Somehow, there ought to be an easier way for highly-skilled acute care nurses to volunteer their skills here in a meaningful way.

Updated Oct 6, 2016

The 2016 trip was a success, and we’re planning for 2017. The audacious goal is to ramp up the ACLS training to cover more of the country and to develop more of a Nepali-based network for sustainability purposes.

CCNEPal is a project that taught critical care skills to nurses and doctors in Nepal since 2011. In Kathmandu Valley, 800 people had taken this training prior to the earthquake of 2015, and an additional 1,000 or so in the rest of Nepal. Amidst the tragedy there is solemn pride that CCNEPal positioned so many Nepali professionals with this training. CCNEPal didn’t do anything the day of the quake. We did everything for three years prior to the quake, and the dedicated Nepali professionals put it into use.

Since then we have trained more, and the grand total is 2,885 in 90 sessions. Yes, we do the same thing over and over.

We Travel outside Kathmandu Valley

CCNEPal has always taken pride in the Road Trips. The Road Trips are sometimes grueling but always fun. CCNEPal was on a Road Trip when the earthquake shook loose. The entire 2016 trip was one long road trip.

We are looking for specific volunteers

If you are certified as an ACLS Instructor, or PALS Instructor, or you can do Sim Man, think of volunteering. CCNEPal’s course is NOT an Official American Heart Association course, but I can put you touch with the Center for Medical Simulation, Nepal’s only Training Center, and CCNEPal can also work with you.

I have a wide circle of contacts in Nepal, and people ask me all the time “do you know anybody who……” – so if you are midwife, or maybe a psyche nurse, give me a call.

If you wish to volunteer, there is actually no hurry. No reason to jump on a plane unless you have specialized skills. This allows you to study, plan and prepare. Nepal is not an “easy country” for most western medical volunteers to go to, not for their first time. Read the below.

I formerly titled this “volunteer in Nepal for 2015” but let’s face it: my specific project is built around the idea that Nepali nurses can teach themselves with a little nudge, and I just don’t have a need for other people to join me.  And it’s too late for CCNEPal anyway.

Nurse-Teach-Reach

Be advised, I formerly gave a shout out to Nurse-Teach-Reach. They are based in Sydney, Australia. They were making a number of trip here each year, but since the petrol blockade of fall 2015, they suspended their activities. This group brings nurses to work in ICU, ER, and oncology nursing. The leader, Lucy Rowe, is a nurse. Let’s hope that they resume.