Montreal, July 28, 2006.
The McGill School of Nursing and the Canadian Friends of Highlands Hope are pleased to announce the award of the first 'McGill Nurses for Highlands Hope Fellowship" to Ms. Christina Clausen, RN, M.Sc. (Applied Nursing), M.A. (Religious Studies).
"We are very pleased that Christina has made this commitment to international health and to advanced nursing research," said Madeleine Buck, Assistant Director of the School of Nursing. "Christina will work with Betty Liduke at Tanwat Hospital and with PIUMA in Makete District to help McGill understand how our partnership with Highlands Hope can be mutually beneficial to our students and their patients."
Christina will work in Njombe and Bulongwa for the months of September and October, focusing on the development of joint research projects and student training opportunities.
"It's my first experience nursing in Africa," explains Christina, "but the work I have done in Mexico, my professional focus on maternal-child health, and my research work in inter-cultural understandings of health give me a good background to learn about the challenges that Betty and her nursing and her peer education teams face."
Christina has also been reviewing best practices in HIV-AIDS care in resource poor settings.
"Part of the excitement of visiting the Tanwat Company Hospital is seeing the earliest stages of the implementation of full HIV care including anti-retroviral drugs," says Christina. "Betty and her peer educators have done remarkable things without access to this kind of care. Now they're able to offer their patients much more and that will put new demands on the local health care and home care systems, both formal and informal."
The McGill University School of Nursing is committed to professional and educational excellence through innovative outreach that brings the benefits of the McGill Model of Nursing to more health care and university systems worldwide.
The School of Nursing's link with Highlands Hope in Tanzania is an example of how its staff and students can build partnerships for better professional training and research and for better care in Africa and Asia.
"Our staff and students benefit from a direct involvement in the greatest health care challenges of our times, like the HIV pandemic," says Madeleine Buck. "We have much to learn and to teach in partnership with organizations like Highlands Hope and in collaboration with Montreal partners like the MUHC, the McGill Neurological Institute and the Canadian Friends of Highlands Hope."
For more information about the project, contact Royal Orr, Canadian Friends of Highlands Hope, royal.orr@cossette.com (phone 819 432-0420) or Madeleine Buck, McGill University School of Nursing, at madeleine.buck@mcgill.ca.