Volunteer Nurse Returns from Cameroon

Holly Kirkland-Walsh, a Family Nurse Practitioner from Rancho Murieta, California, recently completed a three-week mission in Cameroon as part of Project HOPE’s Volunteer Medical Rotation Program at the Maria Rosa Nsisim Hospital in the capital city of Yaounde.

Today is the last day of my most wonderful experience here in Cameroon. I wanted to let you know about the goals that I have accomplished during my stay and to thank all involved in the contribution to this experience.

On the social side of this trip, I was treated as both a special guest and like family, by everyone including the entire extended Blaz family. This made my trip so much more than I had imagined possible. I enjoyed the Sunday afternoons with the family and the social events that I will never forget.

My goals when I arrived were to perform a needs assessment to see what the nurses, the doctors and administration saw as my role and what I could offer.

We started with the Electrocardiology teachings for nurses and doctors. We have had many opportunities for education while performing, interpreting, and treating patients with cardiology problems during my time at the hospital. There are plans to continue this education through the use of telemedicine in the future.

As far as my goals in the hospital, I would not have been able to assess the needs without the help of Amy and Luc-Marcaire, dedicated staff at the Maria Rosa Nsisim Hospital  We discussed a plan to promote and market the hospital to insurance companies along with organizational  and management skills. These skills were modeled after Harvard School of Management and management and staff development literature over the past 35 years working as a nurse and manager.

We have established the following:

• Project HOPE volunteers will make daily rounds with the nurses and doctors to evaluate and discuss every patients progress.
• The use of hand sanitizer is being promoted and modeled in between patients.
•  Nurses in all areas will be cross-trained to work in other areas.
• Charge nurses in areas will develop a daily routine form to aid with orientation and a check off list of skills needed for nurses cross-training in each area.
• A checklist of what each patient needs to know on discharge will be used for developing discharge instructions.
• An admission form should be developed to inform patients of what they need to know on admission.
• Community outreach will be developed in front of hospital with free blood pressure checks and weights.

Thanks for the opportunity.