Miracles Happen! Haiti Graduates First BSN-Prepared Nursing Class
"Some people thought this would be a dinky little school," laughs Ruth Barnard, PhD, RN, former University of Michigan professor who, upon "retirement," accepted the challenge of helping to establish a BSN-granting nursing school on the island of Haiti.
Working through the non-profit Haiti Nursing Foundation, that's exactly what she and others dedicated to turning a dream into a reality did. Today, Faculte des Science Infirmieres de l'Universite Episcopale d'Haiti (FSIL) in Leogane stands as a testament to Barnard's iron will and what she considers Divine direction.>
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Learning the basics |
"I never envisioned a dinky school, never! The vision that God had given me was a baccalaureate school. Nothing less," she recalls.
That was quite a leap from the then-standard Haitian nursing norm: nurses who were licensed but had no real assessment or clinical skills and who, in fact, shied away from hands-on care.
Jumping Hurdles, One by One
"There were hundreds of hurdles," says Barnard. "In the beginning we just had to figure out what our priorities were... where to begin."
Barnard joined forces with Jack Lafontant, MD, director of Haiti's Holy Cross Hospital (Hopital Ste. Croix), who had long dreamt of a nursing school which could support and improve care at island hospitals. Leading arrangements for a medical doctors' conference in Haiti in 2003, he suggested a concurrent nursing conference.
Barnard and team (including Donna Martsolf, PhD, RN, curriculum director; Jessie Colin, PhD, RN, nursing consultant; Mary VanMeter, MSN, RN; Jerry Veldman, MD, FAAP; architect James Hite, and others) liked the idea, but where were the nurses? Who were they? How could they get them to show up?
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Dressing the part |
It took a lot of legwork, canvassing neighborhoods and asking questions of islanders: who are your nurses? A meeting with the Haitian American Nurses Association in Miami helped ferret out more conference attendees. By time conference doors swung open at the Montana Hotel in Port au Prince, there were 50 nurses ready to attend the admission-free confab, complete with free luncheon.
"We paid for tap-taps [little busses that stop when you "tap tap" to get off]," explained Barnard, "to carry the nurses halfway up the mountainside to the conference site. And they had no equipment of their own, so we gave each one a stethoscope and an onoscope. We talked to them and were able to determine their greatest needs: training in emergency care, delivery/maternity, burn treatment, and spirituality. Our message of education was very well received."
Building First, Then a Faculty
A physical site was identified and procured. Working with the Medical Benevolence Fund (MBF), associated with the Presbyterian Church (US), Lafontant received funding for the building and dormitory from the United States Agency for International Development, Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad and additional funds from MBF donors.
Then there was the issue of a faculty. "Did we have trouble getting a faculty? Sure we did," admits Barnard. "Our dean is nothing short of a miracle."
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Dean Hilda Alcindor, BA, RN |
That human miracle is Hilda Alcindor, BA, RN, who had been working in the U.S. for 30 years, but decided to return to her native Haiti and help her people.
"Hilda accepted the job as dean, and marvelous woman that she is she got the school property all cleaned up and ready for dedication in 2005," tells Barnard of this largely hands-on project.
A curriculum was rolled out: Humanities and science in the first year.... Then things started to build: PhD-prepped instructors would teach chemistry and microbiology; island physicians came in to lend a hand with science studies. Up-to-date textbooks were Xeroxed, because there virtually no current books available. Still the dream persisted. And grew.
If You Build It they Will Come
Word got out about the school, interest was stirred, and in 2005 a class of 35 was admitted. But this was unlike any freshmen class known on U.S. campuses. "Many of these students were from the most humble of settings," says Barnard. "Dean Alcindor had to set them straight about basic things... how to eat in the cafeteria, table manners. She required that they unbraid their hair so that it could be thoroughly washed. She taught the young women about shaving under their arms. Basic cleanliness. She had to start from scratch, and very basic scratch at that."
Despite all odds, the vision of a baccalaureate school not only became a reality, it graduated its first class of 3 men and 10 women in 2009.
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Education is a privilege |
"It was especially trying for the men," says Barnard. "Men don't go into nursing down there. Big stigma. One male student said the first year his classmates called him ‘miss.' He put up with it. He realized the power of knowledge and how he could really do good for his people."
A Student's Point of View
That student, Jean Chrisnel Bernard, speaks publicly - eloquently - of the his experience on the school's Web site:
"In the first year my colleagues called me ‘miss,' reminding me that nursing is a profession for women. However nothing shook me. I kept my composure and my self esteem has not fallen. As a measure, I have come to realize that it is important to make a difference in this country sick from the lack of quality care.
"Since then I have given wholeheartedly in my soul to study, to apply everything that I received at school. I feel the need to help, to serve others, to ease suffering, to treat the dying. For me it is the largest of the work, the greatest gift that we can offer to someone. When I give care I feel useful; I see what is my most beautiful and great mission on earth.
"Through my studies I made a lot of achievements: Animate on the radio, present lectures on health problems such as sanitation, personal hygiene, community development, hypertension, diabetes, HIV-AIDS... Hope grows by the day.
"I thank God, and the dean for giving me the opportunity to study in this great school this noble profession.... I am a professional and my future is assured. And I think that possibility is available to other young people of Haiti who believe in education - the key to development in any country.... I want to go further, get a master's, then a doctorate in nursing in order to better serve, teach.
"May God bless all the personnel [of FSIL]; it multiplies his days so that light will continue to shine on everyone! Another Haiti is possible."
Hope for Haiti
Barnard agrees. "There is hope for Haiti. I've seen improvement over the years. Garbage piles are getting cleaned up with help from UN troops. HIV rates have been cut in half from 10 years ago. And age span has increased to about 54, it had been down at 50. Median age, too has increased; it's 20 now, but it was only 18 in 2000."
Still, Barnard says, "More help is needed. This country has been overlooked, ignored by much of the world. And yet we have established this school. I think you could call it a miracle. This is for Haitians. And it is very hopeful."
Next time: Let's have some fun. How many ways can YOU say "nurse"?
Talk back: The Haitian graduate nurse told us what nursing means to him. What does it mean to you?