Advancing Nurse Education in Bangladesh

In March 2014, IUBAT released a research monograph entitled Advancing Nurse Education in Bangladesh, which arose from research through the Bangladesh Health Project and collaborating universities and organizations, namely, IUBAT, Simon Fraser University and Mid-Main Community Health Centre in Vancouver, Canada.  The monograph focuses on the critical obstacle with providing better nurse education in Bangladesh – the shortage of qualified nurse educators.  It summarizes the current situation for education of nurses, introduces potential solutions from other countries and suggests a made-in-Bangladesh strategy.

This report, presented by Professor Alex Berland, follows the experience of the Bangladesh Health Project, as well as discussions with dozens of nurse educators, physicians and hospital managers.

Three initial steps proposed in the monograph to strengthen nurse education in Bangladesh:

1. To build a leadership coalition and a guiding strategy for nursing resource development.

2. To create a country-wide collaborative effort to advance nurse education.

3. To develop system supports to promote higher standards in nursing education and practice.

The monograph focuses on one aspect of strengthening nurses’ contributions, namely the education of nurses. A strong policy platform for developing the nurse education system could release nurses’ capacity as caregivers, advocates and client educators.

To read Advancing Nurse Education in Bangladesh, please click here.

The Lancet Finds Improvements in Health in Bangladesh

The Lancet, a leading medical journal, recently published a special series on improvements in the survival of infants and children under 5 years of age, life expectancy, immunization coverage, and tuberculosis control in Bangladesh. Calling it a “remarkable success story for health”, the editors note these gains occurred “despite low spending on health care, a weak health system, and widespread poverty.”

The six-part series takes a comprehensive look at one of the “great mysteries of global health”, and this web link also includes podcasts and comments.

Visit our Flickr Site for more Photos!

The lives and experiences of the volunteers, students and faculty are chronicled and shared on this blog regularly, but did you know that you could also stay up to date with the Bangladesh Health Project through photographs?

They say that pictures are worth a thousand words, and indeed, the photos shared on our Flickr site hold a wealth of information that we haven’t yet began to blog about!  Pictures of celebrations, Bangladesh living, the classroom setting and much more can be found at our Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bangladesh_healthproject/.  

You can view the entire photostream, or by collection (simply click on the title):

Clinical Teaching Sites Guest House Neighbourhood Scenes Teaching at IUBAT

Have a glimpse of the Bangladesh Health Project as it proceeds overseas and come back often to see what else we’ve been up to!