Bangladesh Health Project Featured in Journal of International Nursing

The Journal of International Nursing (JOIN) is a publication written by Nurses for Nurses International, an organization that aspires to join nurses’ voices from around the globe in an effort to share tools and technology amongst the international community of nurses and midwives.

In the March/April 2013 edition of JOIN, the Bangladesh Health Project (BHP) was prominently featured in an interview with Alex Berland, one of the founding members of the Project and current Advisor on Health Sciences at IUBAT in the Nursing program.

Alex discusses the origins and history of BHP, the operations, the struggles and the future of BHP in Bangladesh and at IUBAT. He says, “It is true that there are immense environmental, social and especially educational challenges for nursing in Bangladesh – outsiders need to understand and respect these challenges. However, there is also enormous energy amongst the young nursing students that I meet there. They have a passion for learning and improvement, a terrific ambition to raise health care standards, to do something different.”

Former Volunteer Faculty Raises Funds for BHP Partner Site

Sandra Piper, a BC nurse who volunteered at IUBAT in fall of 2012, taught maternal-child nursing at our teaching hospital partner site, the Centre for Woman and Child Health (CWCH). Like many of our clinical teaching partners, this is a private not-for-profit hospital, working hard to improve care standards. It is situated in the garment manufacturing district north of Dhaka, and provided emergency care to many victims of the infamous Rana Plaza collapse earlier this year. During normal times, CWCH serves thousands of families, with a focus on peri-natal care. Sandra recognized the terrific work and limited resources of CWCH, so when she returned to BC she organized a fundraising campaign.

In this photo, Dr. Karen Lund is presenting a donation of $2800 raised by Sandra to Mr. Rafiq, CWCH Administrator and Sister Margaret Sarkar, Director of Nursing.

Thank you Sandra, for your commitment and efforts to help this deserving institute!

IUBAT Alumnus Shares Her Experience with Compassion International

Nausheen Nafeez is a graduate of IUBAT and is currently a community health nurse with Compassion international, Bangladesh, an NGO that is involved with childrens’ health.

She writes: “I am happy to report that I am settling into my position here as the Health Specialist at Compassion International Bangladesh, an NGO aimed at alleviating the effects of poverty and encouraging healthy child development.  Compassion has 135 projects situated all over the country, and partners with churches and sponsors who help to run the organization, as well as help to support the children.

My role is mainly related to community health nursing, where I teach and advise the teachers about health in order to raise, improve, and maintain standards.  I advise and help with the health issues of the children, especially the complicated cases, and facilitate treatment for them with the right doctors and hospitals as necessary. As part of the Training and Support Team, I conduct training for the staff and project workers at Compassion. This position also allows me to get involved with networking and sharing ideas with other health-related organizations as we have a shared purpose in building a strong future for children in Bangladesh, particularly those in the lower class.

As I enter my fourth month, I am feeling better adjusted and I look forward to the many ways that I can grow in this position.  I am grateful for everything that has brought me here, including God and IUBAT, for the knowledge I have gained and the contribution to my life.  Teaching nursing at IUBAT remains in my thoughts and future plans, but for now, I am looking forward to working with Compassion. It is a big dream, and one of the major plans I had for my life.”

Congratulations to Nausheen on your new role and we wish you the best of luck in the future.  We hope to see you back at IUBAT soon!