Training of trainers – our next priority

The global shortage of nurse educators is a major barrier to increasing supply of nurses. To tackle this problem, we prepare students for teaching roles when they graduate. Senior students have the opportunity to learn as volunteer Teaching Assistants; our BSN graduates are paid for part-time positions. Visiting faculty coach and support novice educators as they develop classroom management skills. In this photo, Teaching Assistant Asha Gurung (BSN 2010) demonstrates wound care, observed by volunteers Monique de Groot and JoAnn Leavey and Teaching Assistant Shahed Chowdhury (BSN 2012). Already this strategy has made an impact, with some IUBAT graduates teaching in nursing colleges in Nepal.

Positive impact for volunteers

Cassandra Ma was a senior nursing student in Canada when she went to IUBAT last year. In addition to helping junior students in the nursing labs, Cassandra used her long experience with St. John Ambulance to teach first-aid to nursing students, IUBAT security guards and faculty. About her experience at IUBAT, Cassandra says, “Increasingly, I find that what I learned in Bangladesh is transferable to my practice in Canada and even to how I carry myself as a person. Although initially I felt ‘out of my element’, I gained confidence in my knowledge base. Now I am more vocal about my strengths, more assertive in contributing my knowledge to other healthcare professionals. For example, in my first preceptorship, I had the confidence to advocate for my patients with other team members. That’s not all: I also gained first-hand knowledge about the value of cultural acceptance. And I had no idea of the struggles nurses face in Bangladesh – these encounters have been invaluable in my own development.”

IUBAT alumni perform well

Congratulations to IUBAT College of Nursing graduates, Poonam Limbu,  Karuna Sharma and Bimala Rai. They recently passed exams for an advanced ACLS course offered at Dhaka’s BIRDEM Hospital. Of about 40 health professionals attending, only 10 passed, with the three IUBAT graduates in the top rank.  When the head of the Critical Care Unit announced the results, he told the audience that nurses are intelligent professionals, as these three IUBAT alumni had demonstrated.