Nurses
Watch nurse Jillian Mason's account of volunteering for A-Z Children's Charity
Nurses will be working in the following areas:
- Local health centres
- Teaching first aid to schools
- Working with the community health worker on the HIV community Project
Pre- trip orientation
A lot of preparation is done before you leave Ireland. This is necessary to ensure that you are prepared mentally for the trip and that you know what to do and what is expected of you the minute you arrive in Uganda. Although it always takes some time for every volunteer to adjust, A-Z Children’s Charity has found that volunteers who are well prepared in advance adapt easier in Uganda. For that reason A-Z Children’s Charity places great importance in preparing every nurse for their placement. The orientation schedule is as follows: -
December- January- General orientation with all the volunteers and past volunteers and learn about what to expect and how to prepare for Uganda.
February- Meet with other volunteer nurses, as well as the volunteer nurse coordinator and find out about the placements you will be volunteering in.
End of February- E-mail clinic, introducing yourself, and any questions you may have. This may take a few e-mails before you understand fully what will happen in the health center.
March- Meeting with volunteer nurse coordinator to discuss probable four-week work plan.
May- Finalise work plan and any outstanding issues you may have. A discussion of what resources to bring for your health center will also take place.
Orientation schedule in Uganda
Your first two days upon arrival in Uganda are general orientation days (Please see orientation pack). You will also get a one-day orientation when you start working in the health center.
Support systems available during your volunteer placement
- Weekly evaluation meetings take place with all the volunteer nurses to assess and record your progress
- An A-Z Children’s Charity, Ireland volunteer nurse coordinator will visit you every couple of days and be available to you at any time should any issues arise.
- Daily or every second day evaluation meetings are organised with your link nurse. These meetings are designed to look at areas both you and the clinic are happy with and areas that may need attention
- You will be asked to keep a diary of your nursing experience. This is designed to help you on future projects and to help future volunteers.
- Local health centres.
- 1 Registered nurse
- 2 Enrolled nurse
- 2 nursing assistants
- Family planning
- Antenatal clinic
- T.B. treatment
- Counselling
- Health education
- Immunisation
- Respiratory infection, coughs, colds
- Malaria- treated with chloroquin (PO/ IM), Fausiden, Quinine (PO/ IM)
- Dispensing room
- Examination room
- Waiting room
- Injection room
- Vaccine room
- Store
- Teaching first aid in primary and secondary schools.
- Children’s HIV Community Project
- Assessments of a HIV positive child’s health, psychological, sociological and nutritional status.
- Household assessments: - to include structural condition of house, available appliances in house, sanitation, nutritional pattern of household etc.
- Assessments of the main caregivers of the household to include knowledge regarding HIV, sources of income, health status, psychological status.
- Accompanying children/ guardians to Health facility to access ART (Anti- Retroviral Treatment).
- Providing and educating families on nutritional supplements.
- Educating households on situation.
- Providing support and guidance to the household members.
A-Z Children’s Charity works with two clinics, Wakiso and Nansana. Both are government run with limited resources. They are situated 5 and 10 miles outside Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Please see below for a more detailed look at the clinics.
PROFILE OF NANSANA HEALTH CLINIC
Catchment Area- 30,000 people
Staff
SERVICES/ TREATMENT AVAILABLE
MOST COMMOM CONDITIONS SEEN AT THE CENTRE INCLUDE: -
FACILITIES AT THE CENTRE INCLUDE:
Nursing volunteers would be expected to examine and treat patients, dispense drugs, immunise children and educate patients.
Wakiso health Centre is bigger with a larger catchment area. This centre has the following clinics; Maternity, Vaccination, OPD, and HIV. Volunteers would spend 1 week in each clinic and then rotate to the other clinics.
Nurse volunteers are expected to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the health centres.
These classes will be according to the school timetables. It may be therefore necessary to work some Saturdays. On average, each volunteer will be working 5 days a week.
Both general and specific orientation will be provided before departure. First, a general orientation day will take place where you will learn about Uganda and how to prepare for the trip. Fundraising tips will also be given.
In preparation for your nursing activities you will make contact with the clinics and the UPA before hand. A specific timetable will be created for you before departure so that you know exactly where you will be working and what you will be doing. Your link nurse, well in advance of departure, can answer any questions you may have. Any resources the clinics may need may also be sourced, e.g. stethoscope, thermometers. You will also meet with the four other nurses to discuss your first aid plan and who will teach what. Items for the first aid training will need to be sourced and brought over to Uganda.
The aim of this project is to ensure that HIV infected children gain access to life saving medication (Anti- retroviral). A-Z CC’s aim is to ensure that these medications are taken correctly, the household receives adequate nutrition and the sanitation in the household is in adequate to prevent transmission of opportunistic infection. Currently there are 13 families on the project, 6 from Nansana (semi- urban) and 7 from Mende (rural).
This is a challenging volunteer opportunity as many of the children are sick and the households are struggling to find adequate healthcare and nutrition. It is very difficult for a nurse to make an impact in only four weeks. The aim for you is therefore to get to know these families and understand the programme.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PROJECT IS SAVING THESE CHILDREN’S LIVES
Activities in which you may be involved in: -
PLEASE NOTE- For this placement we do not expect you to have any HIV knowledge or experience. It is more important that the individual is enthusiastic and empathetic.
