Nurse faculty, staff assess needs of Haiti’s nursing school

A banner for the nursing school in Haiti was signed by ECU students, faculty and staff during Diversity Day in April. Photo by Cliff Hollis.

GREENVILLE, N.C.  —   Faculty and staff members from East Carolina University’s College of Nursing are in Haiti assessing the needs of the country’s only nursing school.

Dr. Nancy Stephenson, associate professor of nursing, and Allison Hope, instructional technology specialist, are in the city of Leogane, where the FSIL School of Nursing is located and close to the epicenter of a Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated the country. They will return June 27.

ECU nursing has had an ongoing relationship with the Haitian nursing school, which was designed by local architect Jimmy Hite, a board member of the Haiti Nursing Foundation.

In April, the ECU College of Nursing held its annual Diversity Day and dedicated its efforts to Haiti. Students, faculty, staff and alumni raised $8,500 for ten scholarships for nursing students in Haiti, doubling its initial goal. Completed in 2005, the first 13 baccalaureate students graduated in 2009 from Haiti’s nursing school.

Armed with a backpack filled with a mini laptop, video camera, digital camera and accessories, Hope will be blogging daily at http://hopenhaiti.wordpress.com.

The pair also took a banner that faculty, staff and students signed on Diversity Day to show ECU’s support.

Several ECU faculty members are providing course materials to students. The biggest area of need for coursework identified so far is in obstetrics and gynecology and medical-surgical nursing, Hope said. She is taking electronic versions of course information, syllabi and tests, and will be evaluating the possibility of a distance education program.