The motto
of the health workers who provide care to patients at Lao Friends Hospital for
Children (LFHC) is: “Treat every patient as if your own child.” The dedication
of the hospital staff, as well as that of the numerous volunteers who serve at
LFHC, has enabled the recently opened institution to provide free medical care
to more than 15,000 children during its first year of operation.
LFHC is a
full-service hospital providing both in-patient and out-patient care. It was
founded and is supported by the nonprofit organization,Friends Without a Border. Like
HVO, Friends Without a Border recognizes that educating local health care
providers is a critical component of capacity building and improving health
outcomes at the population level. HVO volunteers have long provided training to
health workers in a variety of specialty areas at LFHC’s sister institution, the Angkor Hospital for
Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia. In March 2016, HVO began its
partnership with LFHC with the launch of our anesthesia
training project at the site (this partnership has since expanded to
include a general pediatrics training project as well).
Volunteers
to HVO’s anesthesia training project at LFHC will provide clinical and didactic
instruction to the individuals enrolled in the hospital’s nurse anesthesia
training program. The long-term goal of this program is to develop an
anesthesia department at LFHC that employs at least three nurse anesthetists
and one anesthesiologist. At present, there is a nurse nine months into LFHC’s
two-year nurse anesthesia training program. The hospital hopes to enroll two
more nurses in the program in the coming months. There is a pressing
need for volunteers at this project site to support the growth of the training
program. LFHC is seeking HVO volunteers who can commit to assignments of at
least two weeks. Volunteers with regional experience would be particularly
helpful. (Click here to learn more about the volunteer placement process.)
A unique
feature of the LFHC nurse anesthesia training program is that students are able
to spend five to seven months of their training at sister institution AHC in
Cambodia. During this time, trainees receive clinical and didactic instruction
both from AHC nurse anesthetists and HVO volunteers at that project site.
Kuelee, the nurse currently completing the LFHC nurse anesthesia training
program, has just returned from her time in Cambodia. Anesthesia Laos project
director Rick Henker, PhD, RN, CRNA, shared the following description of
Kuelee’s experience with HVO staff:
“Kuelee,
the Lao nurse that is in the program, has spent seven months at Angkor Hospital
for Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Kuelee has learned not only from the nurse
anesthetists at AHC but also volunteers spending time at AHC from Oregon Health
Sciences University and Seattle Children’s Hospital. The reason for AHC: the
practice is similar to LFHC in terms of types of cases and available resources.
I have also spent time teaching Kuelee while at AHC.”
At
present, there is no licensure for nurses or nurse anesthetists in Laos, but
students will keep track of their clinical cases for possible
recognition/accreditation of the program in the future. Volunteers at
HVO’s anesthesia training project in Laos will have a unique opportunity to
support this innovative training program during the early phases of its
inception. Learn more about HVO’s anesthesia training project in Laos, as well
as our other anesthesia training programs on our anesthesia
programs page.
Nora Daly
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