Nurses to Travel to Cap-Haitien, as part of Konbit Sante’s Sister City Work

January 28, 2010

On Saturday, January 30, two area nurses will travel to Cap-Haitien as part of Konbit Sante Cap-Haitien Health Partnership’s ongoing work in Haiti.

Kim Moody (Kimberly Ann Moody, Ph.D., RN, ANP), who is a nurse practitioner and professor of nursing at University of Southern Maine’s College of Nursing is traveling to Haiti on Saturday to work on curriculum development with the head of nursing at the nursing school affiliated with the Justinian University Hospital and located on the hospital campus. Although the nursing school is closed for a period of national mourning, as are all schools in Haiti since the earthquake, the director of the school, Angelina Liané (Ms. Angelina Liané, RN, MPH), who met Kim during an educational visit to Maine several years ago, wants to take this opportunity to collaborate on ways to improve education. Moody has served on Konbit Sante’s board of directors, and this is her first trip to Haiti.

Also traveling, making her third working trip with Konbit Sante, is Nancy Nickerson, RN, ANP. Nancy is working with Konbit Sante’s nursing team to collaborate with the nursing staff at Justinian Hospital. In 1980, she spent four months in Haiti working with Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity. Nancy is the wife of Konbit Sante executive director, Nate Nickerson.

According to Konbit Sante’s Nate Nickerson, “While this visit was already planned before the earthquake, it is extremely timely. The agenda and focus of the trip has changed, but the partnerships and relationships built over the years are needed now more than ever, and nursing is a critical element. Few people know that there are actually fewer nurses in Haiti than doctors, so building their capacity is going to be important for the future. In the aftermath of the earthquake, after the urgent rescues and emergency surgeries are over, there is still a lot of nursing care required both in the hospitals and in the communities.”