Physicians for Peace in AAPA News

  “Physicians for Peace Sets Standards
for PA Medical Missions” - Read Article

A Global Perspective On Nursing

Emily Tinsley, Physicians for Peace Volunteer
R.N, B.S, M.S.N Ed student

As I enter the last stretch of my Masters in Nursing Education program, I have found myself preparing to teach a class in International Burn Care Education. My goal has always been to incorporate my volunteer work with PFP into my advanced nursing education.

After 15 years of teaching burn nursing in developing countries, I have reached a point where I would like to share my international experiences and knowledge with nursing students in the United States. I have always felt a strong need to expose these students to what nursing is all about through the eyes of a developing country. I have discovered a higher depth of meaning to the nursing profession through my international work. My hope now, is to spread what I can of this depth so that students will gain an entirely new appreciation and perspective of what nursing really is.

As a first step to this endeavor, I have designated my practicum experience to include teaching a basic class in International Burn Care Education. This class will be given to fourth year Baccalaureate nursing students.

In preparation for this class, I first conducted a learning needs assessment to help me determine exactly what the needs would be. Through this questionnaire-formatted assessment, I realized how great the need is for not only international nursing education but for global health related issues as well. I found the results of this questionnaire to be interesting and worth sharing. For example, in response to the students’ perception of a developing country, one wrote, “some country with a lot of work to do”, while another wrote, “a country that is poor and behind the times”.

These kind of responses triggered several conclusions. As nurses, providers of health care, and patient advocates, these students will benefit from the knowledge of what a developing country is, what the contributing factors are that affect health and disease, and what struggles occur when facing daily life in a developing country. As one of my nursing mentors pointed out, my expertise in burn nursing education seems to be lessening as a focus and building as a foundation for more global nursing issues.

My energy and passion for burn patients remains constant however my new awareness has triggered an urgency to teach students what I have learned through my work as an international burn nurse educator. It is this type of knowledge that simultaneously builds students’ insight for compassion and provides empowerment for the practice of patient advocacy in all settings. So, as we all take time away from our daily lives to help those in need we must also remember the educational needs of professionals in developed countries. In recognizing that ignorance is a learning need and a teaching opportunity one can take a first step in the improvement of health care world wide.

United Nations Millennium Development Goals

The mission of Physicians for Peace aligns closely with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. If you are not familiar with the MDGs, here’s a brief overview and a link to more information.

In 2000, the United Nations heads of state agreed to the Millennium Declarations, a plan for the United Nations and its member to address the challenges of disease, poverty and global inequity facing the new millennium. That declaration represents an agreement of the global community to realize specific targets to advance development by 2015.

These Millennium Development Goals focus on many of the issues Physicians for Peace and its volunteers work hard for, such as: children’s health, maternal health, and the impact of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, and tuberculosis in developing countries.

United Nations Millennium Development Goals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality

5. Improve maternal health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

8. Develop a global partnership for development

United Nations MDGs Website

Welcome to the PFP Blog!

Thanks for taking the time to check in on the new Physicians for Peace web blog. We are so proud of our work, and so committed to our mission, that we want to get the word out to as many of our supporters as possible. We will try, on a weekly basis, to let you know what’s going on at PFP, and where we are travelling around the world – We’ll tell you about the challenges we face, the amazing work being done by our volunteers, and what you can do to help!

I’ll be keeping you up to date on activities at our headquarters, and on news and trends that affect our work around the world.

More importantly, when we have active missions around the world, you will be able to read updates from our dedicated volunteers, see amazing photographs of the people we (and you) are helping, and comment on what we are doing. We encourage you to let us know what you think of our work and our activities. Without your support, we couldn’t do the work we do.

Bookmark the blog, check on us periodically, and let your friends know about what we are doing. We are so excited to give you another way to be a part of the incredible work that our volunteers are doing around the world.

Sincerely,

Cliff Bryant
Physicians for Peace