Addressing Health Disparities in Haiti Through Nursing Education and Technology

Abstract

This paper seeks to highlight a program designed to address health disparities in Haiti through nursing education and technology by empowering Haitian nurses to provide evidence-based care. Haiti carries a heavy burden of disease compared to the rest of the world; infant and maternal mortality rates are the highest in the Americas and life expectancy the lowest. Haiti has a long history of misfortunes that lead to its current overwhelming health disparities including poverty, social policies, and natural disasters. These, in addition to inadequate regulatory standards and lack of practice guidelines present challenges to nurses practicing in Haiti. Although the majority of health care in Haiti is provided by nurses, there has been little attention given to continuing nursing education. Through sharing of knowledge during seminars and mentoring, foreign nursing faculty in collaboration with nurse educators on the ground, the nurses at one hospital are exposed to continuing education on a regular basis. The program consists of week-long educational seminars addressing specific topics and access to nursing information through iPads provided by a non-profit organization. A needs assessment precedes each educational trip. The local nurse educator works with the staff nurses to identify topics based on health care issues in the population and the educational needs of the nurses. The most common admitting diagnoses also serve as a guide for continuing education topics. Each presentation is preceded by a pre-test and followed with a posttest to evaluate the impact on nursing knowledge. Our findings indicate that the seminars have a significant impact on nursing knowledge, as evidenced by a 40% increase in post-test scores on average. Culturally congruent programs that enhance nursing knowledge provide the first step toward improving nursing practices directed to improve health care outcomes in Haiti.