Located in Kanungu District, the Uganda Nursing School Bwindi is “at the end of the road” right at the foot of the gorillas’ homeland. The Bwindi nursing training school has a total of 300 nurses training. On 12th September 2020, a team of 15 Rotarians made a trip to Bwindi to physically visit the project site and familiarize themselves with UNSB and Bwindi Hospital, verify equipment that had so far been delivered and discuss areas for future cooperation.
The long distance and much time on the journey was compensated for by the jolly mood of the team and it became fun at the end of the trip as we served above self.
Many rural community health units are run by nurses exclusively hence the need for a comprehensive training program. Elements of this global grant will provide the capability to create a more robust curriculum for diploma and degree nurses and to provide infrastructure to provide the necessary training. Development of curriculum will require more highly trained faculty and students experiencing the nursing curriculum must be trained to utilize critical thinking during patient diagnosis.
In addition, physical facilities and equipment that create a suitable learning environment are necessary and can contribute to successful outcomes for the nursing students. Provision of adequate infrastructure for the school is a major component of the global grant and will contribute in a significant way to the education of the students that study at the nursing school.
The global grant will enhance the public health system in Uganda and because of the scope of training nurses receive, the project will have impact throughout Uganda.
The areas of focus covered by the global grant are disease prevention and treatment, and maternal and child health but the impact is much more significant and includes changing the face of public health in Uganda.
Nurses that are educated at the Uganda Nursing School Bwindi (UNSB) will carry their new professional skills throughout the country as they take positions in doctor’s offices, clinics and hospitals. They will personally implement the areas of focus preventing and treating disease and improving maternal and child health through application of the medical information they learn and the skills they develop at UNSB
In summary, this project has supplied equipment and furnishings supporting the education of nurses that will be responsible for improving health outcomes in Uganda. In addition to the equipment and furnishings, the project will train faculty in active learning techniques to enhance the learning experiences of nursing students and will educate two degree nurses to an MSN level. All of this work is structured to enhance the viability of Uganda Nursing School Bwindi and is clearly aligned with areas of focus goals related to disease prevention and treatment and maternal and child health. While the areas of focus may most directly be impacted after students graduate from the three year program, they will also be providing short term alignment with the areas of focus by participating in field clinics and hospital in-service training activities as part of the nursing curriculum.
