UAB Magazine Weekly - Features on Health Care
Zambian Innovation
The School of Nursing is working on several intriguing projects in Zambia, notes assistant dean for international affairs Lynda Wilson, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N. Wilson first partnered with Eleanor Msidi, registrar of Zambia’s General Nursing Council, and with other Zambian and international partners to develop a distance-based program to teach nurses how to prescribe HIV drugs. The one-year diploma program was launched in June 2009, with 31 nurses from all nine of Zambia’s provinces. “They had two and a half weeks of classes in Lusaka [Zambia’s capital], learning about all aspects of HIV care; then they did their next three and a half weeks in intensive clinical mentoring,” Wilson says. “Now they’ve gone back to their home provinces, where over the next 10 months, they’ll be mentored 40 hours a month and examine some case studies.”This, too, is a long-term project, says Wilson. “Eventually we’ll need more funding to make this a distance-accessible program,” she points out. “Not Internet-based, because Internet access is not reliable there, but we want to put a lot of this material on CD, and my dream has been to involve our nurse-practitioner faculty who know how to deliver distance education. We have identified several faculty members who have expressed willingness to go to Zambia and work with the Zambian team, because they know that when you teach in a distance format, you have to teach differently to get the students to engage with the material. And that’s going to be a big paradigm shift in Zambia, where they’re accustomed to sitting in a classroom and just writing down what the teacher says.”
Wilson has identified another possible solution to the challenge of long-distance teaching in eGranary, an idea originated at the University of Iowa. The eGranary concept involves copying as much information as possible from the Internet, getting copyright permission where necessary, and downloading it onto servers that can be purchased for as little as $700. In this way, the information can be accessed even on older computers, and without the problems associated with Internet access and bandwidth. The Ministry of Health has expressed interest in setting up similar installations in each of Zambia’s provinces, which could grow into regional education centers for nurses’ HIV training.
UAB’s Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia has received a grant from the Doris Duke Foundation to send two nurses to Zambia twice a year for three weeks at a time to help build assessment and treatment skills among the country’s nurses. The SON’s Karen Saenz, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S.N., C.P.N.P., who has particular expertise in community and pediatric health, has been chosen as one of the nurses and will help identify and mentor a group of 12 potential nurse leaders.
Uncomplicated
A Mother’s Journey at UAB
By Lisa C. Bailey
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Liz and Mike Lorbeer with their daughter, Sarah |
After only nine months of marriage, Liz Lorbeer convinced her husband, Mike, to make a “big, bold jump” and move to Birmingham from Chicago. Liz’s new job as associate director for content management at UAB’s Lister Hill Library of Health Sciences was the primary motivating factor, although both she and Mike admit that the barbecue was a really big draw. Little did they know that it would be burritos, not barbecue, that would signal an even more significant change in their lives.
“We really wanted children, but we never thought about it, we never planned it,” Liz says. “We said if it happens, it happens; if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. So I didn’t even have a doctor here. But I did see a nurse practitioner at The Kirklin Clinic for the annual, routine gynecological checkup. And in June of 2007 I said to her, ‘Well, so is it possible to have a child? You don’t see any problems or anything?’ She answered, ‘No, you can have a baby if you want to have a baby.’ I think that was the first time I had ever asked anybody.”
Baby on Board
One couple’s winding road to parenthood at UAB
By Lisa C. Bailey
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James and Emily Copeland with their son, Matthew |
To this day, Emily Copeland and her husband, James, have no idea when their son was born. They know the year, of course, and the day, and the hour. After that, it gets a little fuzzy. There were a few too many things going on that May morning in 2006 when Matthew decided he wasn’t going to wait to full-term to make his debut—much less make it to the hospital.
Emily, who has worked at UAB for five years, got up that morning expecting to visit her obstetrician, but just for a routine visit. “My pregnancy was pretty much normal up until 28 weeks,” Emily says. “But the night before I had Matthew, I started feeling a little bit of discomfort. And I thought, ‘OK, I’ve got an appointment in the morning. I’ll just tell my doctor at 8:45. I can make it until then.’” Emily was due August 1—almost three months later—“and we really thought we had our stuff together,” she says. “We were getting his nursery ready. I had no clue.”
Track Team
UAB's Raceway Rescue Squad
By Tyler Greer
Down at Birmingham's Barber Motorsports Park, where professional Porsche, Mustang, and superbike racers come out to play each summer, a group of UAB medical volunteers is on hand in case of emergency. In this audio slideshow, sports medicine specialist Drew Ferguson offers a behind-the-scenes look at the UAB Infield Care Center.
