A few years ago, pediatric oncology nurse Jen Martin could never have imagined herself working in Africa to establish infection control programs. But that is exactly where her volunteer journey led her in June 2006. Uganda is enduring a social and economic crisis-the arrival of a generation of orphaned children. HIV/AIDS has devastated the country over the last 20 years. Families have been left with little support, and often depend upon the oldest child for the care of the younger children and for economic survival.
An infection control coordinator at Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Martin volunteered last summer through CURE International in two countries in Africa. She shared her healthcare expertise with CURE's hospitals in Kenya and Uganda to set up infection control programs at two hospitals in only 18 days.
Martin focused on developing solutions to improve safety and reduce risk by focusing on five areas: clean hands, clean practices, clean products, clean environment, and clean equipment. Before addressing these issues, Martin spent the first few days observing the practices and setup of each hospital. She then identified specific problem areas. The next stage was to propose solutions for the problems and educate the staff in proper infection control practices. Martin was very impressed with the staff's eagerness to learn. She developed several infection control policies for the hospitals and left the nurses with copies of the policies as well as copies of all educational presentation materials.
Martin plans to send a list of recommendations based on her research findings to the hospitals she visited. She also hopes to benchmark the CURE hospitals' infection rates with those at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center.
Not only did the local hospital staff benefit from her volunteer service, but Martin herself felt blessed by it, both personally and professionally. The extra challenges she faced working in a developing country really caused her to expand and adapt her skills. Reflecting on her volunteer experiences in Kenya and Uganda, Martin said "I now know this is something I want to be a part of in any way I can."
