Doctors without Borders/Medicin Sans Frontiers is a well known international organization started in 1971 by French Doctors who wanted to provide medical care to “where the need is greatest, delivering emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health care and provide medical aid where it is needed most.” (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org). Working in over 60 countries, their staff is made up of multidisciplinary professionals including nurses, nurse-midwives, nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists.
One of these nurses is Kristen Lubell, an experienced pediatric nurse, now family nurse practitioner student who most recently worked with MSF in the South Sudan. Kristen came to MSF with an extensive work history in neonatal and pediatric critical care, pediatric E.R. and flight nursing experience. In the Sudan she worked as pediatric nurse specialist whose responsibilities included being the only RN working with a team to operate a 55 bed NICU, a 13 bed PICU, and 203 bed pediatric ward, supporting Labor & Delivery, and running the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program. Her workload included rounding on anywhere from 50-100 patients a day, and providing support and community outreach for local programs.
Kristen explains further that most international MSF nursing staff work to provide basic health care, rather than hands on medical care, except in emergency situations. Nurses often set up and run vaccination programs, health centers, or feeding centers. Much of MSFs work is done in collaboration with national health care providers and systems, although they also maintain their own independent projects as well. International nurses often provide supervision, training and managing programs, while national staff are involved in the staffing and direct patient care in these programs.
MSF accepts open applications for registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and nurse-midwives. The minimum requirement is a degree and three years experience, and the ability to commit to at least nine months of work, as well as special training in several categories. To learn more about the role of nurses in MSF, see the link below.
Thanks for sharing informative blogs… I have learned many things