The School of Nursing and Health Studies had strong representation at the recent XVI Pan American Nursing Research Colloquium, held November 5 to 9 in Havana, Cuba. The central theme of the biennial scientific event was “Contribution of Nursing in Primary Health Care to Universal Health” and recognized the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma-Ata, which in 1978 defined primary care as an essential strategy of achieving health for all.
Attending the international conference was the core staff of the SONHS’ Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) Collaborating Centre for Nursing Human Resources Development and Patient Safety. During the event, SONHS Dean Cindy L. Munro, PhD, RN, ANP-BC, FAAN, FAANP, FAAAS; Johis Ortega, PhD, ARNP, ACNP-BC, ENP-BC, FNP-BC, FAAN, director of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre; and Daniel Friedeberg, project manager, had the opportunity to meet with delegates from over 20 nations, including Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Chile, and Cuba, among others.
Ortega, who is also associate dean for Hemispheric and Global Initiatives as well as an associate professor of clinical at the SONHS, presented “Implementing the National Incident Management System as a Framework for Travel Medicine in Haiti.” Published in the International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health, the paper outlines protocols Ortega and his colleagues at the School of Nursing and Health Studies have implemented to improve safety and increase efficiency during their biannual clinical service trips to remote villages in Central Haiti.
In addition to taking part in the colloquium while in Havana, Dean Munro, Ortega, and Friedeberg attended a meeting of the Pan American Network of Nursing and Midwifery Collaborating Centers (PANMCC) and visited a local hospital. At a meeting of RIENSEP (International Network of Nursing and Patient Safety Experts) that took place in Havana as well, the SONHS team reported on the impact of the school’s free online PAHO/WHO Patient Safety Course, which has been taken in Spanish, Portuguese, or English by over 13,000 care providers to date.
