School of Nursing assists ADRAVietnam
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| Dynnette E. Hart, DrPH, RN, assistant professor of nursing (center), presented seminars to faculty in nursing schools in Vietnam. Chantana Lortajakul (second from left), who teaches at the School of Nursing, Mission College in Bangkok, Thailand, co-taught the seminars. Kenneth W. Hart, MD, assistant professor of international health, School of Public Health (left), participated in the seminars through collaborative discussion. Above, the group takes a break from the seminars to explore the countryside. |
School of Nursing involvement in Vietnam dates back to October, 1993, when Jan Zumwalt, RN, MS, MBA, executive director of case management/ advanced practice nursing, LLUMC, participated in an LLU&MC interdisciplinary team surveying the Vietnamese health-care system. The project arose through a request the Vietnam government made to Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).
"Administrators in Vietnam," informs Ms. Zumwalt, "wanted to improve nursing and the quality of nursing education. They had focused on training physicians in the past, and wanted to focus more on nursing."
When the team returned to the United States, Ms. Zumwalt reported her findings to the LLU International Nursing Council, of which she is a member. In 1994, ADRA and the School of Nursing Alumni Association jointly supported a feasibility study for Helen E. King, PhD, RN, dean, and Patricia Jones, PhD, RN, professor, School of Nursing and chair, LLU International Nursing Council, to travel to Vietnam to assess the situation there.
During a subsequent visit in 1998, Dynnette E. Hart, DrPH, RN, assistant professor, presented seminars to nursing faculty in two nursing schools in north Vietnam--Hanoi Medical College and Nam Dinh Medical High School (a college-level institution).
"The information, which was presented in Vietnamese," says Dr. Hart, "supports the reason the School has joined with ADRA and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health--to support baccalaureate nursing education in Vietnam."
During her stay, Dr. Hart met with Pham Duc Muc, BSN, vice president, Vietnam Nursing Association and head of the nursing office, Vietnam Ministry of Health, who previously completed a special course at Loma Linda's School of Nursing.
ADRA International and ADRA-Vietnam continue to work closely with LLU on this project.