Community Education on Ebola Liberia

Bouyed by the success of our GlobalGiving challenge, Nursing for All's partner nurses went right back to work to fight Ebola in Liberia at the start of 2015. 

In keeping with the government's "No New Cases" challenge, and mindful of the fact schools would re-open in early February for the first time in six months, our partner nurses opted to partner with seven different Liberian schools. Five are grade schools, one is a high school, and the sixth is a local nursing school.

One partner nurse is working in Monrovia, while three are working in Ganta. At each school, three major steps are being taken to reach zero new cases: 

• Monitoring for signs of Ebola: students' temperatures are taken every morning to quickly identify anyone who is showing signs of fever. 
• Educational sessions: Large meeting and small group sessions are held for students and faculty to teach about Ebola's transmission, signs and symptoms, and the appropriate response to possible cases. At the school of nursing, additional instruction is being given on the assessment and care of an Ebola patient. 
• Bucket and chlorine distribution: buckets and chlorine for proper sanitzation are being distributed at these sites, both for use at the schools and for use in the community. 

Nursing for All has also been delighted to partner with Journey, a South African business software company, which has designed monile phone apps for our partner nurses to use in the field. These apps have been developed and tested, and we hope to deply them by March 1.