Train new health workers in Ethiopia: Save lives!

At ALKAN Health Science College nursing students study a curriculum built around the key competencies needed to become effective nurses in their communities, just like students attending nurse training programs in the United States. We asked our students at ALKAN Health Science College about the skills they are learning this year, and which key competency areas they find most interesting. Here’s what they had to say.

Almaz talked about the competency area of implementing basic nursing care—the backbone of all nursing. She is studying how to manage patient safety and comfort and how to help immobile clients with feeding and grooming. She has been mastering these skills by attending class, practicing in the skills laboratory, and collaborating with other health team members. Almaz says it’s important to learn “the knowledge and skills required to contribute to the nursing care of clients in a range of health environments.”

Fatuma highlighted learning about how to administer a wide range of medications. This semester, she is studying pharmacology and how different drugs treat and affect systems in the body. For example, while learning about medications that affect the nervous system, Fatuma studied the drug compounds and effects and then learned how to administer dosage accurately in the skills laboratory.

Hawa was most interested in basic wound care and developing a nursing care plan for her clients. She enjoys practicing in the skills laboratory, particularly skills related to preventing infections.

Tsehay, Eyerus, and Haymanot all pointed to learning how to provide maternal and newborn health care. “For me, there is nothing that gave satisfaction more than providing care and support to the mothers and babies,” reflects Eyerus. “I want to be part of the community that is fighting to reduce the deaths of mothers and babies.” The students have been studying the female reproductive system and fetal development in class. In the skills lab, they practice antenatal care, delivery and postnatal care for both mothers and babies.

To the nursing students at ALKAN, thank you for sharing your interests with us! We enjoy hearing stories coming from Ethiopia about your journey to become nurses. To our donors, we thank you for your continued support and your commitment to championing frontline health workers through this project. We look forward to sharing more stories about our students soon.