Shaping Healthier Futures Through Storybooks

The vision of empowered nurses, acting as leaders to realize the ideals of ‘access of care to the rural poor’, is a compelling one. We started to recruit appropriate nurses to lead this effort in three health centres: Shebe, Agaro and Asendabo, each of them located about 50 kilometres south, west and east of Jimma University Hospital respectively.

While recruiting, we also began advocating for THET to support a rotating fund, providing essential medicines and to address the universities mandate and lack of involvement in health care. We quoted the social accountability article of the universities vision and mission statements, that they aim to make to research an entry-point to further health care training and that providing quality service to patients (subjects) and the training of nurses (data collectors) are an ethical requirement of the institution.

Funding for training, coaching, mentoring, supervision and transportation were mobilised, yet again, by THET.

Links:

• THET Ethiopia landing page

• Nurse leaders for advocacy (DOCX)

Epilepsy: Burns are one of the major causes of disabilities due to epilepsy. It is a sad fact that many epileptic patients face the danger of falling into open fire made for cooking or other reasons. Falling from on high while collecting twigs for firewood and drowning in the rainy season in the flooding rivers are some other causes of major disability and death. Here are three stories which describe the effects of such epileptic incidents.

A 30 year old lady from rural part of Jimma who developed hand deformity of the fingers and hand following fall into fire while cooking. She remained unmarried and shunned by her family as a burden.

A 21 year old shepherd who had made a bone-fire in the field to warm himself in the cold season while herding cattle had sudden attack of seizure. Fortunately only his hands fell into the fire while the rest of his body was safely away. It was too late when he was discovered and his left hands were burned beyond recovery and amputated while contracture couldn’t be prevented on his right hand. He is currently unable to use his hands. 

A 16 years old school girl who fell into open cooking fire while helping her mother, who supports the family selling Injera. The mother was around to take her out of the fire but not soon enough to avoid severe burns to the face. After recovery with a very scarred face, the girl refused to go back to school for fear that her looks would frighten off younger students and also bring her stigma among her peers. Her chances of education and forming a family when coming to age all gone together. She continues to live with her mother

Such tragedies can be effectively prevented through early detection, control of seizures with anticonvulsant drugs and health education. After injury a quick and appropriate burn management and Rehabilitative measures for those who have developed serious disability would also be crucial. Decentralization of services through training of nurses in the primary care setting which are far more accessible to the victims in terms of distance would give the opportunity for early detection and control of seizures and when this has failed an early burn treatment and referral in severe cases will significantly reduce the burden of permanent disability to these patients.