Villanova Nursing students battle disease in the bateyes

Villanova, PA, July 8, 2008 — Nine students from Villanova University College of Nursing traveled to areas of desperation in the Dominican Republic bateyes (shanty towns) in April to bring health care to underserved Haitian immigrants who are enslaved by the country’s sugar cane industry. What they received in return was a priceless education in health issues outside their own country.

The students, along with Prof. Debbie Wimmer, ’83 MSN, CRNP a pediatric nurse practitioner, assessed the health needs of the community before their departure from Villanova. They prepared health education classes --with materials translated into Spanish for their audiences young and old—on such topics as the importance of breastfeeding; hand washing and hygiene; and the dangers of water-borne illnesses and their connection to diarrhea, dehydration and death. They also gathered medical supplies to donate to the residents. A successful fundraiser before the trip allowed the nursing students and faculty to take critical vitamins, antibiotic creams and other medicines to the bateyes.

The Villanova nurses traveled to the Dominican Republic with alumna Geri O’Hare, ’85 BSN, MSN, RN, CRNP, a pediatric nurse practitioner, who has volunteered in the area many times. They taught classes in schools to children and in clinics to local residents and area health care promoters. The group worked with a local nun, Sr. Concepcion, whose mobile clinic van allowed them to travel to five bateyes in as many days to complete health screenings. There they checked blood pressure and other vital signs plus height and weight of the local residents they could reach. Students learned to improvise when providing care in the field and also made home visits to those who could not travel to the van site. They witnessed malnutrition, disease and living conditions they could not imagine before their arrival. In turn, the Villanova nurses were the first health care professionals many residents had ever seen.

This experience does not mean the end of service to the bateyes. Further community assessments completed by the students will lay the groundwork for next year’s efforts in the Dominican Republic.