In five short years, the non-profit Nursing Education Collaborative for Haiti-Coopérative des Infirmières en Éducation pour Haiti (NECH-CIEH) has been able to leverage minimal resources to have an outsized impact in Haiti. Because of our hands-on engagement and monitoring by a small cadre of deeply committed nursing professionals, we are helping Haitian nurses to develop leadership skills that will advance the effectiveness and sustainability of healthcare delivery and attention to disease prevention in Haiti—patient by patient, and provider by provider.
Listed below are some of our major accomplishments to date: each is a project that has been initiated and implemented by Haitian nurses working with each other and in collaboration with colleagues in the US and Canada. Although the scope of activities is diverse, all are rooted in the NECH-CIEH mission of enabling Haitian nursing professionals to become transformational leaders and enhance the quality of life in their own country.
Founded first Haiti-based not-for-profit organization led by nurses and for nurses.
In addition to establishing NECH-CIEH’S volunteer Board of Trustees, hired core staff members: five of the nine Board members are Haitian nurses, as are all staff members.
Secured financing for and oversaw print publication of the first-ever compilation of nursing standards for Haiti, Normes pour la Pratique des Soins Infirmiers.
Nursing standards were developed by the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population, which asked NECH-CIEH for help in publishing and distribution of 1,000 copies of the 72-page booklet.
Launched the Hand Hygiene Initiative, a unique grassroots program that has the potential to profoundly disrupt the cycle of transmission that feeds the spread of deadly diseases in Haiti.
The lead nursing clinician for the initiative traveled to the US in September 2016 at the invitation of our donor, The Puffin Foundation, to deliver an interactive presentation about her experience with the pilot project, involving installation of dispensers at two health facilities and to conduct a sample hand-washing training session for the audience. with an invited audience.
Conducted a hand hygiene survey and observational study at the request of the
Nursing Direction of the Haitian Ministry of Health (MOH) at 12 health facilities, including the country’s 10 major regional hospitals
Results of the study, Hand Hygiene Knowledge and Practice of Haitian Nurses, were presented by NECH-CIEH nurses at the 2016 international conference of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) in San Francisco, USA.