Nurses: Volunteer in Haiti

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Program Description

CMMB is an international NGO providing long-term, co-operative medical and development aid to communities affected by poverty and unequal access to healthcare. For over a century, CMMB has worked to strengthen and support communities through healthcare programs and initiatives, the distribution of medicines and medical supplies, and the placement of volunteers.

CMMB’s Volunteer Program addresses the critical need for professionals in areas that lack sufficient resources for quality preventive and curative health services, especially for women and children. Our Volunteer Program has placed thousands of practitioners around the world to help develop and implement community health interventions, work at local hospitals and health facilities, conduct clinical training for host country counterparts, and deliver essential medicines and supplies. The ultimate goal of CMMB's Volunteer Program is to support our country teams and local healthcare workers by sending volunteers that are dedicated to strengthening local health systems and supporting a pattern of sustainable development.

We believe in a world in which health and human dignity are shared by all.

We believe that access to quality healthcare is a basic human right. For more than 100 years, we have worked with global partners to deliver locally sustainable, quality healthcare solutions to women, children, and their communities. We’re ready to make it 100 more.

We believe change starts with her.

We work tirelessly for women’s and children’s health because they are disproportionately affected by illness and poverty. We know that healthy, educated, and empowered women are better able to raise healthy, educated, and confident children, and that communities depend on their livelihoods.

We believe in people.

We strive to live out our core values of collaboration, love, excellence, and respect every day. We provide our volunteers with a meaningful volunteer package, and the opportunities to learn, grow, and leave a longstanding legacy. We especially encourage all persons of diverse backgrounds to apply.

In 2018, CMMB:

• Assisted 74, 240 pregnant women
• Provided critical health and social services to 1,536,844 people
• Provided HIV services to 889, 155 people
• Provided critical health services to 206, 840 children
• Delivered medicines & medical supplies valued at $598 million to 34 countries

In 2018, CMMB Volunteer Program:

• Engaged 661 volunteers working in 17 countries
• Volunteers contributed 92,920 hours

About Haiti

CMMB founder Dr. Paluel Flagg first began working in Haiti in 1912. Today, Haiti is CMMB’s largest country office. Health services programs and initiatives for women and children include:

• CHAMPS
• Disability rehabilitation
• Domestic and international volunteers
• HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment, including prevention of mother-to-child transmission
• Maternal, neonatal, and child health
• Medical supply chain system strengthening
• Prevention and control of malaria
• Support for orphans and vulnerable children

CMMB has built solid partnerships with the Directions Départmentales de Santé (Departmental Health Offices) and the Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population (MSPP, the National Ministry of Public Health and Population) as well as with local medical and nursing schools. Our faith-based approach resonates with health professionals in Haiti, where nearly 48% of health facilities are operated by faith-based organizations.

CMMB’s Children’s and Mothers Partnerships (CHAMPS) initiative works to improve the health of women, children, and their communities. CMMB identified the Côtes-de-Fer region as an area of debilitating poverty and intense need. Our CHAMPS site in Côtes-de-Fer focuses on community gardens, livestock breeding, water and sanitation, livelihood, and hygiene education, as well as training and retention of community health workers.

Although a modest clinic serves Côtes-de-Fer now, the closest hospital is more than two hours away. The distance, and price of transport makes critical treatment inaccessible to many. To intensify the impact of our work on the health of the local community, a hospital is under construction in consultation with the community and with the community’s participation.

To make the new hospital a reality, CMMB partnered with Mercy Health and construction began in February 2015. Upon completion in 2016, the Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan hospital will provide quality healthcare for nearly 50,000 people in Côtes-de-Fer. Specialty services will include eye care, rehabilitation and prosthetics for amputees, general surgery, OB/GYN and dental services, among others. Our volunteer program will be fully integrated to provide additional specialty services, and increase the hospital’s overall capacity.

Delivering in a health facility is critical to the health of both mother and baby. Facility deliveries have risen dramatically with referrals and support from CMMB-trained community health workers. At meetings of Mothers’ Clubs, community health workers educate members on UNICEF’s 16 Key Family Practices for maternal and child health. Most Mothers’ Club participants go on to join a microfinance group, receiving a loan and line of credit after agreeing to save for a future in-facility delivery.

The dynamic Haitian Amputee Coalition, with CMMB as a founding member, met the overwhelming post-earthquake need for rehabilitation and prosthetics and orthotics, providing more than 1,000 amputees with high-quality follow-up care and physical therapy. Today, CMMB continues to serve Haitian amputees, by providing on-the-job training in this complex field to a talented group of young Haitian apprentices.

Key Facts

• Population :10,711,000 (Source: UN, 2015)
• Maternal Mortality Rate :359 per 100,000 (Source: UN, 2010-2015)
• Life Expectancy :62 (151st in the world) (Source: WHO, 2015)
• Under-5 Mortality Rate :69 per 1,000 (167th in the world) (Source: UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, 2015)

CMMB is seeking nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and midwives, 21 years of age and over, who can serve for a minimum of six months.

Nursing specialties most needed:

• Midwives/labor and delivery
• Pediatric and neonatal
• Primary care and family practice
• MCH and OB/GYN
• Surgical
• Community health
• Nurse educators
• Emergency/trauma
• Nutrition
• HIV and TB
• Nurse Anesthetist

Roles and Responsibilities

Our nurse volunteers serve in a variety of roles depending on local need. These may include:

• Consulting and coordinating with health care team members to assess, plan, implement and evaluate patient care plans
• Providing clinical capacity building and health education to local staff and community health workers,
• Operating primary care clinics such as HIV/TB clinics, MCH, and Pediatrics.
• Conducting home visits and community outreach programs
• Improving operation capacity through developing and implementing protocols and practice guidelines

Covid-19 Update: Due to Covid-19, CMMB has paused all field deployments until 2021 as the countries we serve respond to this pandemic, and we are able to ensure the health and safety of our incoming field volunteers. Nonetheless, our commitment to support these communities remains, and we are eagerly waiting to be able to assist with the aftermath of this crisis when international travel is possible and safe. For more information please visit:

https://cmmb.org/get-involved/volunteer/covid-19-resources/

Contact:

Email: volunteer@cmmb.org

Phone: 212-242-7757