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The compassionate desire to help others coupled with an opportunity to use their nursing skills on patients in desperate need of medical care provided the impetus for three William Paterson University nursing honor students to travel to the Dominican Republic from January 17 to 23 to volunteer their skills as part of a medical mission.
Thao (Annie) Nguyen of South Plainfield, Ashley Perone of Belle Meade, and Raissa Lynn Sanchez of Sussex, all members of the nursing honor society Sigma Theta Tau, and all graduating seniors, used their nursing skills to provide humanitarian aid to patients in the San Pedro area of the island.
The student nurses provided hands-on medical care in this third-world country, under trying circumstances and conditions that that were unfamiliar to them, to patients who might otherwise not have access to anything more than intermittent medical care.
Under the direction of a nurse practitioner and a physician, they traveled to various clinics and a prison to administer over-the-counter medications and vitamins, but also teach patients about proper nutrition and health.
They provided care under the auspices of Foundation for Peace, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to working hand-in-hand with people in need to enable their emergence from poverty.
A recent regional Sigma Theta Tau conference was the impetus for their participation, says Sanchez. “I attended the conference and listened to a lecture about global health day,” she says. “That was an inspiration to me. I’ve always wanted to do something like this since I decided to become a nurse.”
“This trip should create awareness of health needs around the world for the students,” says Kem Louie, associate professor of nursing at William Paterson, director of the graduate nursing program and the honor society’s advisor. “They learned how nurses can play an important role in health care in the community.”
