Nurses are the backbone of healthcare in Sierra Leone.
Trainee numbers for Registered Nurses are low nationally, with high dropout rates and subsequent poor graduation numbers. The Ebola Crisis took a heavy toll on an already scarce health resource with many nurses and nurse aides affected
The Project
An important part of the ReSurge Africa training programme is to create a sustainable, high quality nursing service with a cadre of motivated nurses, skilled in reconstructive surgery operating theatre, post operational recovery, and ward nursing for patients who have received reconstructive plastic surgery.
Our plan – the next four years
Professional nurse training in reconstructive surgery and specialist burns treatment and management is not available in West Africa. Once fully trained, these nurses will subsequently provide leadership and skilled training to the full nursing cohort at Holy Spirit Hospital.
- The project is to support Sierra Leonean nurses, merit based through to graduation as SRN (3-year degree)
- Part of the training programme is for the nurse trainees to take up a 3-month placement at Ganga Hospital in Coimbatore, India, for specialist reconstructive surgery theatre experience.
- On their return to HSH, the nurse graduates will use newly acquired skills and high standards of work to ensure the smooth running of an effective and professional operating theatre environment.
- In Partnership with UK charity Interburns, provide specialist burns management training and awareness. Sierra Leone combines high incidence of burn injuries, especially among children, with a fundamental absence of knowledge and treatment protocols. This project relates directly to the ReSurge Africa strategy to create self-sustaining reconstructive surgery and burns services in Sierra Leone.
We need your help – what does it cost?
ReSurge Africa’s nurse training programme is well underway with 5 nurses already embarked on their training. They will complete early in 2018. New nurse candidates are being identified.
- 1 Nurse costs £2000 per year to train in Sierra Leone for 3 years SRN professional nurse training
- If 21 people donated £8 per month, this would provide a years training for 1 nurse.
- Could your club, school, hospital or gym raise £2000 and train a nurse for a year?
- If 25 people donated £20 per month for a year… this would pay for 1 nurse’s full 3 year SRN training! Set up a direct debit and your pledge of £20 per month would have a real impact on the lives of every patient that this dedicated nurse will treat in the span of their career.
- £2500 will send one Nurse to India for a 3 month placement in reconstructive surgery theatre at Ganga Hospital
Whether it’s a monthly contribution (donate by Pay Pal), a one-off donation (Pay by Virgin Money Giving),or regular fundraising, every penny you give to ReSurge Africa helps fund the training of the committed team in Sierra Leone and the creation of a reconstructive surgery unit where it’s needed most.
If you have any questions about our work or think you can help in any way, get in touch with us at info@resurgeafrica.org
Fatmata Jalloh, Foday Koroma, Francess Bangura, Augustine Kamara
Foday Koroma, Ibrahim Sankoh and Augustine Kamara
Background
In 2002, Sierra Leone emerged from a brutal, decade-long civil war. Its infrastructure, including hospitals and medical training, was decimated. Both the country and its people were left broken.
Today, Sierra Leone is at peace but still reeling from the effects of conflict, and more recently a catastrophic Ebola epidemic. Healthcare in the nation is almost non-existent: there is one doctor to 10,000 people; no reconstructive surgeons, one orthopaedic surgeon; and, crucially, no graduate medical training.
Sierra Leone and its people need our help to recover; to train the surgeons, nurses and physiotherapists that will help change the face of healthcare in the country and rebuild bodies and lives broken by war and disease.
At the Holy Spirit Hospital in Makeni, we are developing Sierra Leone’s first reconstructive surgery unit. The infrastructure has supported by the work of Italian charity Fondazione Don Gnocchi, and Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA) and other donors; Resurge Africa is now training the staff that will run the unit independently, creating a self-sustaining facility that will eventually provide support and training to other medics in Sierra Leone.
“A THRIVING RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY UNIT”
We are proud of the commitment and achievements of our trainees in Ghana, and, with your help, we want to replicate this approach in Sierra Leone. Our work in Ghana has seen the creation of a thriving reconstructive surgery unit – the country’s first – run by a team of international-standard surgeons, physios and medical staff who deliver training and support to other hospitals in the region.
We’ve proven that we can change the face of reconstructive surgery in West Africa – but we can’t do it without your help.
Read some of our patients stories
