Equipping Nurses to Make a Difference in the Middle East
Azusa Pacific University’s nationally ranked School of Nursing (SON) is making an impact across the world. The SON has trained nursing students in Asia and Europe for decades, yet this year marked the first time APU has offered a nurse leadership program in the Middle East. The SON partnered with Health Outreach to the Middle East (HOME), a Christian, interdenominational organization that brings physical, psychological, and spiritual healing to poor and suffering people through 18 Christian clinics, hospitals, and medical projects in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Sudan, with plans to expand to the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Bahrain. APU’s first cohort of seven of HOME’s nurse leaders recently finished their program, earning a certificate in Nursing Leadership, which will enable them to advance effective health care and be a force for positive change.
This partnership with HOME was implemented by Aja Tulleners Lesh, PhD, RN, professor; David Dorman, PhD, administrator for international resources; Elaine Goehner, PhD, RNC, CPHQ, director for continuing education; and Amy Girguis, MSN, adjunct professor. According to Lesh, Christian nurses in the Middle East face massive challenges in getting an advanced education beyond their baccalaureate.
“We partnered with HOME to offer these Christian nurses a pathway to advance their education and leadership effectiveness,” Dorman said. “As bachelor-trained nurses, they were ready for further challenges to lead the way to effect change at both the hospital and governmental policy level.”
The first cohort of this partnership began in fall 2022 and finished the program in July 2023 after completing four courses in nursing leadership. Each class met online once a week, after the nurses had finished their 12-hour shifts for the day. “Their work ethic was incredible, to come in after a full day of work and actively participate… They knew how valuable it was to form a network of support with each other and their APU instructors,” Lesh said.
Before earning their certificate, each student put together a “change project,” designed to propose solutions to issues they noticed in their hospital. “Their change projects were remarkable,” Lesh said. “At the hospital in Dubai where the nurses were based, the chief nursing officer embraced the program and supported these students. She worked with them as they presented their projects, implementing them in some cases before the program was completed.”
One change project introduced a practice that has existed in the U.S. for decades, but had yet to make its way to Middle Eastern healthcare. This practice was placing newborn babies skin-to-skin against their mothers and fathers in an embrace. According to Lesh, this contact does wonders for the connection between babies and their parents. “Our nursing student took this project on, and before the year was out, her hospital allowed her to put it into practice,” Dorman said. “It was the first hospital in Dubai to do so.”
Lesh said the SON plans to continue their partnership with HOME with further regular cohorts so more Christian nurses can be trained to rise in leadership positions in their hospitals.
“It’s important for us from a mission perspective. Here we are witnesses for Christ and encouraging others,” she said. “We are giving them skills to make a bigger impact, not only with their care of patients, but in the healthcare system. Difference makers create change.”
Posted: November 13, 2023