OkaZHI Programs
Collaboration for Nursing Education Curriculum Development
Overview of this Program Area:
Rural:
There are eleven rural nursing colleges scattered through Zambia that provide two-year nursing diploma programs. Key Zambian stakeholders have urged OkaZHI to take on rural development in Western Province, of which Mongu is the capital. This work has already begun with the contributions of two graduates of UBC-O (Lianne Jones, RN and Jessica Barker, RN) and a science graduate from the University of Alberta (Cameron O'Connor). These volunteers worked for six months to begin to realize the goals of curriculum and faculty development and the deployment of computers for all students and faculty.
Urban:
OkaZHI is working in close collaboration with UBC-O to support the latter's efforts in this area. The major urban initiative at the University of Zambia falls within the Nursing Faculty. Dr. Maimbolwa, the assistant Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Zambia (UNZA) has visited Kelowna and UBC-O, to meet with key Canadian faculty members, community healthcare workers and other administration. A formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been reached between UBC-O and the University of Zambia. Support will include Zambian faculty development and graduate exchange, requiring travel amongst Zambian and Canadian faculty. An additional key educational component that could apply to all medical and nursing students in Zambia relates to the potential development of a high-technology simulation laboratory that will provide state-of-the-art clinical training in medical, obstetrical and surgical circumstances.
Key Outcomes of this program area include:
- Increased Human Resources for Health (HRH) through increased the number of nursing graduates - providing a year-after-year benefit
- Improved health outcomes and better quality of care as a result of higher nursing academic standards in Mongu and other rural areas to which the program will be scaled out
